Okay I think the 2 things that are really getting to me lately is that
- 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.
- 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!
I am curious what type of business you have, what kind of market you are in, and what your sales expectations of “success” are.
I ask this because some people go into business because they want to be entrepreneurs, but never really sit down and do the “math” to figure out how much business they need to do to be profitable, and by “profitable” I mean after paying your business expenses including your owner salary.
I do consulting for people who are interested in getting into business, not necessarily rescues of failing small business. Good example of this is people want to open coffee/breakfast shops. They want to make $50,000 a year for themselves, have one or two employees, and be open from 7am-1pm six days a week. I look them in the eye, and go “Don’t do it,” and they immediately ask why. I show them the spreadsheet of expenses and receipts broken down by month for 12, 24, and 36 months and they immediately go, “Oh, I see it now.” and then we try to work up alternatives and options. The number of businesses I’ve walked into on opening day and say to myself, “This place won’t be open next year.” is shocking.
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I sell baby and children’s items. I originally wanted to only do gift boxes and to do them for all ages. But I kind of niched myself into babies with the money I spent on the items. And then when the boxes weren’t selling I thought, okay I need to sell things individually. Which still isn’t really working out lol. And I did study what I thought were my competitors but they’re successful and I’m not so I guess I studied the wrong people lol. I was hoping to make like 1-2k a month and thought if it gets a little bigger, great! But I don’t need 6 figures level. I thought I would at least be able to start paying off my credit card but I’ve only made like $300 in sales through those items. I did also think that I would even be busy enough during q4 that I would hire someone to help me package orders and such. Lolz.
Thank you for your insights on what to do next. You always hear about everyone blowing up on TikTok and their stores going crazy. But I know that’s nothing to rely on and you DONT hear about all the people that didn’t happen to. I do really need to put myself into my local market more.
Wondering what you’ve done for marketing? What platforms are you selling on? Is it a direct Shopify store or are you using marketplaces?
What are you doing for advertising?
I think you’re fighting against problem #1 when it comes to business – your niche is “too niche”. According to statistics, the birthrate in the USA (as a whole) is about 60 births per 1000 women of childbearing age. If you add in the grandmothers and aunts and friends, you -might- be targeting “a few %” of the population as potential customers. Then, you have the task of convincing those potential customers that your product is valuable and unique and a good gift idea.
I would think first about expanding the footprint of who your gift box ideas are aimed at. I used to be a partner in a small business decades ago that did gift boxes, hand-delivered to college students at exam time and holidays at local colleges. Candy bars, stuffed animals, books, etc.
Yes I niched myself much smaller than I wanted too. I wanted to do gift boxes for all ages but when I was doing inventory I just hyper focused on baby stuff and spent all the money I had allotted on baby items so I said eh I guess that’s what I’m doing now