Designers Care: Growing a Second Brand

As you (hopefully) know, Designers Care was a HUGE part of 2012 for me. It’s pretty crazy to think that something that happened in mid-November could have such a huge impact on the entire year, but it most certainly did.

I learned a whole lot about business in just a single month with Designers Care, and what I’ve learned has helped me really sit and hash things out for both Believe Notes and Designers Care. Since I know a lot of people had eyes on Designers Care, and tons of designers participated by donating designs, I wanted to take some time to really talk through the behind-the-scenes things that went into getting the business up and running in the first place, and then all of the things that have happened since.

First – let’s start with how it got up and running.

I wanted to create a shop that would sell products that were great quality and fairly inexpensive to make, so that I would be able to donate as much as possible. I also wanted flexibility to be able to sell small quantities and a variety of options, which would eliminate big printing costs. Having stamps created allowed me to spend a one-time fee for the creation of the stamps, and then use the stamps over and over with different colors, papers, inks, sizes etc.

Starting up was fairly easy, with all thanks going to the Minted designer community for setting up a fund where people donated. I also received very generous donations from companies such as Simon’s Stamps, French Paper Company, and Envelopes.com, which helped provide me with enough paper, envelopes and stamps to get the shop up and running. Whatever wasn’t donated was covered by the fund, and luckily we had enough to get through the first wave of orders.

Fast forward to now, and I’m finding myself having to figure out the future of this shop. I’ve run out of almost all of my initial materials (except for the stamps) and there really isn’t enough money left to replenish everything. I also realize that the business isn’t set up legally (as a charitable donation with an appropriate Tax ID), and there are no real business processes or policies in place. There is also a challenge around the fact that I donated my time (and a LOT of it) to actually stamp all of the cards, and it was incredibly time consuming and began to take money away from Believe Notes (since I had to turn down paying design projects due to the time it took for me to handle Designers Care).

During the month of December, I spent a lot of time thinking about the future of Designers Care and where I wanted to see the shop go. Closing down was never an option, since I genuinely believe in the purpose and message, but I knew I needed to make changes. I considered options such as creating a Designers Care Zazzle or Society 6 shop, which would remove me from having to spend so much time stamping, but at the end of the day, I stand by the original purpose of the shop, which is to have high quality, hand stamped designs. So there won’t really be any product changes moving forward, but there will be a lot of thought around business models and whatnot.

While I still have some big fish to fry, I’ll be making the following changes in the very near future:

• Orders will only be filled on Saturdays and will ship on Mondays
• I will no longer be donating 100% of the money. While I haven’t worked out the exact percentages, I need to take out enough of the earnings to cover raw materials and operating fees
• Prices and shipping will increase slightly
• Suggested paper & ink color pairings will be on each listing

As I move forward in working through changes with Designers Care, I do plan to accept new designs. I will certainly make it clear and known when I am ready to accept new designs – I know so many of you are interested, and I am so appreciative of that!

Thank you to everybody that has helped Designers Care come so far, and thank you in advance for all you’ll do to help move the brand forward!

2013 Future Letter

It’s the middle of January and I’m reading about everybody’s resolutions and goals, and I can’t help but feel a little intimidated. I thought that I would really be in the mood to write my 2013 future letter, but the end of 2012 was such a struggle that I feel like I started the new year beat down and defeated. While I would love to say that I hit the ground running, the truth is that I totally didn’t. I wanted to sit and write my 2013 future letter sooner, but I knew that I was in no mood to be able to sit and write the optimistic and upbeat letter that I knew I deserved. I put a lot of thought into writing my goals, so instead of trying to force myself to write something I didn't feel connected to, I decided to give myself some time to relax, recharge and reconnect. There are also some really big personal goals that have been tossing around in my head that I’m not completely ready to share in such an open forum. However, I decided to let go of those issues, and share them when the time is right, and instead dive into the things I know for sure.

So here I am, and I’m excited to say that I’ve got my mojo back. I am so ready for 2013 to be the biggest year of my life.

2012 was a fabulous year, despite the rough ending. I grew leaps and bounds and I really view the year as one where I began laying the groundwork for future big things. From finally creating a website, to getting my Tax ID, I feel like I'm entering 2013 with a legit business on my hands. I’m anticipating 2013 to be my biggest year thus far – kind of my make-it or break-it year. I’ll be more strategic and business minded, with a genuine focus on my goals and my brand. I feel like I have little tiny egg in my hand, and I can either take that egg and nurture it into a beautifully majestic bird, or I can drop it and never see what it might have become. Fingers crossed that I don’t end up with scrambled eggs.

