My Self Employment Story Part 1

I have wanted to have my own business, however the road to the dream was a long journey to actually get to something that paid all the bills. I want to share my story to hopefully encourage you to keep going out and trying new things if you also strive to have your own little (or large) business.

About 6 years ago I decided that I wanted to open my own vintage store, because I have always been interested in vintage clothing I figured it was a the business for me. In my early 20s I suffered deeply from impatience, I thank the heavens I now don't have such a bad case of it. At the time I was in no position to open a brick and mortar store, I took to the internet to research. It seems like at the time information was a lot harder to come by, I don't remember stumbling upon any blogs or sites for entrepreneurs. I ended up buying a book on Amazon that was directed towards women and the title went something like 'Start your own lady business'. Well this book was way too vague and the only thing I got out of it was that I needed to save money to open my business. I wrote down a goal and put it up on my wall 'save $5,000 to open my vintage store'.

Since at the time I had a long way to go before I got to that 5k, I decided to list a few things I had on Etsy and start selling there. I did a big old photo shoot and had my brother help me list the items up. At the time I was working 60+ hours per week and felt too overwhelmed and impatient to do it myself. He listed the items and I sold a few things, unfortunately I never kept up with it which I am now kicking myself for. Fast forward a few years and I discovered the 48 Days Dan Miller Podcast. I love this podcast and I believe it is one of the best ones out there to start listening to, it gives business ideas but it is not solely online businesses, which in my opinion helps you think through your options a little more.

I have been listening to this podcast every since 2009 and have tried to start a few business from the ideas I heard but none of them panned out, this was very frustrating. I tried to start a dry cleaning pick up and delivery business, a resume help business, a personal finance blog and nothing was working. I attempted to start a sustainable home decor business in late 2013, fortunately at this point I was maturing a bit as a person and my newfound patience was helping me a lot. The business did not work but I had taken this one further than any of the others. I remember just feeling so much frustration, it seems that everywhere I just kept hearing success stories from people who started their own business, and here I was, trying for so long and had yet to make a dime.

Finally on a Sunday afternoon which was a day off from work I plugged in and listened to a podcast I only listened to every once in a while. It was Pat Flynn interviewing a couple who sold full time on Amazon FBA. This podcast changed my life. It told me exactly what to do, download an app, go to the store and scan things, see what items sell for a lot more on Amazon, take them home and send them to amazon. Finally an extremely easy blue print. I did just that, the very next day I was at a KMart scanning and scanned a mason jar tumbler that was on sale for $3.14 and amazon sold it for $15. Bingo! I bought about 10, brought them home and followed the steps. A week or so later and they started to sell. This was pure joy! Finally I was making money on my own.

In the next post I will discuss how I actually got to my current business.

Best,
M.