CLOSING DOWN MY BOUTIQUE: WHAT I'VE LEARNED

Sunday, October 26, 2014




"The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake. You can't learn anything from being perfect."
Adam Osbourne

You Can't Have It All
I remember I watched an interview of Kim Kardashian saying that she thinks it's ridiculous that women feel they can't have it all. A family, a job they love, a husband, a social life, a hot body...your sanity. I see where she's going with this. But the truth of the matter is, in order to be present in anything you need to be there 100%. In that moment, that hour, that day, you will not be able to give your attention to anything else. Something always suffers.

You Can Be Pro-Active About Your Calendar Though
Write down the roles that are important to you in life. For me one week might be: Mother, Wife, Self, Business Owner, Fitness Freak, College Student. Now write down what needs to be accomplished in a week for each role. For example: Mother | Pickup ingredients for Penelope's party, schedule doctor appointment, go to park twice, cut her nails, figure out and order Halloween costume. Do this for each role and look at the week ahead, start scheduling your week accordingly. HUGE people, huge.

Business Success Is Directly Related To Perseverance
If you are an NFL fan, after you read this please don't send me hate mail. Many people who have made it professionally aren't more talented, they just persevered. Business is the same. Doors will shut. People will say no. You'll make horrendous mistakes. You'll hate certain aspects of what you do. But if you know in your hearts of hearts this is where you need to be at and what you need to be doing, then quitters never prosper.

Know When To Cut Ties
If your subconscious is screaming at you daily "I do not like any aspect of what I'm doing!!!". Listen. 

Passion Is Overrated 
I feel a little robbed here. After reading all of this material on how you need to be passionate about what you do. There's so much pressure on this word passion, that I don't think anyone pauses to tell you that it's ok to not be passionate about every aspect of what you do. Like I don't think the guy who opened up BP Oil passionately loves oil. I don't believe he wants to make out with it. But he loves business, he loves and is passionate about certain aspects. And that's realistic. It's realistic to say I love, love, love giving people beautiful things but I absolutely hate designing graphics and doing photo shoots. The success lies in knowing that is simply part of the job. Not passion.

A Goal And A Plan Are Essential
You wouldn't go on a trip without mapping your goal destination and the details of how you will get there. The same goes for business.

Take Time, Details Make Or Break You
When you have an idea that's obviously going to be successful because it's your idea and it's awesome (cue insanely biased arrogant emoji here). Pause. Check the market. Is there a need? Do you have a niche? If so, great. Now be prepared to take as much time as you need to perfect your craft. First impressions are everything. People notice things like pretty signatures, nice paper, great graphics and photography.

You Will Never Get Anywhere By Yourself
You need people. To inspire, to motivate, to broadcast, to team up with. Our planet was built on the premises of teamwork. It doesn't matter how skilled and awesome you are, other people are essential to success. Cultivate true friendships and mentorship, people know when your in it for the wrong reasons. Being interpersonal is an absolute necessity. If you don't work well with people, seriously reconsider being an entrepreneur. 

I've ran Indulgera for a little over two years now completely by myself. With my own funds and hours and hours of Googling and Youtubing. Teaching myself how to create graphics, run marketing campaigns, photography, editing, bookkeeping, negotiating...you name it, I learned it. I'm really proud of how much I accomplished with knowing zilch. The time has come to close because simply my entire heart is not in it and it's not profitable. Nothing lures me out of bed each day to do the work. I think when I realized I was dreading the things I enjoyed doing a year ago I had to look at the situation. But what valuable things this business has taught me not just about the business world, but about myself? I will be forever grateful for the people I met and the things I learned. And this is definitely not the last of me in the entrepreneur world, but I'll keep you posted on that. :)

I hope these lessons helped you and before Indulgera closes, I'm running a 50% off sale the entire store. Stock up quick, inventory is getting low!





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