Friday, February 21, 2014

Happy Birthday to Pasque Flower Creations!




My Etsy shop, Pasque Flower Creations, is three years old today!  Time flies when you’re having fun. 

It’s been an interesting journey –a learning and growing experience. 

Here's a brief Etsy biz retrospective.

I started as a clueless Etsy newbie.  I’d never heard of SEO (search engine optimization), and I relied on my hubby to upload and edit photos because I hadn't a clue how to do that.  I went months before I made my first sale.  Thanks to Etsy Newbie Chats and the former Lost In The Crowd Team, I survived that first year and had 88 orders by the end of 2011.

In my second year, as an Etsy toddler, I began to find my own shop identity.  Like a good two year old, I learned to say “NO!”, increased my shop inventory, improved photos, and I embraced a new logo that more accurately portrayed my shop’s vibe.  I almost tripled my prior year orders, with 260 sales in 2012.

Last year I toddled off to record sales with a clearer sense of direction for my Etsy business.   In a webinar I attended on February 19, 2014, hosted by Melanie Duncan of Entrepreneuress Academy, I learned that 50 to 70 percent of start up businesses fail within the first 15 months.  But I’m still here—alive and kickin’!!   Although my sales in 2013 increased only 15% over 2012, my revenues grew by almost 33%.  I learned to cut my costs of goods sold and shipping costs without sacrificing quality, and I increased prices.  I ended last year with 301 sales.

As I enter my fourth year, I’m now a preschooler, anxious to learn more about photography, marketing, and product development – skill sets that will help me progress (I hope) to 1,000 sales before the end of 2014.  (I’m at 778 and counting.)  And I continue to seek out ways to monetize scraps.  So far this year, despite a rather sluggish February, my revenues are 15% ahead of where I was at the end of February 2013. 

My Etsy shop is not growing at warp speed, but I’m trending in the right direction, and I’m having a lot of fun and making new friends along the way.  

TTFN
LeAnn


15 comments:

  1. I love to read about your shop experiences! It is like my personal journey back-flash:) Congrats on your 3 years and Best wishes for many more years to come! Happy Sales!

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  2. You've done such a great job growing your businesses. And as we know, it's not the number of sales, but the profits that matter :) I hope 2014 is your best year yet!

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    1. You're an inspiration, Edi! Thanks for the good wishes.

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  3. Yay! Happy Birthday and cheers to your new goals for 2014!

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  4. Nice! My first sale was to a friend of my sister's. =)
    Congrats on seeing such an increase in revenues and best of luck achieving your goal of 1000 sales!

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  5. Love reading this! It is so encouraging! I have not has as much luck as you have, after five years, but I have not done as well as you in slimming down to specific inventory. I so love to use up all my scraps, so I make all kinds of things! Oh well. Congrats and Happy Birthday!

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    1. Ah---but you have a bajillion apron orders! And I am still trying to come up with creative ways to use scraps.

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  6. It sure has been a learning experience hasn't it? I started about the same time as you and I never in my wildest dreams thought it would actually amount to much more than some extra pocket change.

    Like you, I'm still growing and learning. You are still coming out ahead and the way you are going, you'll continue to grow every year, I know it! You are doing amazing! Keep up the good work.

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    1. Thanks, Sher! Your success has been amazing. I am in awe of you and Edi -- able to quit your day jobs and create all day!

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  7. Happy belated birthday! Hope next year will be a good one.

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  8. Congrats on reaching great milestones in you business LeAnn, and growing every year! I loved reading about your Etsy journey, it's not only inspiring it's exciting to hear about where you want to take your business. I know you will 1000 sales this year and then some, have fun in the process.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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