I am part of a 30 day challenge to grow my businesses over the next 30 days and I figure this is a good place to be accountable for it 🙂 We wrote a letter to ourself to detail what we would accomplish the next 30 days.
I had a plan for 2020 and had already done a LOT of groundwork for a new digital downloads business. I had to wait until after a conference in January 2020 where I had planned a large surprise celebration for founders of said conference that had sold the conference (talk about timing!!!). I detailed a lot of this in a private Facebook group so will be revisiting that group this month to reacquaint myself with the specifics I had built out.
I came home February 1st and already knew there was something brewing. Las Vegas already had cases of the “China Virus” from tourists and people that had traveled there for the major January conferences.
When I got home I had to work on my main business and had laid the groundwork to hire my grandson to upload products to Etsy and Shopify for me but got sidetracked.
Then BOOM March. I borrowed a sewing machine and got some curtains and sheets and started making masks. A friend hooked me up with a fabric manufacturer and a friend in Arizona shopped for me on Facetime and sent me fabric.
Our stores here in NYC were already shut down and online retailers were out of fabric. My daughter was also able to get me some fabric and sewing supplies in Las Vegas however by now the USPS was losing packages. A friend sent me mask making supplies from Oregon that took 2 months to get to me.
I found a manufacturer in NY that I was able to get enough fabric from to start making masks and selling them on Etsy. I hadn’t sewn in 30 years but I used to make all my own clothes.
Something to know about us is that we lost our house and all of the contents in Hurricane Sandy so I had ZERO sewing supplies, no fabric, no scraps, no old clothes, no scissors, no sewing machine, no thread. Vinny’s mom gave me some things so I could figure out if I could make masks. Then the machine she gave me broke and I ordered a machine from Singer. Fortunately a decent one was in stock. Amazon and all other online vendors were out of stock or price gouging.
The reason I am explaining this is that 2020 was a huge pivot – several of them. I work from home, I have my own businesses that are online based so didn’t suffer in that regard. But I needed to do something to help people and friends across the country rallied to buy and send me what I needed when their stores were open still and mine were not.
I now have 3 sewing machines and selling masks is a minor thing for me. Of course I donated a lot of them in the beginning and helped out getting them where they needed to go.
I have developed 3 other fabric based businesses that will continue to grow in 2021. I have the digital products business that needs to come to fruition since there are thousands of hours of work invested. And my main business needs to thrive and grow since it also helps others. I have an existing inventory of many crystal based products that need to fly to their new homes. I have combined fabric, sewing and aromatherapy into a new product that people love.
So while my letter to myself is rather vague it encompasses a lot of stuff that I will take this challenge and develop. By the end of the 30 days we will see what is going to be the biggest early winner. They will all be winners by the end of 2021.
