Starting a business
Starting a business is hard work.
I could probably stop this post with that one sentence. “Starting a business is hard work.” There are no ifs about it. And if someone does tell you otherwise, please proceed with caution with that person. I’m not saying that it can’t be easy, but at this point in my journey, there’s a lot of work. Perhaps, for someone who has way more experience and has a team to support them, it’s easier, but I would imagine there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done especially as a business grows.
PandaTudePress at Etsy has been open for a little over a month. In this time, I’ve managed to increase my inventory to about 30 listings. I’m proud of that. BUT, there is so much more that I need to learn. For me, I’m realizing that creating the products is the fun part and the aspect I could spend the most time on. I love it! But it’s the other stuff – the behind the scenes things like SEO, Keywords, and Marketing that I have no idea about.
It’s like, I know I have to learn it, but thinking of one more thing on top of my normal is overwhelming. I have not scratched the surface of trying to learn and apply tags/keywords. I have not learned how to properly market my little store. I started a Facebook page for PandaTudePress, but I’m told by others that Pinterest and Instagram would also be helpful. Ugh! I barely know how to use Facebook! And then there’s different marketing or strategies with each platform. Even with the products creation, I know that my current method is not the most efficient. I’m learning as I go. Like I said, lots to learn, and lots to do.
My hope is that with enough persistence, I’ll figure things out and I can eventually update you all that my store is actually getting some sales! Wouldn’t that be something? Makes me happy, thinking about it.
I’m keeping this post short. But I do want to share that given all the work that’s going into creating the coloring pages for PandaTudePress, I thought to myself, why not also publish those pages at Amazon as a coloring book? It would be part of my 12 Angels Publishing line. I’m working on this now, but when I looked through Amazon, the coloring books have a lot more pages compared to what I have as packs on Etsy. I’ll either bundle my existing coloring packs from Etsy into one coloring book for Amazon, or have something separate for Amazon. I haven’t quite decided, but I’m excited either way. More to come on this.
If you are thinking about starting your own little business, side gig, or hustle, I say GO FOR IT! Especially if this is a dream of yours, like it is with me. That in of itself is important. You have to honor those whisperings from your heart. It doesn’t matter that there’s a lot of work, or that you don’t know what you’re doing, or that it can be overwhelming. Isn’t that life in general? LOL!
What I’m learning is that with each step I take or with every effort I make, it brings me closer to the dream. I have no idea whether my little store will flourish or fall flat on its cute little panda face, but at this moment, I don’t care. Oddly enough and even though I’ve added to an already busy schedule, I feel good that I’m doing this.
Go for those goals and dreams, you may just surprise yourself.
Take care and please come back soon.
