>>6875630I started a business in 2016 by accident. My day job at the time was contract tech work. The work started drying up. I figured I could spend 6 months to a year job hunting, or I could spend that time taking my hobby full time. Last year I crushed it. Purely by building my things and selling them at craft fairs and festivals. It was kicking ass, paying the bills and keeping us moving. Struggling, but moving.
This year was a nightmare. Nearly every event that I attended was rained out. We lost so much money in lost revenue/ non-refundable booth fees and had to take handouts from family and foodstamps to get by. Now near the closing of the year, a client that I have been trying to close for a year now, finally decided to pull the trigger on a bulk order that will keep us employed till February. send invoices, lady that processes payments on vacation this week, my accounts get ransacked by garnishments and overdraft. Hard to get motivated after such a crushing year. Stress levels through the roof. constantly angry at things that I know I shouldn't be. Feel hopelessness and shame for having to rely on everyone else to survive but I know this business will make it someday. It has to. This is what I was meant to do, because I can feel it. When I'm at shows people love my stuff and it sells itself. Hard to sell when I can't get in front of people. Retail is too costly but festivals and fairs aren't consistent and steady enough. Thinking about building a mobile storefront "Tiny house" style and driving my wares all over the place. Not sure if it's a good investment or not.
