Being An Entrepreneur

I’m coming up on a year in the business, and what better time than now to reflect on all that I have accomplished so far! I launched my blog on January 1st, my online store on August 1st, and hosted my first in person shopping event on November 18th! It has been the most incredible experience building my business, marketing my brand, and doing all that I set out to do.

My latest accomplishment came unexpectedly on November 22nd when a friend of mine came to me with an opportunity to interview for one of her college entrepreneur classes; I said yes, of course! *and it went like*:

What is the overall aim of your venture?

“To provide more than a small group of people with fashion because fashion is for everyone…I’m confident in my style and hopefully that will inspire them to be confident in theirs as well, and it doesn’t have to be like what everyone else wears.”

Did you take any entrepreneurship classes in school? What would you have liked to know before starting this venture?

“I didn’t take any classes, but honestly the internet is so powerful. You can find anything, so as long as this is something that you know you want to do and you take the time that you need, it’s really not that hard. Also, I’ve worked for small businesses, so I’ve kind of seen the back end of things…so it really wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It was just getting everything together, and making sure I had all my ducks in a row before I started.”

What are the main sources of stress for you with regards to entrepreneurship?

“You probably hear it all the time, but having enough time. Like, I also work a full time job so making sure that I’m giving this baby (business) what it needs…and the whole social part of it- having my online presence where I want it to be…balancing my job, my actual life, and my business.”

How do you cope with the stress and do you have any tips to manage stress?

“I keep a calendar and a running list of things that I need to do and want to do. I might not have accomplished what task or goal I had for the day, but it will stay on my calendar…making sure whatever you need to do is always written down, you’re going to come to it at some point. So, saying super organized and ahead, and giving yourself grace because we are doing so much and you don’t always have time.

Do you track any metrics on your website?

“Yes, it’s built in through my website platform…I have a notification that comes weekly and I try to keep track of sales each month so that helps if I want to do discounts or sales.”

Do you have a set number of hours that you devote each day?

“No, especially since we have our phones and everything is accessible. But, I would say I do something for my business at least an hour a day and sometimes more. I do have a set schedule for when I launch new arrivals so I spend some time doing that like one day a week…things were different when I first opened my shop and I was getting inventory together, and now that I’m doing events, that’s more time.”

Does the nature of having a small business alter, change, or challenge your relationship with activities and other parts of life? If so, does it keep you from doing anything else or prevent you from doing anything or urge you to do other things?

“Definitely both. I look at small businesses differently, and owners and managers differently and I want to support them. As far as me, my business means more to me than anyone else’s, so i’m going to spend my money putting it into my business versus shopping at other places.

Do you have any other business related things that you’ve seen in your current job or past that help influence your decisions?

“They didn’t see the future of what it could be…I’m thinking about how many people I need and the roles I will need to fill.”

Would you consider yourself frugal with regards to entrepreneurship? If so, how have you been frugal?

“It’s definitely easy to go overboard with spending. I obviously love clothing and I love to shopl, so when I first started, I was like this is cute, that’s cute! But then I had to reel it back; I can’t just order every cute thing I see. Then I had to make my own budget and be realistic about what I could afford to start this thing out with. I had to plan out how many collections I want to have per year, how many items I want in each collection, and how that relates back to how much I’m ordering.”

Did you have a mentor throughout this process at all?

“Not really…my mom has a small business, but it’s not in the same field. But, seeing that my mom can do it while working a job, I used it as motivation. Also, working for other small businesses, they’ve all been my mentors in a way.”

I am so honored and humbled to be in the position to answer questions about my profession at this point in my career. It was a similar feeling to how I felt getting my first management position working retail - I made it! I actually worked with Maya when I was early in my fashion career. We worked together way before I knew I would be this far along as a blogger, stylist, and business owner. She may be a few years younger than me, but her sense of style and drive are right in line with mine. I can’t wait to put her in the hot seat one day!

I’ve seen and know people who have been entrepreneurs for decades, but it’s nice to hear and see different people’s stories that are doing it beside me. I’ve learned a lot over the past year and one of the most important lessons is that the hustle doesn’t stop. One of my favorite Tik Tok’s to go viral said what all of us small business owners have come to realize: “I didn’t want to work a 9-5, so now, I work 24/7” -@emmeessentials. It’s so true, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Working endlessly is just what we do and success is the reward. I’m thankful for those who are on this journey with me, and I’m excited for what’s to come. Bring it on 2022!