Last April, I graduated from the Douglas College self-employment program. And in December, I went back to Douglas College to speak at the graduation ceremony! I was thrilled to be asked to be the guest speaker, and flattered that the program instructors thought of me. At first I thought I’m not really qualified to speak and give advice yet – but to someone who’s just starting up their business, I can show them what it can look like six months down the road!
The photo above is with Carley, the owner of SewGood, a sewing studio in New Westminster BC. We’ve chatted several times during the year, and she reads the blog, but I’d never met her in real life until the graduation ceremony! It’s exciting to meet other people in the sewing world, especially when they’re local!
And because maybe it might be interesting to you guys, here’s what I said! Words of wisdom from a brand-new entrepreneur.
The thing about being in business is that things go wrong. All the time. And it’s not your fault, and it’s not a reflection of you as a business owner. It’s just a fact of life! Things will go wrong. It’s up to you to handle them as best as you can, confidently, with grace. In my business plan, at the end of April, we had to list possible risks that could affect our businesses. And all of mine happened within the first six months! Things will go wrong, and the best thing you can do is prepare for the risks you can predict, and be prepared for many more obstacles along the way!
You’ll be afraid. A lot. But don’t let fear stop you from moving forward. I avoided dealing with the business license people for nearly a month because I didn’t want them to come to my house (in my city, they want to inspect the business before granting you the license.) And when they came, it was less than five minutes of my time and then they were gone! It was silly to be afraid of something so little. Being afraid of dealing with things isn’t doing you any good. And if you’re like me, and you are the only person working in your business, then no one is going to do it for you! And if you make the wrong call, that might happen too. Learn from it, and use what you’ve learned to approach the problem differently next time!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I still need to work on this, but I’m getting better! I’m fiercely independent and want to do everything on my own. But in business, you want to have a support network. When those things go wrong, it’s great to be able to call someone who can give you advice. When the postal strike/lockout happened, I was able to call a contact from my previous job (thank you Mary!) who helped me take my mail across the border properly. Sometimes you just need a supportive person to listen, and share their own experiences. When I started doing pattern testing, it was amazing how many people volunteered to help. And it was one of the best decisions I made this year! People will surprise you with their kindness and willingness to help you, if you let them.
Take care of yourself. I remember early on in the program there was a seminar about taking care of yourself and remembering to reward yourself. I’m pretty sure some of the people in my class were thinking ‘yeah yeah, of course I will!’ But six months down the road, it’s a lot harder to remember when you’re up to your eyeballs in work, emails, and to-do lists.
Trust your gut. Absolutely, do your research, do the math, weigh all the options but in the end your instinct usually already knows the right decision. I knew that sharing an office with Mr Sewaholic wasn’t a good long-term decision. I’d never be able to fully focus and treat it like a real business if I was doing it on the dining table at home. I knew that putting my clutter and boxes into storage was going to make me happier and more productive. I knew that doing more thorough pattern testing was going to help me build better products. And yes, all of these things were scary! But when a decision feels right, it’s right.
I was really glad to be able to share my experience with the graduates. Hopefully, they left inspired and encouraged as they were set free into the world to start their businesses!
Well said, I’d like to start my own business down the road and it’s always great to hear about other peoples experiences!
Great post. I think hanging out your shingle and talking about it is truly inspiring. I really enjoy hearing about your experience.
I’m a sewing mama who works full-time, and your words apply beautifully to parenting, as well as the daily juggling act of balancing it all. Thanks for sharing your words, and for the encouragement. Your mom must be beside-herself proud of you!
Nicely put! I think it’s just what every one of us needs to hear from time to time. Thanks for posting! I feel so much more inspired and confident about my own little business-like adventures. By the way, it would be great to read more about how you built you business and what’s going on behind the scenes.
Thank you so much for the advise.I am going to start a dressmaking school very soon and these tips will surely help me !
I think it great to give back anything you have to offer! I always get re-inspired by listening to others!
This is a really nice post, thanks for sharing.
Mary in Thailand
Thanks for sharing this Tasia – I’m sure the graduates appreciated it!
Tasia, Great posts! Great advice! Very inspiring! I am amazed but not surprised at your talent!
