When I started Emerald Coast Needlepoint, I thought I was starting a little needlepoint business.
That was adorable.
Turns out, I was also signing up to become a photographer, accountant, social media manager, shipping department, customer service representative, website designer, inventory specialist, purchasing agent, marketing department and — my personal favorite — IT support. And I would like to formally apologize to every IT person I have ever been impatient with. I get it now.
The biggest thing I’ve learned about owning a small business is that you are constantly learning something you had absolutely no intention of learning.
One day I'm designing a needle minder.
The next I'm Googling something like, “Why is Shopify doing this?”
Followed shortly by, “How do I make Shopify STOP doing this?”
Then, because apparently I enjoy chaos, I move on to sales tax, wholesale pricing, shipping, production timelines, inventory and approximately 47 other things I didn't know existed six months ago. And somehow, in between all of that, we're supposed to remember to post on Instagram.
Nobody Actually Knows Everything
This may be my favorite discovery.
You see other small businesses that look completely polished and think, Well, obviously they know what they're doing. Then you actually talk to the person behind the business and realize we're all just figuring out different things at different times.
Someone knows wholesale.
Someone knows Shopify.
Someone knows manufacturing.
Someone knows exactly what size box you need to ship something and somehow has strong opinions about packing tape.
These are the people you want in your life.
Because one of the best parts of building Emerald Coast Needlepoint has been meeting other business owners who are willing to answer a question, share a contact, explain how something works or simply say:
"Oh yeah. That happened to me too."
And suddenly you don't feel quite so ridiculous🙌🏻
Community Over Competition. Every Time.
There's room for all of us. Let me say that again... THERE IS ROOM FOR ALL OF US.
There are plenty of canvases to stitch, needle minders to collect, ideas to create and customers to make laugh.
Someone else's success doesn't take anything away from mine.
In fact, I think small businesses are better when we help each other.
Tell someone about a great vendor.
Share the name of the person who solved your packaging problem.
Recommend another small business.
Like their post.
Comment on it.
Buy from them.
Send someone their way.
And when another business owner sends you a frantic text asking a question you happen to know the answer to, ANSWER THE TEXT!!!
Because last Tuesday, you were the one sending it.
I Have Also Learned That Mistakes Are Apparently Part of the Business Plan
I wish someone had handed me a binder when I started that said:
HOW TO RUN A SMALL BUSINESS WITHOUT LEARNING EVERYTHING THE EXPENSIVE WAY
I would have paid good money for that binder. Unfortunately, I believe it is currently out of stock. So I'm learning as I go.
I've ordered things that weren't quite right.
I've changed my mind.
I've changed it back.
I've spent way too long figuring out things that someone else probably could have done in six minutes.
I've celebrated orders.
I've worried when things were quiet.
I've had ideas I thought were brilliant.
Some actually were.
Others shall never be spoken of again.
That's business.
And Then There Are You Guys🩷
Here's the part that isn't funny.
Every order, every Instagram comment, every shop that carries our products, every person who tells a friend about Emerald Coast Needlepoint and every customer who comes back means more to a small business than you probably realize.
When you buy something from a small business, there isn't a giant corporation watching a number tick up on a spreadsheet. There's an actual person seeing your order come through and thinking:
OMG. SOMEONE BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!
Every single time.
And when other small businesses support you, encourage you and share what they've learned along the way, that's pretty special too. So here's my very official business advice after learning approximately 4,782 things I didn't know I needed to know:
Ask questions.
Help people.
Share what you know.
Cheer for other small businesses.
And when you finally figure something out that has been driving you crazy for three days, immediately act like you've known how to do it your entire life.
That's called experience.
At least that's what I'm going with today😊
— Laine
Emerald Coast Needlepoint
