What made it real for you? 🤩

[Hailey]

Retail members, we wanna hear about your "WHOA, I'M REALLY DOING THIS" moments. Maybe it was your first online order, first tough review, or the day you decided to go all in on your business and bet on yourself.

Share the moment it all clicked on this thread👇


P.S. If you haven't yet, make sure to RSVP to the upcoming Future of Retail online event 

[CareyJo]

That's so good!!!

[VanKalkerFarms]

Definitely a great feeling just being somewhere, and then your eye sees it immediately in the crowd, that is our brand.

[CareyJo]

In our first few months of being in business this go 'round, we had a large commercial client put lots of faith in us, based on previous work we'd done.  That was a five figure ticket and it made it really real!  We'd never had a job that big in our previous business and since then we've had quite a few just as large.  It's definitely fulfilling!!

[rtfulk]

Ours comes about every 6-8 weeks.  We design all our clothing and that’s usually how long it takes in production, from our concept until we receive the final product.  When the items sells in the website or in person, it’s a high you can’t get anywhere else knowing this item never existed until you dreamed it up, designed it and had it produced.   It’s what keeps us excited in this business.  

[bonny]

EXACTLY!  Designing your own merch is the best!  

Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

bonnywagoner.com

[VanKalkerFarms]

I've been in the farm and garden center business all my life with my parents.  I bought them out a little over 10 years ago with a $500,000 note to my parents over 10 years and we had our first successful spring season.  Then on June 25 2014 we bought a garden center, property and all, at a bankruptcy auction for $93,000 that my dad said would be my biggest mistake.  Turns out it was one of the few times he was wrong as acquiring all those structures and equipment has set us up to quadruple our profit and triple our income in 11 years.  When that auctioneer said sold it was as real as it gets in that moment.

[bonny]

Looking back, when it felt real was when I realized the people buying my products weren't my family and friends. They were complete strangers, and my work spoke to their souls. Soooo gratifying. 

Bonny Wagoner - Artist/Illustrator

[VanKalkerFarms]

Isn't that awesome. Strangers are enjoying and even wanting more of your products. A driving force to keep you going when other business obstacles get in the way.

[Short_Stash]

well I have not made it and not gone full steam in square ... still debating things of turning my hobby into a bussiness .. but like others when you work for others and have disagreements its gets exhausting and you own wishes .. but i am not an expert by any means but i also see there is not a lot of work to be had to change jobs 

 but a few hurdles I am facing as a new comer to the square space n Canadian market 

[canada] 

-taxes

-obligations 

-my own pay check 

-small margins - i am working with used and some new items .. 

[square]

-pay walls -useful tools like "item cost" are being taken away that measurement can make a huge difference when doing your math if its worth it , i had it for a small bit then bam gone, other ones fine i get it you got to pay people for there work and keep workers 

-card fees - so i have to make 2 prices and put up signs saying why there is 2 prices - i asked square to make a toggle switch in payments where its automatically calculated 

-shipping- again that can speed things up after doing all the work to make connections to say canada post to only find its behind the pay wall , sure ground works but it would 

charts - not showing card fees .. again important so if you need to adjust things again if stuff dose not add up 

[androo]

Everything you listed is part of running a business. There's a lot involved, and I think it's great that you're working through all this now. Too many people just jump in and then realise they hadn't considered what is needed. There'll always be surprises tho, no matter how well you plan. This is the excitement of business! The highs and lows are endless. It's not for everyone. I always recommend people keep their 'day job', or 'a' day job, as they get up and running - just for the security of a steady income. 

To some of your points:

'item cost' - I run a spreadsheet that calculates everything, I don't rely on my POS for such things.

'card fees' - not sure over there, but in Australia we can charge a card surcharge for transactions and Square has this option (might be Australia only?). We are only allowed to charge the surcharge that the gateway charges us, so it'd be 1.6% for me. 

I find card surcharges annoying when I'm buying, so I don't charge them. For my business the benefit of accepting so many cards via Square outweighs the 1.6% fee.

Plus, cash is not 'free' either. Assuming you do declare/bank it, you have the costs of carrying it, counting it, going to the bank, waiting in line, etc. as well as possible insurance costs and the security aspects. I do accept cash tho.

Shipping platforms do charge, but they provide a service for that fee. I currently use a manual option (free) with Australia Post but am apporoaching the volume that an automated link will save me in terms of time and occasional errors, despite the platform fees. 

[deliverer00]

when i made my first sale online. I think thats as real as it gets. I just have to work hard to get up enough inventory for my site to be successful. The platform is such a joy to use and customer service is the best.

[VanKalkerFarms]

Glad you are finding your way to success.  It does feel great when the orders actually do start flowing.