Recently, I have been having a lot of trouble with a number of these in my life. Personal and Business. Don’t get me wrong - I see the benefit of having a business partner but at the same time sometimes I think I could just go Solo. I love my Business partner - where I have for at least a year lost touch with a close friend I gained her. But, there are so many issues surrounding her that I have no control over and wish I could help her out with more. We both have agreed that while we are at the same life-stages that our personal lives have interfered with our potential business many times. At the same time, in a business one must always be on an equal footing.
We’ve had a tough year. Not as bad as last year - but, starting up has been difficult. I can tell you right now that doing the Pacific Mall lockerbox was a complete failure. It was a waste of at least $85-$110 dollars and time that I can never get back. The only things I’ve learned is that:
- I have to watch out for product overlap and trends
- Asians paid BELOW minimum wage never try to sell the product or get to know the product at Pmall. They just sit there and surf the internet.
- Never invest in something when someone can’t tell you what sells here best or tell you about clientele.
- I hate FOBS more then ever and I enjoy haggling because I don’t want them to rip me off again.
Also, my partner has enthusiasm, street-smarts, a good eye, and haggles like a fishmonger. But, she has little skill for this kind of DIY business. She can learn - but I cannot stress more then ever that one has to push themselves. I wish she’d do that more often. I can’t really complain about recent times - she’s starting to get right on the ball now. But, there are times when the stress of passing on knowledge just confounds me. She wants to resell. I want to create. Two opposing forces.
It’s complicated. However, I am sure we can find a happy medium one day - soon, I hope. There are times, I wish I had come into this with her more trained in design and sewing. It’s hard to teach someone design. You have to have a knack or know how to uncover a cycle of chaos and make it work. I have this and the skill to break things down in my head. My partner - design needs a lot of work. She knows what can look good but she has to stick to what she feels is her genre and what makes her tick. I cannot stress this more then enough. Sewing, however, is a skill she can learn. But, I can’t teach everything. Both of us are considering night school for it soon.
Also, I really want to take some silkscreen classes at Peach Berserk downtown on Queen. But, I keep getting thoughts of learning Photoshop (now that I have the latest version, thank you - PF!) and hand-painting my own designs then sending them to Spoonflower to be printed on Cotton Sateen. Expensive but less work and waste then me doing Silkscreening at home.
Thoughts?
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