Just look at that photograph! I’m clearly no spring chicken, so anything I take up is bound to be tinged with an element of trepidation and doubt. And the pandemic has perhaps made this perhaps the most difficult of times to start anything new. But I’m ever so glad that I took the plunge to start this business, and today I’m going to tell you why. Here are my five favourite things about doing what I do.
1. It’s Creative and Fulfilling
I knew it was creative, and I desperately needed a creative outlet. That’s why I started making jewellery in the first place. Creating something tangible, with size and dimension and texture is fun and fulfilling. But trying to turn it into a business has given it another dimension altogether, and taken the fulfilment to a whole new level. I have to think about things I barely gave a passing thought to before; websites, marketing, brand image, customer profiles, product guarantees, my writing voice; the list is endless. It’s not just my creativity that’s been given a boost. It’s as if my entire brain has been sent off to a boot camp. I hadn’t realised how little of my brain I was using, simply because I had spent years in the wonderful comfort zone of a corporate environment.
2. I Love Seeing a Happy Customer
This is the best feeling ever! I made some earrings for a friend of mine. She had some pearls and she wanted them to be worked into a pair of earrings that looked exactly so. I hadn’t even properly started up Halo then, and had no idea of how to price things. I totted up what the earrings had cost to make, added a small profit and charged her what I thought was a fair price. But she liked the earrings so much that she actually paid me more than I’d asked for. Seeing the look on her face when I gave them to her was better than any money she paid me. It also taught me that perhaps I needed to get a bit smarter about my pricing – but more about that some other time.
3. It’s for a Good Cause
This ultimately is what will keep me going when the going gets tough. And it will get tough. Lack of sales, ideas drying up, marketing blunders, missed opportunities; I expect to go through them all, just like every other business would have done at some point. And when they happen, I‘ll have this to remind myself of – it’s for a good cause. Half of any profits will go to charities that help disadvantaged girls and women with their learning and education. I always imagine meeting one of the girls who’ve benefitted, in ten years’ time, flourishing as a young woman. How could I possibly remain unmoved by that?
4. It Doesn’t Feel Like Work
I remember my first job as a bright-eyed and bushy tailed computer programmer. I was so excited to get that job, and loved what I did so much that I said to my Mum, “I can’t believe that someone is actually paying me to do something that I would gladly do for free!” After all these years, I’ve come full circle and feel that same excitement again. What I’m doing now really doesn’t feel like work. I wake up each morning thinking about all the things I want to do that day, unlike before, where I would think of the things I had to do. There’s a whole new world of friendly, supportive and creative people that I’ve been introduced to too. I know how I feel could change, either due to lack of success, or perhaps even because of it. But for now, I’m enjoying the feeling.
5. There’s Always More to be Done
Business is never finished. You can never say “That’s it. I’m finished. I’ve set up the business; I’m doing well, so I’m done.” There’s always more to do. Look at all the huge businesses that are all over a 100 years old; Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Heinz, M&S; none of them are complacent. They are continuously revisiting products, customers, strategies, logos, advertising, markets and a zillion other things. It doesn’t matter how big or small the business is. There are always new entrants, technologies, threats and opportunities. That’s what’s so great about it. So if this venture meets with success, I can go on forever. And although I fear failure and have negative thoughts same as everyone else, deep down I’m an eternal optimist. I really love the old saying “It’ll all work out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, then it’s not the end.”
So now you know why I love what I do. I’ve learned many lessons in a relatively short time, and I’m sure there are hard knocks ahead that I‘ll have to take. And perhaps someday I will yearn for my old comfort zone once more. But for now, that yearning is nowhere in sight.
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