My Entrepreneurial Journey – How I Eventually Found Success Selling On ETSY

My Entrepreneurial Journey hasn’t been a straight line but I’ve finally found success selling on ETSY

MY STORY

Using ETSY, Canva, and Printful platforms, I sell digital products online.  Through this business model, I’ve been able to generate gross revenues of $65,000+ over the course of 2.5 years.

Gross Revenue | July 2019 – November 2021

Disclaimer: any financial information discussed in this post is for illustrative purposes only.  Your results may vary.

Over the past 20+ years, I have owned and operated several businesses; but my ETSY shop is by far the most successful.

Often times when we are following someone’s story, we see the end results.  The fruits of their labor.  We don’t see all of the obstacles and detours that they may have encountered.

But, I would bet, before they experienced “massive” success, they also experienced a few failures. However, instead of giving up, they chose to use those experiences as a learning opportunity.  This is known as the growth mindset.

Was my past failure preventing me from moving forward?

In 1986, I was hired at Merrill Lynch.  I stayed with the company for 12 years.  And, I must admit, those 12 years taught me the most and created a foundation that I would continue to build upon.

Now, let’s fast forward a bit. In 1998, I began to prepare for my departure. I decided it was time to step out on faith and start my vending machine business.

I reviewed my financials including my retirement savings.  I did the numbers and I determined until the business started to generate income, I could supplement my income as an independent contractor.

If that wasn’t enough, I could withdraw money from my retirement plan.  And, if all else failed, I could return to work.

I told myself … I’m all in and this is going to work; but, unconsciously, I was saying something different.

Before my departure, I had already created a contingency plan. So, in my subconscious, I was telling myself that I wasn’t all in.  Even though, consciously, I told myself that I was. I told myself – I’m still young enough that I can always go back to work and start contributing to my retirement plan again. How could I be all in when I had a plan b (return to work)?

A little over one month after I left my job, I lost 65% of my retirement savings due to market fluctuation.

Yes, one would think with a background in financial services that I would have factored that in…..and I did; but, I never considered such a significant loss in such a short period of time.  We’re talking 30-45 days.

In any event, I tried to remain positive; but I was a single mom to two girls so there were concerns. I began to focus my efforts on finding work as an independent contractor versus building the vending business.

It was hard trying to create a successful business when that wasn’t my primary focus. My attention was divided.  The process was even more challenging because I was operating from a SCARCITY mindset versus an ABUNDANT mindset.

Refusing to let go of my dream, over the next two years, I worked various temp jobs while attempting to build my business.

Working for a temporary agency allowed me to keep some flexibility in my schedule. If I’m honest, in retrospect, in my mind working as a temp kept me from returning to a full-time job in Corporate America.

While I delayed the evitable, eventually I had to return.

In 2018, during my annual life review, I realized that I had allowed doubt to creep in.  the experience, emotions, and financial struggles related to my failed business were overshadowing my desire to try again.

It was Overshadowing what I really wanted for myself.  I needed to address the elephant in the room so that I could move forward with my plans. I needed to figure out how to move past my failure and embrace my dream. I needed a mindset shift.

MINDSET

In my life and business, I’ve chosen to embrace a growth mindset.  Despite my past hardships, struggles and/or challenges, I keep moving forward.

I’ve learned that these experiences are a part of my journey, and I should appreciate them for the lessons that they taught me.

Sometimes my experiences have placed my life on a different path.  Taken me on a much-needed detour.  And, even though the journey and/or process wasn’t as I envisioned it, neither was the destination. It led me to different opportunities.

INTENTION

In late October/early November 2018, when my plans to exit Corporate America did not go as planned, I went into what I call “the weeds”.  I was depressed and lost sight of my goals.  I lost sight of my vision.

It took about a week or so before I was able to ask myself an important question. Why was I surprised that I wasn’t able to retire in November 2018?  The answer was simple. I shouldn’t have been surprised because I hadn’t done what I needed to do.

Shortly, after this realization, I saw a Facebook post from an influencer that I follow.  She was promoting her $15 print-on-demand challenge.  I decided to sign-up.

