Sometimes life gives you immediate answers and instant gratification. This post is about just that.
Before getting to the juicy goodness of what that 1.8 minutes means, I need to give some back story. In the not so distant past, the little nest used to be a different business. We made baby bibs, appliqued bodysuits, etc. And for the meantime, we still do make those things. We just only sell them at boutiques now. Our website only contains embroidery items: greetings cards with magnets or ornaments and the occasional tea towel. Our social media also only reflects those creations now. And if you were to shop from us at a festival, you’d again only find the embroidery items. We are not 100% done with baby, but we are SLOWLY phasing it out. I do not expect it to go away completely until 2023 or later.
Honestly, I’ve wanted to transition to a new product for a very long time and Covid forced me to do it. Aside from my sales dropping to ZERO dollars over night, I found it increasingly harder to find materials. Even as I write this, in November 2021, it is still very hard for me to get my hands on the supplies I use to create my baby items. The impact the pandemic has had on the supply chain runs deep, y’all.
I sat down recently to really think about when exactly I made my first greeting card with a magnet attached. It was February of this year. I made Valentine’s Day cards. My first festival was in May. That was the first time we filled an entire booth with our new product line. I remember feeling very nervous and worried about what people would think, but it turned out to be a success. Relief!
Since that event though, I get hounded on the regular by friends mostly who are upset with my product change. Some of them took a vote recently in favor of me switching back to baby. Thanks for the support, y’all. At the end of the day, I just don’t think they understand my vision and quite frankly I believe they just think the product is dumb. I’m sure it’s obvious from my tone that I am really over hearing it. Cause y’all, I’m REALLY OVER HEARING IT!
So they took their little vote, they gave reasons why it’s not a good idea, and I started letting it sink in. The seeds of doubt were sown. Then the very next day I set up my booth at Chomp & Stomp. Now granted, folks were excited about the return of the event (as it was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid). But, y’all, this was not just my BEST Chomp & Stomp ever. It was my BEST one day show ever. It was my BEST show all year (beating out even two-day events). It was nonstop. I hardly got to sit down. I often had a line. Folks were so excited about the product and so encouraging. We laughed all day and reminisced about our favorite TV shows and it was BLISS. I stomped on that stupid seed of doubt then I chomped on it a bit before spitting it out. I allowed myself to hear my customers’ joy and enthusiasm. And I felt it in return. Then later that night I divided the number of sales by the time I was out there. I averaged a sale every 1.8 minutes. One POINT Eight Minutes.
“The road to success is paved with doubters and haters.” ~ Matshona Dhliwayo
‘til next time,
~jen
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