And so I say Goodbye

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This post is titled And so I say Goodbye or otherwise known as “the 30 day challenge”.

Two years ago I started crafting a lot and selling on eBay. It was a ton of fun and I was enjoying myself, but really wanted my own website. I did some research and jumped in, formed an LLC, and created my own little company.

Alright. I needed some shoppers.

I remember my first customer. It seemed so amazing. Someone buying something I MADE. Paying for it. On my website!! I still to this day get tickled when people email me and tell me they love what they bought and want another. It happens weekly now, but it’s a feeling that doesn’t change.

About 2 months into my little hair bow holder site, I realized to stay afloat financially, I would need to get wholesale supplies but it was  a pretty big risk. The minimums on the supplies I needed seemed high to me with what I was selling and I had two choices: Plug along one by one and eat some of the profit, or take a risk and spend $800 for supplies.

$800 is a lot of money. With the encouragement of my husband, I took the $800 out on my supplies on a credit card and silently prayed. We could survive on mac-n-cheese if it failed, right?

Looking back, my product wasn’t that great back then. I was learning. I was a crafter gone retail overnight, but it didn’t stop people from ordering, and loving, what I was doing. With each order I got better and better and dedicated myself to new ways of having the best product. Many websites supported me at that time, like Gymbofriends, and a few blogs I came across like Mom Generations, which kept spurring me into more and more business.

It was just over 1 month before my $800 was paid off and my business was turning a profit.

Then the stores started calling, reps started knocking and I got in way over my head. I said yes on every deal, I was so excited, and spent up till Dec 20th putting out orders for stores all over America that were desperate for more orders. That following January I retired my wholesale business and pulled myself out of showrooms. It really was too much, regardless of the demand. I considered manufacturing, but this was a one of a kind, custom made, right to a family, personal item. I didn’t want to take that away.

Unfortunately for me, I also suffered a fire loss which killed all my material and previous designs. Apparently God wanted me to slow down too. To date, my site remains the same as it was. Same graphics, same layout, and as I have grown, I have still let my roots be where they are, as simplistic as they are.

Since then, I have enjoyed the luxury (and pain in the ass) of working out of my home, providing a beautiful product that is the best in the market for what it is, and being the top provider on the net. I won’t lie when I say that it pays for all I do. I have worked VERY hard from the beginning till now. I am proud.

This is one of the reasons I am such a passionate blogger about mom businesses, about mom bloggers, about mom anything really. I want to see mothers succeed and know that we should all be supporting each other.

This is what pains me.

My business is thriving, I have more business than I can cover and have to shut off my website every two weeks to get caught up. I have repeat clients, referrals, new people, and companies that buy retail just to resell. I have been closed down since last Friday and have had over 30 inquiries when I will be back online to order.

But my passion is changing. I have been balancing my business, which i work at approximately 20-25 hours a week, and MomDot, where you don’t want me to disclose those hours at all to you. Slowly I have been breaking from my routine and as much as I like my creative outlet,  I want to move on.

I am scared.

It’s my income. My mortgage. Two car payments. Student loans. Life.

But I am taking my experience, my knowledge, my passion, and I have decided to close my business for the next 30 days and see what happens if I dedicate all my time into my new business at Pitch Bloggers and of course, on MomDot and the blogging opportunities that I have to make income with that.

I feel the same spark of excitement I did when I started Bambina, that I do now.

Change is hard.

What if I fail?

But what if I dont.

Can I make a living doing what I love, surrounded by the people I care about, and continue to teach, learn, grow and connect?

I guess we find out.

For the next 30 days, I am going to document my journey every day on where I stand, if I am closer to achieving my dream, keeping myself financially independent, and you can watch me, win or lose, start from nothing and see if the risk will equal the rewards.

~trisha

my goal: $1000

time: 30 days

starting: Monday, April 13th

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