starting your own business

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5 years ago…

May 29, 2009 in Me by wendren | 12 comments

The merry-go-round topic for this month is a question: Did you think you’d be doing what you re doing now (craft/selling) say 5 years ago?  What has surprised you the most?

5 years ago I was 20 and in my second year studying surface design. I was so sure that by the time I was 25 I would be some big hot-shot in the design world. I never in a million years thought that I would be helping design students with their creative ideas and running my own bag label and blog (and I have to add, just making ends meet).

bags-in-motion

The thing that suprised me the most was how different I am to what I thought I was. I thought I would love the corporate world of smart clothes and high-heels. I soon realised that dressing smart everday is tedious, that clocking in a 7.30 to leave at 4.30 is soul destroying (note: this leaves Saturday as the only day you can shop and you have to shop becuase afterall you are in the fashion world and you better look the part or else). I could not stand the office politics either. I hated how systems slowed things down and that every idea I had to improve things was shut down because it simply took too much effort to make the change. There was too little to do and this left me with too much time to think and becuase I was being paid to do a job, I could not create or allow those thoughts to become real. It killed my creativity and me.

So to nobody’s but my own surprise, I resigned and learnt that my dream could not have been more mismatched. Now I love what I do. I hardly have time to think with all my running-around but every idea I have I am able to try out. I love writing for this blog. I love sharing ideas with the students and most of all, I love having my life back.

It’s funny how things turn out. Now my life philosophy is that I will ‘make it up as I go along’ becuase after all, you really have no idea what will happen that will change your stars.

bags-in-motion-2

Check out the merry-go-round blog posts on the same topic: Le Bar du Vent, Easterya, Florcita, Beaded Zen, Crafts of Texture, Jenny Karlsson Design, Beaded Zen Designs and Birdland Creations.

The hardest things about starting your own business

October 22, 2008 in Conversational, Me, Wren by wendren | 5 comments

‘Taking the plunge’ and starting by yourself is really hard. Sure, there are some definite benefits such as owning your own time but there are also definitely disadvantages and challenges. Here are my two biggest ones:

1. Cashflow: This is the most difficult thing. Whatever I get in goes straight back into Wren. As it grows so the costs grow. It is also hard because I want to start achieving/attaining my personal goals (not just Wren goals) but without the financial stability I cannot. Wren comes first before me.

2. Staying motivated: There are some days when I wonder (rather seriously) whether it would be easier to just get a ‘normal’ job, move out and deal with having an all-day unenjoyable job. However, I did not find that fulfilling and I have to keep reminding myself to persevere. Wren has grown fast and that is terrific. The challenge is to always focus on the positives and the possibilities. It helps having such wonderful readers of my blog – thank you. :)