Wow – 2019 has come to an end. At the beginning of this year, we were just three coworkers who had chatted casually about starting a small business. & now here we are, business owners reflecting on our first year in business. This has definitely been a year for the books, and we wanted to take some time to look back on all that we’ve accomplished this year.
The most obvious of these accomplishments, and the one that we’re all most proud of, is just starting the business. We spent so much time talking about what we would do if we started our own business. About how much fun having our own side business would be. And one day we just finally said – what are we waiting for? It was time to put all our fears behind us and jump head first into this new and exciting challenge.
When we “officially” started back in April, we asked ourselves what we were looking to get out of the business. We’re all very goal oriented, and having a list of things to work towards was very important to us. Here is the list of things we wanted to accomplish this year:
- Participate in 3 bridal showcases
- Work with at least 5 new customers
- Break even & pay ourselves back for all the start up costs for the business
- Total spend at Merlin Printing (where we work full time and do most of our business meetings,) = $5,000.00
It is with great pleasure that I can happily say that we accomplished EVERY SINGLE GOAL ON THIS LIST!!!!! We are beyond proud of ourselves. The work we’ve put in over the last few months has been immense, but it’s such a rewarding feeling knowing that we’re living out our dreams, that we wouldn’t change it for the world!
But, it wouldn’t be fair to say we got here on our own. So a huge thank you to everyone who placed an order with us, to all our friends and families, to anyone who liked our social media posts, anyone who has taken time to read or share a blog post (yes that means you literally right now,) to all those who bought our t-shirts when we were just starting out, and to anyone who has mentioned or referred us to a friend of family member. And a special shout out to one of our biggest supporters the president of Merlin Printing (AKA the owner of the company we work at full time.) It’s not every business owner that would support the idea of three of his employees starting a side business. But he has guided us, answered every question we’ve asked him (believe me when I say there were many,) and even invested in us before we had any proof that we were going to make this business work. Our gratitude towards him, and to all of you is immeasurable, and we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!
When I think back on the beginning of this year, I’m reminded of this quote:
The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward
Amelia Earhart
Starting this business has been the most challenging thing we have ever done. But knowing what we know now about what we have been able to achieve, our advice to anyone who wants to do something new is: DO IT! Take that first step towards accomplishing your goal. YOU CAN DO IT! We are living proof that with enough hard work and determination, you can accomplish anything you set your mind to!
Once again a huge thank you for reading out post and following everything we do! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2020. We have a feeling that 2020 is going to be a fabulous year!
xoxo – the JKS team
