Okay I think the 2 things that are really getting to me lately is that

  1. I have been running 50% off sales and I feel like if I can’t make sales during this time of the year, then I truly am a failure.
  2. I have a 0%apr credit card that goes back to having interest in January and I still have 6k to pay off (I recently put 6k on it that was not made by my business so really had 12k debt)

I am a very blessed person. I’m a sahm and our family is not balling by any means but we aren’t dependent on my business succeeding for bills or groceries.

Things have been going really well in my life outside of my business but I cannot move past how hopeless I feel because I’ve failed to even make 6k after nearly 9 months of putting in so much time and effort.

I try and dwell on the positive - like how my husband is supportive and how I really like having a project to work on anyway so doing this has kept my mind sharp and I’ve learned so much But i still feel like I’ve encountered SO much bad luck, like spending 2 days trying to take professional looking photos and they looked great on the camera screen but came out blurry in Lightroom - that’s just one example but it’s a LOT of stuff like that. Things that even though I try to have a positive mindset and tell myself - you’ll really only fail if you give up now. Anyway, I know it’s wild because there’s so much competition but in the most consumer driven, spendiest time of the year I still can’t get it right And now my only options are take money I didn’t earn to pay off my bills or transfer my balance to ANOTHER 0%apr credit card with a transfer fee. Either way all I see is the finish line ahead in the distance and knowing that I’m not going to get there. I guess I’m just looking for a sympathetic ear and anything I can do to be more positive! I hate being sad around the holidays!

  • Mex5150@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    First thing first, it’s WAY too early to say if your business is failing or not. The average length of time before a new business becomes profitable is two to three years, you are nowhere near that yet. I know it can feel like the sky is falling with so much to do and being so new to it all. You should be working as hard as you can to make your business profitable, but it’s VERY rare for it to happen over night, so don’t panic.

    It may sound rather ‘new agey’ but start a gratitude journal, I’m a hypnotherapist and frequently get my clients to do this if they are in a slump. It’s so easy to overlook the positives when you are worrying so much about the negatives. Every day take a few moments to list what’s good about your life, it doesn’t need to be massive things like winning millions on the lotto, but obviously do list it if that happens, but all the little things add up too. Just being inside when it rains for example. The more you look for these things the more your brain will learn to find them too. You are welcome to DM me (actual DM, not the chat thing, I have that turned off), if you want to talk one on one away from public eyes.

    • Wise_Salad@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Thank you so much for the helpful tips. I definitely think it’s a case of expectation vs reality. I studied competitors including the amount of sales they were making and their margins and thought it would be easy to at the very least make my money back if not more than that. However I’ve spent about 10k and have maybe made $300 in sales so I was just blindsided. And the thing that’s really pushing it to the front of my mind is not being able to pay off my cc before I have to start paying interest. And yes I can borrow the money from my husband (we’d have to pull from assets) or family or even open a new 0% Apr credit card and pay a 3% balance transfer - which is what I’ll likely end up doing as I still have good credit. But not meeting that marker of paying off the credit card when I really really thought I was going to is killer. I have tried the gratitude journal before but it didn’t stick. I should look into that again. I really do want to be positive about all this. I know I haven’t failed until I quit but dang it’s hard right now. I might take you up on that dm offer. Thanks so much!