Just over five years ago, my soon-to-be-bigger family moved into a new home. A new scrapbooker myself, I spent my lunch hours working on the moving announcements I had meticulously designed. Excited about how they turned out, I listed them for sale on eBay. Wouldn't you know, I received an order for 100 of them while I was in the hospital delivering "Thing 2."
Those first few nights (or couple of weeks) with my newest newborn were spent making the order. Exhausted from the baby, and even more exhausted from not sleeping while he was so I could finish the order, you can imagine how elated I was when a couple weeks after having shipped the order, I received a "bonus" from the customer, who was so tickled by how they turned out!
Five years later, I look back at my business with mixed emotions. It's been a bumpy road, to say the least. Like my grand idea of listing hundreds of custom, hand-made cards for sale while eight-months pregnant, many of my ideas haven't been so "grand." In fact, there have been catastophic mistakes. But along the road I have made WONDERFUL friends, and have received many thoughtful Thank You cards from customers. I can't even express my appreciation for these tokens.
The last five years have taken me from a little shop on eBay to a lovely office in downtown Troy, Ohio. They've seen me through a serious illness (please, everyone, have your thyroid checked regular if you're feeling fatigued, are gaining weight for no reason, and/or are regularly facing serious depression), the loss of my full-time job and also the loss of several family members. Most recently, they've seen the business go full-circle from having just me, to having one employee, then two (different) employees, and just this week back to only me again.
If you're still reading this and are wondering "What's the point?", I'll sum it up. I want to say thank you. Thank you to all the customers I've had over the past five years. Thank you to those of you who read to the bottom of this post. Thank you to those of you who were patient with me when orders were delayed, or when I had family emergencies. Thank you to my friends and family who have been there for me when I needed someone to vent to, or to bounce ideas off of. And thank you to second chances... and third ones...
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to take time to reflect on all the blessings you have in your life.
Those first few nights (or couple of weeks) with my newest newborn were spent making the order. Exhausted from the baby, and even more exhausted from not sleeping while he was so I could finish the order, you can imagine how elated I was when a couple weeks after having shipped the order, I received a "bonus" from the customer, who was so tickled by how they turned out!
Five years later, I look back at my business with mixed emotions. It's been a bumpy road, to say the least. Like my grand idea of listing hundreds of custom, hand-made cards for sale while eight-months pregnant, many of my ideas haven't been so "grand." In fact, there have been catastophic mistakes. But along the road I have made WONDERFUL friends, and have received many thoughtful Thank You cards from customers. I can't even express my appreciation for these tokens.
The last five years have taken me from a little shop on eBay to a lovely office in downtown Troy, Ohio. They've seen me through a serious illness (please, everyone, have your thyroid checked regular if you're feeling fatigued, are gaining weight for no reason, and/or are regularly facing serious depression), the loss of my full-time job and also the loss of several family members. Most recently, they've seen the business go full-circle from having just me, to having one employee, then two (different) employees, and just this week back to only me again.
If you're still reading this and are wondering "What's the point?", I'll sum it up. I want to say thank you. Thank you to all the customers I've had over the past five years. Thank you to those of you who read to the bottom of this post. Thank you to those of you who were patient with me when orders were delayed, or when I had family emergencies. Thank you to my friends and family who have been there for me when I needed someone to vent to, or to bounce ideas off of. And thank you to second chances... and third ones...
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to take time to reflect on all the blessings you have in your life.
~Kim, Owner
Kaleidoscope Cards and Crafts
My Family, Thanksgiving 2005
