“Just do it” has been the sentence motivating me throughout this year and so far I've applied it judiciously. I’d be talking about one aspect of my life that I've applied this sentence to and how it’s going; my business.
Late last year, I was inspired to finally monetize my craft and for weeks, it was nothing more than an inspiration. A few weeks later, I began doing my research on the internet, questioning a few veterans and also interacting with the potential clients in the niche I wished to venture into. However, I was still very uncertain about the idea and this is the point where self doubt came in and trust me to wallow in it.
I took about two weeks to rethink my decisions. “Can I really pull this off? “Will I be able to keep up with the internet rush? “It's been a while since I used certain web 2 apps, do I still know how to navigate them?” I'm not mincing words when I say that a thousand and one negative questions came to mind but they all somehow died when I looked within to confirm the reason why I started the business…because I simply love to do it.
Two years ago(I can’t believe it's been two years already) when I ventured into crochet crafts properly and with the help of Hive and supporting Hivers, I made a decision not to monetize my crochet crafts until I reach a point where I'm absolutely proud and content with my crafts. I stuck with this decision over the years, making sure I practiced every single time I got the chance but never sold any of the items. I gave a few out as gifts to interested persons and even made a few crafts for free for some people because to reiterate, it's something I love to do.
I have documented about 97% of all the crochet crafts I've ever made on Hive but now I believe it's time to document them not just on Hive but on other social media platforms too, from which I could get some more customers.
First Setback
My first major setback occurred a few weeks ago and that too was put in the form of a rant post and documented in this community. You can check the post out for proper details but a summary would be that I went to make clothing tags for my crochet crafts and a deceptive man made very substandard tags. The prints on the tags he made could be cleaned off with just one wet swipe so what would happens when a customer washes their crochet item?
Front view
If I’m being honest, this setback brought yet another pool of questions and doubt but my graphics designer who knew I was very displeased with the first set of tags offered to help out once again when I came up with another format for the clothing tags. This process stalled a bit because my school examinations started almost immediately after, but once I was done with that aspect, I went right back to my tags.
Back view
The new set of tags arrived yesterday and words cannot explain my excitement! I was so happy at how the tags came out and the beautiful thing is that the new individual who handled the printing was very honest and straight to the point. He gave me a price run-down, told me what exactly he was going to do and gave me a pick up time. I went by the pick up time and my lovely looking tags were ready to be picked up.
At this point, I can say that everything happens for a reason because if the colour did not easily wash off from the first set of tags, I probably wouldn't have opted to make new ones that turned out to be more durable and cheaper than the first set.
Social Media Presence
thee car nian.Almost everyone I spoke with told me that for the first few months to years of starting my business, I would have to handle my social media accounts myself and this initially felt unattainable but this is me actually enjoying the process a few weeks in. I followed the advice from veterans and experts and went ahead to create an account for my brand on all social media I know and I can be found on all social media by @thekanian (pronounced as
First craft to rock the label.
There is no doubt that creating both video and written content requires time, dedication and proper planning but the end result is always worth it. I recently made a video for my Tik Tok account that I've watched almost a hundred times and each time I watch it, I get proud of myself all over again.
I've come a long way from where I started and I plan to go even farther all things being equal. This post also serves as a reminder to everyone holding back; just do it because like the say “to be outstanding, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. ”
©Thekanian
Images used belong to me.
LIEBE🤍
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That’s exciting I’m glad you’ve started your own business! That’s not an easy thing to do but hopefully you stick with it and learn a lot. It’s very rewarding!
I hope I have the consistency required for a business to thrive.
Thank you,✨