During the challenge, I was able to formulate a plan and set my intention.  I’m going to open an ETSY shop.

CHOICES

I began to take small steps forward. And once I did, my faith in my dream was restored. I was feeling better, and I was hopeful about achieving my goal.

Fourth quarter is one of the busiest times of the year, and I had a couple of weeks before black Friday.

I decided to open a new ETSY shop and sell mugs.  Simple text mugs.  I didn’t even offer customization because I really didn’t know what I was doing.

I made a decision to follow the advice of almost ever online influencer….take imperfect action. Just start.  So that is exactly what I did.

ACTION

I spent some time on YouTube researching how to start an ETSY shop, keyword research and how to create a new listing.

I signed up for eRank and Marmalead’s free accounts.  I used both platforms to create a list of keywords.

After I finished the list, I created several listings around gifts for Grandparents.

I made $200+ gross revenue in 2 weeks (black Friday – mid-December). Not bad considering my shop was new and I didn’t really have a clue as to what I was doing.

HABITS

Every day, I was online researching something related to operating an ETSY shop.  YouTube was my go-to source and a valuable one too.

I was using this time period to test the entire process.  ETSYs selling process. The print-on-demand (POD) fulfillment process. The POD shipping process. Creating my own process to track my orders.

In addition, I was using the time to figure out what action would be required for me to turn this shop into a full-time business.

I began taking consistent action. Every day, I searched ETSY for best sellers.  What products were evergreen? Which products were seasonal? Which niches were selling well?

THE PIVOT

Everyone said that the orders would slow down after the holiday season, but my orders continued.

Since the orders were still coming, I needed to figure out how I could capitalize on the next big holiday….Valentine’s Day.

I started searching ETSY for Valentine’s day clipart, and during my research, I came across a mug for best friends a.k.a. Galentine’s Day. At the time, I didn’t even know that there was such a thing LOL.

Anyway, I don’t know what it was about the design, but I didn’t think that this person had created it. So, this sent me down a 3-4 hour rabbit hole searching for this clipart.   I eventually went over to Creative Market and there they were.  A bundle of best friend clipart. I purchase the set and began to experiment.

Remember, I mentioned how life sometimes takes you on a detour. Well, this was one of those times.  I was researching Valentine’s Day, but I stumbled upon another product that I thought would add value to my ETSY shop, so I pivoted.

Focusing on the focus keyword Galentine’s Day Gifts, I started to create a few listings for custom printables and custom best friend mugs. These listings sold so much better than my traditional couple Valentine’s Day gifts.

Even after Valentine’s Day, the sales continued. But, about a day or so after Easter 2019 something happened. My daily sales were 2-3 times more than my average.

I started to receive customer messages asking if the quotes could be customized.

After so many messages, I made a CHOICE to listen to my customers and update my listings. I updated my existing listings with a statement that the quote is customizable.

But, I took it one step further, I added new designs targeting Mother/Daughter relationships.  Now, I was focusing on the next upcoming holiday….Mother’s Day.

Unfortunately, at the time there wasn’t must male clipart on the market, so I had to decline several sells for customers who wanted a design to include a son, brother and/or father.

After the Mother’s Day season, I had my AHA moment.  I saw the possibility in using ETSY to replace my existing income.

I set my exit date and notified my employer. The plan was in motion. I was leaving Corporate America….AGAIN.

Even though I was making a similar decision to step out on faith, this time was different.  I really was committed. There wasn’t a contingency plan.  I was committed to making my ETSY shop work.

Over the past few years, I’ve had some hits in my shop and I’ve had some misses, but I think that is par for the course.

I make it a point to continue to learn the platform. Update listings that aren’t doing well and add new listings as I find clipart that might appeal to my target audience.

My mindset isn’t the same as it was in 1998. I’m living from a place of abundance.   I have a growth mindset.  I know that things may not always go as planned but I keep moving forward.  I’m grateful that I’m able to live the life that I always wanted for myself. The life of an entrepreneur.  A life where I have time freedom.

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