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It was all getting a little too much for me, and I thought it might be time to say goodbye to my beloved small business.
We had had some great times together over the years, but life as a working mum comes with a never-ending to do list, and the constant overwhelm of it all felt like something had to give.
But then I got curious, and I had an idea!
Before I share what happened next, let me tell you a bit about me and my small business. Obviously, some context would help.
Once upon a time...
One of my many talents in life is that I can illustrate. I used to draw a lot as a kid, and during lockdown in 2020 I started drawing again, and fell in love with it all over again. So much so that I turned my hobby of illustration into a small business called Henrietta's World, that I still run today.
I am creative, and I love that my creations bring smiles to peoples faces via the gift of a greeting card or an art print. It is simple, but meaningful, and it brings me so much joy.
Through coaching I have learned that one of my core values in life is joy. I want to feel joy in what I do with my life, and that it serves a purpose.
My small business reminds me of happy childhood memories and the big imagination I had during playtime with friends and family. Illustrating allows me to be creative, challenge myself, and try new things. I also love seeing which of my designs my customers choose for their loved ones.
This is joy to me, and why I choose to run my small business. I would feel sad without it in my life, it's part of who I am.
It was going so well until I kids...
I started this business before I became a mum, so I had no idea how this was going to impact me. I mean, you don't know what you don't know, right?
I had my own little room at home dedicated to my art, which later turned into my son's nursery.
I would attend pop-up markets on the weekends to sell my designs and meet new people. That soon stopped, reducing sales and brand awareness.
I would design new cards and art prints as and when inspiration came to me. Time to myself to draw? What is that?
Running a small business is very different now I am a parent. My priorities have changed.
When I had my daughter it felt even harder, and that's when the big change needed to happen.
Life was becoming increasingly overwhelming. I was breastfeeding my baby daughter throughout the day, not getting much sleep, battling mum guilt now that I had 2 children to give attention to, preparing to return back to work after some time off, also mindful that I had to restock my stockists with more greetings cards too.
Then I received a handful of personalised print orders (which I am truly grateful for, and I love doing them), but realistically, I was going to struggle to get this done. Thankfully they were all repeat customers who were all very supportive of my situation and were not in a rush for their orders.
But what if they weren't? What impact would that have on my small business?
I felt so overwhelmed and I thought it was time to call it a day. I felt so sad that this time had come.
But then I had an idea on one of my walks.
I got curious and I asked myself..
What was getting in my way of success?
It was time. I wasn't able to offer the same level of service as I did before. The product would still be great, but the time to get it done would take much longer, and now that I had 2 children and very little space to print, frame and package each order, it felt like it was no longer possible.
So I got a little more curious.
What could make this process easier for me?
Well, that was easy. To remove having to print, frame, package and deliver each and every order. They were all done by me which was time consuming. Plus it had to be when the kids were not around, for obvious reasons.
The curiosity continued.
What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?
Sell digital downloads instead. That would remove everything I was struggling to do.
That got me thinking. I already had an online shop, so it was just the lengthy task of ensuring my designs could be purchased, downloaded, and printed by the customer.
If I did this, my business would run more efficiently, and I could reach more customers too. I could still do my personalised orders too, which I love doing.
Then the self doubt kicked in.
This would take too long to do.
It's not worth the effort.
But I have lots of repeat customers who love to order my prints.
You're never going to get this done.
Tech isn't your best friend is it?
Just give up and let the prints go.
But I love the art prints.
This went on for a while.
Then I remembered to always start small.
What could I do to get started? Just one little thing?
I love a brainstorm, so I started there. I wrote down all the tasks I would need to do to make this a reality. It was a lot.
But I also knew that breaking my goals down into smaller steps would help me remain calm and keep going, and it did.
After a while I started to piece together a plan for how I could do this. Each week I would tackle a bit and over time I would start to see some progress.
There were moments when other things got in the way, and I felt like giving up. But I thought about how I would feel if I didn't do this, and what might happen if I had to closed down my small business.
It worked. It took a lot of time and effort, but I know my why, and how happy this small business makes me.
I got there in the end, and I am proud Henrietta's World is still going strong.
My key learnings
When I started Henrietta's World, I had a lot of time to put myself out there and have fun with this business. Having kids naturally changed my priorities, and I have had to be more flexible and open to doing things differently in order to keep this business going.
I am really happy with the changes, and to be honest, I actually prefer it now as it has allowed me more flexibility to focus on my coaching and my family, which is really important to me.
I guess you can call that a silver lining to it all.
If you have a small business or a ton of ideas that you want to bring to life, but you're not sure what to do for the best, please don't struggle alone. Maybe I can help you, just like I helped myself.
