It’s understood when you go in to business for yourself that there will be an expected increase in stress, grey hairs and a marked loss of sleep. It’s a given. You are the sole person responsible for the licenses, paperwork, expense sheets, inventory, customer relations, customer satisfaction, along with the research and development of your products and/or services. Oh, and don’t forget marketing, both online and offline! It’s a lot to juggle, a lot to think about, but in the end it all can be very much worth it when you love the work you do. Granted, you won’t love everything – I’m not exactly a fan of government paperwork, for example – but watching your idea taken on a life of its own and thrive is more than enough to get you through even the most unpleasant of tasks.

I’m a Business Owner, Not a Super Hero!

However, being a business owner doesn’t automatically grant you super human abilities or grant you infinite patience. If anything, the worry and stress of trying to get your baby off the ground and running can wear down your patience to the point you question if you ever had any to start off with! How do you handle days of waiting for a response from potential suppliers to see if they will even consider you as a possible account… without wearing a track in the floor around your computer? How do you not panic when you see your blog subscribers drop down repeatedly during those first months, for those of you working the business blog scene? How do you handle slow months, servers going down, shipments disappearing? Where do you find the drive, the determination, the hell-bent-I-will-succeed attitude in the face of disappointment, frustration and panic? One day at a time, and sometimes, one hour at a time. But you do it, day in and day out, even when you are left holding on by your virtual fingernails, just making it at the end of the month by the skin of your teeth. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you did it, as long as you did it and succeeded.

Pain, Panic and Hair Loss

I’m not quite at the end part of getting established. In fact, I’m still in the nerve-wracking “Please let the suppliers email me back soon before I lose my hair from worry” point. I’ve been searching for reliable undyed yarn and fiber suppliers, without much luck. The first I contacted took three months to get back to me. The second was more fiber and (gorgeous) yarn for retail, but not enough undyed yarn. I worked with a retailer with great prices for a while, until I began to sense that hand-spun yarn wasn’t where I wanted to exclusively focus. That meant more searching for businesses to work with, which is exactly what I have been doing this week.

40HC What?

So far, I’ve spent most of the past week searching, searching, searching, and sometimes emailing, just trying to find a wholesaler that has what I need and is willing to work with a small business. The first company of this week was actually a manufacturer of yarn and fiber – and their prices were based on a 40HC (a forty foot long by nine and a half foot high ‘high crate’ – used for international ocean shipping). As great as their prices are, I simply can’t store that much yarn, and probably couldn’t afford the shipping cost alone even if I used all of the capital I have to invest in this business. Still, their response time on emails was under 24 hours, very polite and professional, especially considering their primary language was Chinese and mine… well, wasn’t! In hopes that someday I may need that much yarn and fiber, I will be holding on to their contact information. I am very impressed by all aspects of their business. (www.Bambrotex.com, if you wanted to know.)

Nine Hour Time Differences Suck

Right now, I’m waiting on a response from Ashland Bay Trading Co. They are located on the West Coast of the US, which translates to a nine hour time difference, me being the one ahead. I promise I am trying to be as patient as possible while waiting for a response; I know time zone differences are a bit quirky to deal with. (Ok, I’m checking my email borderline-obsessively, and am painfully anxious to hear back from them, but they key word there was trying. ) I’m sure it’s not helping my nerves that Ashland Bay came very highly recommended by fellow Fiber Artists, and I’m not sure where else to turn to if they say no. I’m just a little nervous… just a little! I’d really love to work with this company!

If It Wasn’t For You…

Still, no matter what happens this week, I’ve got no intentions of giving up. The response from fellow yarn addicts has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. My knitting friends have been a blessing, with their compliments and wonderfully kind words. And those who chose to buy my yarns… well, there just aren’t words to thank you guys. If it wasn’t for you, there likely wouldn’t be an Oriri Draco Design. So thank you, from the bottom of my yarn-loving heart!