Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Travel Tuesdays. The End of the Road?

This past weekend we had a Christmas Open House here at A Life of Whimsey.

We had been preparing for it for quite some time and last week was crammed full as we worked feverishly to get everything done.

Without my kids it wouldn't have gotten done!

Holly and I sewed, planted, created and baked.

Morgan came over with his tools and beautified some of my old windows. His girlfriend Kim baked three dozen delicious tarts.

Holly, Jesse and I took Jada and spent several hours delivering flyers on a snowy, chilly day late last week.






6 o'clock arrived. Apple cider and hot chocolate simmered on the stove. Whipped cream and all manner of sprinkles stood nearby. Cookies, cakes and pastries adored the three tired class cake stand.

All was in readiness for that first person to walk through the door.










All that is, except for me. I still hadn't priced things, designed and printed up special tags for my products or embellished my vintage windows the way I had planned.

I hadn't showered! And despite what Holly said, I really needed a shower.

Several lovely, talented young ladies joined my sale. Shelly and Marla from Made by Five, Elizabeth from The Olive Tree project, Cindy from Junebabycrochet and Kim who makes the most beautiful scarves.

The sale was open for business. It was a quiet evening. Several ladies dropped by and enjoyed a hot beverage and baked goods while they shopped.

Saturday morning came and we all hoped for a busier day. It stayed quiet all day.

So here's the thing . . .

Selling stuff is tricky. You can do your very best work but it doesn't mean much if no one comes to see it. That's true for every business whether large or small. The only thing that's different between the two is scale. ( well, not the only thing . . . ;D)

People don't come for a myriad of reasons. They were sick, forgot, had unexpected company, unexpected expenses or were just too tired to leave the house that day.

I get that. It happens to me all the time as well.

At what point though, does a business owner look at the bottom line and say . . .  I love doing all this stuff but I am not actually making any money at it?

A new business takes a few years before things really start rolling of course and it requires a lot of hard work, energy. time and passion to be successful. So what do you do if you start running out of some of these things??

Well, if you're me, you try harder . . .

But, this quote starts haunting you. . .


Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I'm not sure what the future holds but it's possible that this may be the end of the road for one of my dreams.

Thankfully, dreams are never in short supply at my house.

 Maybe it's time to pursue a new one.

How do you know when it's time to let a dream go go?











4 comments:

Tamara Jansen said...

First of all, I LOVE those shots of Jesse! What a character. I see a reality TV show in his future. "Mountain Man in the City". Second, remember "It's always darkest before the storm". Just when you think it's not going to work.....something snaps and things start happening :)

Anonymous said...

Aww! Sorry to hear that there wasn't much traffic at the sale. Everything was so beautiful and wonderfully displayed with really great vendors! Don't give up, keep pressing on!

Carolyn

p.s. I'm enjoying my wreath sooo much!!

Rosa said...

Thanks Carolyn! I'm glad you are enjoying your wreath, we had lots of fun making it! ;D

Anonymous said...

I wish it had been busier for you as well, but I enjoyed it immensely!!! Your home was so inviting and cosy, the treats were DELICIOUS (Craig wants the gluten free brownie recipe!), and the company lovey. Thank you for opening your home, and I hope you don't give up on any dreams! :)

Denise

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