Without any further explanation, I give you my 2013 Future Letter. (and if you don't know what a future letter is, find out about them here)

Dear Jackie,

     This year was one that stuck out in your mind as absolutely life changing. You're business grew, your life grew, you grew (but not around the waist, please God, no), and you worked hard to lay the foundation for many years to come. I'm proud of you and the way you approached everything this past year!
     You really figured out your personal direction and made sure that your business aligned with where you knew you needed to (or wanted to) go. Instead of trying to cut corners, you spent what you needed to spend – in time and money – to invest in the future of your business. You still get giddy every time an editor or something pops into your inbox with a wonderful “opportunity”, but instead of taking all the bait, you made sure to only take the lines that were best for you. It was hard to say no, but you always had your business in mind. This was the year that you finally turned your hobby into a business.
     You were able to grow your wedding line substantially, all while continuing to find your voice as a designer. You’re finally comfortable in your own skin and have confidence in your talent and abilities. While it’s so easy to see other designs styles that you love, you’ve realized that you don’t have to be like everybody else, you just have to be like you. One thing that you’ve continued to do is stand by your product and ensure great quality. It’s hard to swallow your pride and admit that something failed, but by showing that you’re human, you were better able to connect with your customers. On that note, you resolved the issues you had with your iPad case line, and continue to use that experience to guide the way you launch and test new products. You've finally figured out which vendors are the ones that match your business values, and you are comfortable counting on them to help you move forward.
     Some of your most comfortable habits were challenged on purpose, and you even got yourself an @believenotes.com email address. You also worked up the nerve to migrate your blog off of blogspot. It was sad, since you really hate change, and felt so loyal to the service you'd been using for years, but your business is more professional because of it. You've also worked on some of the other professional, but not-so-fun things like contracts, invoices, accounting, bookkeeping and yadda, yadda, yadda. It's still a struggle, but with the help of a good accountant and adviser, you're able to keep everything in order and you are no longer worried about the IRS knocking on your door. In fact, if they were to knock on the door, you might even have a loaf of banana bread ready to greet them with.
     Instead of guarding your business, you’re opening doors and continuing to network with the larger community. You’ve collaborated with some amazing professionals and you have a network of people that you rely on and trust. It’s refreshing to have done away with the “me against the world” attitude and to have embraced the “us against the world” partnership. It’s still uncomfortable to be in networking situations, and you may never be a master mingler, but as you gained confidence in your business, you also gained confidence in yourself during social situations.
     Moving away from Believe Notes - you've also had a new venture to take care of, Designers Care. It's been so rewarding to have a project which such a worthy cause, because that's something you believe in from the bottom of your heart. Instead of letting Designers Care be a one-and-done project, you've grown it into a business. You spent a lot of time working on making sure it's a legitimate and sustainable company, which was both challenging and rewarding. You've got a process in place for new designers, donating to a variety of organizations, and a way to maximize donations while still earning enough to keep the business growing. It still makes your heart warm to know that amazing group of people that have rallied with you to make this project successful - and who knows, maybe someday you really will be on Ellen!
     Even though you carefully planned out each of your goals for 2013, there were a lot of unexpected turns in the road. You may have felt stressed, but you never lost your composure and you were able to learn from each new experience. At the end of the day, it was all of those little unplanned things that really made you proud of how far you've come. Each challenge you faced also presented you with the opportunity to make something right – and you continued to follow a business model that is warm and trustworthy for your customers.
     It's amazing, isn't it, how much can happen in just one year? Every year seems to have been full of learning, growth, and challenge, but this past year was the one that was groundbreaking for you. You may be ending the year with a lot on your plate (and mind), but you are so ready for everything that's coming your way. I know you’re scared, because you’re pretty much always scared, but you’ve worked your ass off to get where you are, and I am so proud of you!

Best,
Future Jackie

Common Mistakes Theme #3 - Learning to Say "No"

We're now on our last theme for common mistakes that happen with small businesses - or at least, the mistakes that have been common to my small business. This last one is probably the hardest, and I know a lot of you deal with difficulty in saying "no". I'm no pro now, but I'm much better, and here are some of my experiences.


Theme #3 - Learn to Say "No" When it Comes to Doing Favors

I could go on and on about the lessons I've learned from this theme (maybe another blog post someday). When I first started my business I was happy to get whatever experience and project I could. However, as my business grew, I found myself needing to value both my work and my time. I could no longer bend over backwards for people in ways that cost me significantly more than I was charging them. While I don't want to give a specific example for this one, I can tell you generally how this goes:

An old friend from highschool/work/town contacts me and asks for invitations/announcements/cards but really doesn't want to spend a lot of money. They ask what I would be able to do for them, and I basically agree to give them whatever they wanted for such a small amount of money that I knew I really would be losing money. But maybe I'd get a referral, so I convinced myself it was worth it. Then the old friend/coworker/dog-walker would want to make ten thousand design changes, and what about matching envelopes, or skinny labels, or textured-shimmery paper? And, oh, they needed them within two days. You get the picture. I know we all want to help out our old friends and acquaintances, but unfortunately undervaluing your worth as a designer is just not a good business practice.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't undervalue your work
• Offer a flat percentage as a "friends and family" discount off of regular, full priced items
• Not everybody is your "friend or family"
• Unless I sit next to you at Christmas Dinner, I am going to charge you regular pricing for any super-fabulous-totally-custom design
• Learn the word "no" and use it when you need to
• Have a contract that outlines your services and exactly what you'll be delivering (I am working on mine right now!)

