Last month I made a big, grown-up decision. I split my business in two, so that I could concentrate properly on both bits.
For the past four years or so I've been running "how to sell on Etsy" workshops, which then branched out into online shop reviews, followed by a series of downloadable PDFs. I'd been selling these alongside my illustrations on Etsy, and while it's all been ticking over I was aware that it was becoming a bit confusing for my two distinct customer groups.
So, after giving it a lot of thought, I decided to go for it. First things first, I had to decide on a name for my new business. This isn't something I'd ever done before - it was pretty exciting, but I knew I had to get it right!
And then branding... again it's not something that I had consciously done for my own business. My BGI branding kind of just evolved over time. I decided to stick to the key colours I use in my BGI branding, as the two businesses will run alongside each other, and I created my own hand-lettered font. I can't explain how much fun I had doing this; I really enjoyed creating a whole new brand identity for myself!
So, new logo in hand, I set up my new Etsy Shop, along with social media accounts, and launched my new project on 6th April... I was absolutely terrified that no-one would be interested! But, you know what, it's been great so far! Lots of interest - and so much support from my small business buddies. I am so grateful to everyone who's supported me so far; and I hope that I'll now be able to develop the types of support I can offer to other small businesses under this new brand.
I've already been asked about running workshops as far afield as Glasgow and Cornwall; which is super-exciting - a little tour of the UK is definitely on the cards! I'm also looking at expanding on the workshops I can offer - perhaps looking at some social media topics too. Working under a brand name also opens up the scope of working collaboratively with other people, which is pretty exciting. Watch this space!
It's a totally different kettle of fish, launching a business when you know a bit more about what you're doing. I think it's actually a bit scarier, cos you know what can go wrong!
But, so far, so good... and my next big job is to get my own Make & Flourish website up and running.
To find out more about Make & Flourish, and for lots of handy Etsy tips, find me on Instagram and Facebook; and to see what PDFs and review services are on offer, see my Etsy shop!
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