Thanks for sharing your self-employment tips, Tasia. You’re such an inspiration! I’m not at all surprised that you were asked to be a guest speaker at your old school. You are doing so well – just make sure you take your own advice and remember to reward yourself! x
Great words of advice! Thanks for sharing!!
Wonderful tips! These are super handy for peeps wanting to get started for their own venture :D
Thank you guys! I was wondering whether you would find it interesting, some of the things I said are useful tips for life too. I feel like if I ever decided to get a job again, all of this experience will only help me. I know so much more than I did when I was laid off!
And Tilly, you’re right, I am terrible at taking my own advice. Especially when it comes to relaxing and taking breaks, or asking for help. Probably I’ll be re-reading this post in a couple of months to remind myself!
Hapa, I never know how much behind-the-scenes stuff to share as some of it is very boring! Taxes, accounting, reports – boring stuff to write about on a sewing blog. A lot of things get started and not everything turns into something worth talking about. I’ll see if I can work some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff into some posts in the future! (Anyone else interested in that kind of post?)
I’m interested! Being a small business owner myself, I am interested in how other small businesses operate.
Amazing post, Tasia! Thank you so much for sharing the wisdom you’ve gained this year. It’s been fun and inspiring to see your business grow. Can’t wait for the Minory sewalong!
Brilliant post Tasia. I love hearing about all the behind the scenes stuff – the reality of business. It’s easy to forget it’s not just about the pretty end product from your side.
My husband and I became small business owners in June 2011. Everything you posted on this list is so true! I’m trying to get my husband to work on the “take care of yourself” one. He works constantly and then feels guilty for taking a day off :(
thank you for sharing this! it great to hear about the behind the scenes stuff and inspiring too, so you’ve definitely got the go ahead from me to do more posts like this!
Hi Tasia!
Thanks so much for putting me on your blog!! I feel like a somebody! And thank you for writing out what you said to us at the graduation! It was a great talk and I’m glad I can refer back to it on this blog!
It was a pleasure to meet you in real person! I always read your blog and you are a source of inspiration to me!
Keep up the good work!
I am also interesting in hearing more about what goes on behind the scenes as it relates to your product development. Plus I think it would give us all an even greater appreciation for the hard work you do! also, sooooo looking forward to the sewalong!!
I agree with many others, I think the behind the scenes would be interesting and in the future I might just incorporate this idea in my blog too. I am still learning and growing and it nice to bounce off ideas with others too. I have been working on children’s patterns and I am so nervous about the response what are your suggestions for pattern sourcing and testing?
You are very welcome Tasia. I was so happy to have discovered your blog and see how well you are doing. I always liked working with you, and now I love reading all about your business and life. I like behind the scenes stuff, you never know when someone in your past (or present ) may be able to help you or you be able to help them. I don’t know you might even persuade me to start making garments again!
I am a novice seamstress and I’m loving this blog. The Lonsdale dress is amazing.
Greetings from Brazil.
Great post Tasia, like you said, all of those points are useful for everybody. A behind-the-scenes post would be a treat! For those of us who are wondering if we could do it too.
Cheers!
Thanks for this post, it’s very interesting. Like a few others said, your advice really applies to many aspects of life, in general.
I’d love to see more posts of this nature. It definitely adds a nice human element to the company you are growing. For peats sake, my husband even knows who you are because I’ve found some of the posts about your business really interesting and thought he would, too. :)
It’s so nice to see someone creative being recognized for pursuing their own business ventures; especially someone local – as a fellow artist and Lower Mainlander, I congratulate you on your success and thank you for encouraging the rest of us that it can, indeed, be done :)
Realmente é isso o que acontece conosco, medo… com certeza você foi a razão de eu enfiar a cara no mundo criar a minha marca e tentar chegar lá não interessa onde mas pelo mesmo que reconheçam meu trabalho. Isso de pedir ajuda realmente tenho medo de fazê-lo, pois acredito que ninguém costure como eu, ninguém corte ou alinhave… é um jeito todo meu assim como o seu trabalho também é seu e você o quanto ele custa pra você e o principal fazer dar certo. Ainda não vendo peças prontas, mas estou me encaminhando para isso. Já criei a minha marca, o bom que no Brasil as licenças podem esperar dar certo, pois ainda não existe capital de giro, não de grande valores, mas vamos rever isso. Agora montei um blog ficou bem legal, é minha cara aos poucos as coisas vão acontecendo.