Coo coo ka-choo, how do you do?
Well, the launch didn't go as planned. Back in May of this year, I expected the store to open with a variety of items, Insta and Twitter posts, and maybe a trial order or two. That got mega postponed and right now, the site is still password protected. That's five months! That's the entire summer! I figured I would be busy settling in with a new computer set up, but the delays due to figuring out how small business even work threw me for a loop.
At first, I figured all I needed to do was:
- Have all the packaging stuff together
- Have products in an easily accessible spot
- Have a steady supply of yarn, stuffing, safety eyes, etc.
- Advertise everywhere all the time
I'm maybe... one out of four complete right now LOL. Not including the ugly yet free boxes I'll have to get from USPS, the business cards and care postcards I ordered arrived and they look awesome. Not long after, I got my label printer and labels on prime day for a tasty, tasty discount. I currently have a set up issue where I have no space on my desk for the printer, since I thought it was Bluetooth, but that's something I'll have to solve when it gets there.
When JoAnn decided to change their bulk purchasing program, my whole plan crashed down around me. Most of the color options, as they currently are, are based off of which yarn types were available to be purchased in large quantities. For example, you could get 12 caron jumbo yarns for something like $100 instead of $150. At one point, the bulk purchases moved to a totally different site that required a registered business. Now, you have to buy 48+ skeins to get any sort of deal. I'm already having a serious space issue, so buying 10x48 big things of yarn is super inconvenient. Not just that, I planned to include little birthstone charms with the zodiac plushies, but now those sets of charms does not have a bulk option.
The lack of advertising, that's just on me LOL. I wanted to post on my personal twitter about it, but then people will know my real name. My real name is on a ton of stuff, including probably packaging, so it doesn't matter. But who knows if someone decides to use it against me? Yadda yadda, you get the train of thought my paranoid brain decided to take. I'm still undecided on if I want to show my face or not, and this decision will change the entire course of my online persona. Maybe I'll just make it more of an open secret since I'll probably want to show off my cosplays.
Anyway, most of these problems are my own fault or can probably be solved easily if I stop panicking. The one issue I do have is actually registering my business and all the paperwork that goes with it. If you know me, and you don't, if you do, how? If you know me, I am an absolute hermit and am agoraphobic to a crippling degree. Going to any government building to do anything is super stressful, so having to fill out all the different forms and prove my ability to run a business will probably take years off my life. I haven't even figured out how to do taxes yet, as this would be my first official source of income. I'm tired of subsisting off of favors! Instead, I'll live off the $30 once every few months from this store sdugrgifdg
So, hopefully, someday this store will be published. Someday I'll get my Youtube channel together. Someday my discord server won't just be a jumbled mess. Tomorrow is a new day.