So there you have it - the three main themes of which I've learned most of my small business lessons. My main themes were Theme #1 - Rushing Isn't Always Good; Theme #2 - Test Things Out and Theme #3 - Learning to Say No. Like I said in the introductory post, I'm not highlighting mistakes I've made in a way to put myself, or anybody else down. I'm actually doing it for the opposite reason - hopefully you'll be able to learn from these mistakes, or maybe they seem familiar already and you have your own ways for dealing with them.

The point of this mini-series is to show that mistakes happen, we learn from them and hone our business practices so that the same mistakes don't continue to happen. I'd love to hear your input on if this mini series has been helpful, and if you have any experiences you'd like to add.

Common Mistakes Theme #2 - Test Things Out

So we're onto the second theme in the Mistakes Happen series - I'm sure you're already laughing at how similar Theme #1 sounded to you. Let's move right on into the second theme...


Theme #2 - Test Things Out

There are lots of techniques and tools out there, but just because other people have mastered them, doesn't mean you'll be able to pick it up over night. Test things out thoroughly before offering to charge money for it. Here's an example:

Remember these pretty pink silhouette little girl cards? We used little crystals on the fronts of the card, and I had heard somebody recommend self-sticking crystals, so I decided to use them. I spent hours attaching them to the cards, and once they were all done, I packaged them up and sent them off. A few days later my client emailed me to let me know that she got the cards, but all the crystals fell off. I was devastated. I reprinted all of the cards and used the clear crystals I had always used in the past (I knew they would stay glued forever!). The next day I wiggled each one to make sure they were secure, and then I sent them to my customer. My customer emailed me to say that the cards arrived and were in great shape, but that she had really needed pink crystals. I ended up mailing her a third batch of cards, without any crystals at all, so that she could try to find the exact pink ones she wanted. At the end of the day, my client was so fabulously understanding and patient, but I completely felt like a failure.

Lessons Learned:

• Don't ship something new until your positive it's good quality
• Communicate often - I should have told my customer that I was using clear crystals because the pink ones were back-ordered 
• Do more research - don't take just one person's opinion. Or if you are taking somebody's opinion, test out a sample of something first
• Double-check your work. When I switched to a new program for printing invitation envelope addresses, I found the new system botched a bunch of addresses. Unfortunately, I found out when my bride got all her invitations back.  

Anybody want to share how long their first orders with ribbons/crystals/bows/embellishments took to put together? Luckily my husband is super detail oriented, so he always helps me get things perfectly. But the very first order I had took us both nearly all night! 

Ready to learn a little more? Can you relate to Theme #3? It's all about learning to say no when people ask for favors - which is even harder when you know the person!

Small Business Mistakes Happen, Learn to Fix Them

*yes, I know it says miskates. sh!t happens, what are you going to do about it?

I don't care what you call them - mistakes, mishaps, errors, learning opportunities, screw ups, whatever - they happen, so you better learn to deal with them. I've made a lot of mistakes since throwing myself into the self-taught world of stationery design and small business ownership. I've had little mishaps, big meltdowns, and many sleepless nights. However, I am a firm believer in learning from the past, and so lots of mistakes, means lots of learning. The mistakes weren't intentional, these things just happen, and if you have a small business, I am sure you could easily rattle off all of your "learnings" from when you started off. I'm glad the mistakes happened, because that's how I got to where I am today, and how I learned not to make the same mistake twice.

The "Mistakes Happen" posts aren't exactly ones I am proud to share. Nobody wants to admit that they've done something wrong, especially not to the whole wide blogiverse. But I'm confident that my experiences will be helpful for those of you just starting out. While you may be able to avoid some of the mistakes I've made, don't fool yourself into thinking that you'll never again make a mistake. I'm sure this little series of posts will be a continuous one, and I'll try to periodically reflect on things I've learned the hard way.

I've bucketed my mistakes into general themes, since that seems to be the way things happened. The three themes are:

Rushing Isn't Always Good
Test Things Out
Learn to Say "No" When it Comes to Doing Favors

I'm going to do a blog post on each theme, starting in about an hour with the first theme, so keep checking back throughout the week. In each post, I'll give one example of when that theme really tripped me up, and then give the lessons I learned for moving forward. Are any of your mistakes in themes? Have you had to learn some things the hard way?