Archive for the ‘crafty business’ Category
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Han.
I recently made a mistake.
{Are you still with me? Of course you are! We ALL make mistakes.}
Every month, on the 5th, I ship my Love Letters project. Last month, I realized on Saturday, February 23 that I had failed to ship one of my orders.
Big oops. I felt terrible. But I still acted.
Rather than let myself get paralyzed by the gaffe, I sent an email to the customer right away letting her know what happened and what I intended to do to remedy it.
Here’s the email:
Here’s why it worked:
1. Admit the mistake. Immediately.
I 100% admitted what happened and apologized. Start with an apology and an explanation. Short and sweet. No excuses. Just the truth. (Note: you can explain without over-explaining.)
2. Fix it.
What is your solution to the problem? Note that I didn’t offer choices – I decided what the best solution would be and went with it, explaining to the customer what I was going to do to rectify the situation.
3. Make it right.
Payment refunded, no questions asked. Upgraded shipping, no questions asked. When you are running damage control, be as preemptive as possible in your solutions building.
4. Examine the system.
When a mistake is made, you must be willing to look into what systems (or lack thereof) caused it to happen in the first place. I didn’t have a good orders tracking system in place, hence, the oversight. By examining the root of the mistake, you can take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
Moral and outcome: I sent the email, and shipped the package on Monday as promised. I heard from my customer on Monday night with the email: “Thanks Tiffany. You rock!”
You can’t always control your customers’ reactions when things go wrong, but by having plans in place for how to handle them when they do, you can be sure that you, as a creative business owner, are showing up in integrity and handling things the way they need to be handled.
Any mistake stories to share? Do you have any creative “make it right” strategies that have worked for you in your business?
Tiffany Han, CPCC is a life & business coach for highly-creative people who aren’t living the highly-creative lives they want. Just yet. With provocative questions & hard-edged encouragement, Tiffany helps skittish someday-ers become fiercely focused creators — and proves that dreams do come true. But only when you demand it.
It’s not always easy to start a business, build a blog readership, or quit your desk job to pursue your hand sewn line of women’s clothing full-time. In fact, it’s almost always quite challenging at times. So, I started a series that tells it like it is…the good, the bad, and the completely ‘Girl, I can’t believe you went there.” Secrets to success that have been learned along the way. This is where we left off last time…
So, we have finally made it to rule #10 of the Secrets to Success series and the big 1-0 is a heavy one. Here goes…I see plenty of biz tip articles popping up around the web, but hardly anyone wants to share how tough and completely non-glamorous being out there on your own as a business owner truly is. Yes, there are glamorous parts. And yes, occasionally someone might mention how ‘completely jealous’ they are that you get to follow your dream and be your own boss. But’s it’s not all cocktails and party fringe. It’s just not. Which is why…
Running a business (big or small) is not for the faint of heart. Period.
Whether you are a freelance designer, blogger, Etsy shop owner, craft stylist, etc the following is true:
If this is your full time job, or you are hoping to eventually make this your full time job, there will be stress. LOTS of stress.
There will also be some disappointments – big and small. Nothing goes ‘right’ for everyone all the time. There will be moments of doubt. And there will most certainly be tears.
I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you this so that when these things pop up, as you grow your biz (whatever it is), you feel ‘normal’. No matter how amazing you are, and I know you are pretty amazing, the road to success is almost assuredly not going to be a cake walk.
You’re going to have to get your fingernails dirty, and I’m not talking about a little glitter here folks.
This dirt is legit – and it doesn’t fit into the categories of cute or trendy. You may have to scrounge pennies at some point and maybe even break down a few (virtual) doors in the process. But the good news is that it is doable.
And seriously, if I can do it, so can you. I’m just an average person. Honestly. I didn’t go to a fancy business school (or any business school at all, for that matter) or have a shit-ton of media connections before I launched this blog or the online gallery. I introduced myself to anyone who would listen, which is especially hard for a shy, introvert like myself, and kept plugging away – even through those ‘what the hell am I doing’ moments.
Over the last (almost) five years, I have shed a whole lot of tears and felt completely uncool in more than 100 ways, but I’m still here. Still kicking. And in that way, I’ve even surprised myself.
Final thoughts…
At some point, the ball will drop and it may seem like the end of the world. You may even want to quit as a result. But I’m here to tell ya it’s not the end of the world. Not even close. Rough days will make the good ones even better. And on the days when it seems like the walls are closing in around you, feel free to vent here. I’m listening.
Hey guys! I’m popping in a little early this morning to share a really cool design challenge from UncommonGoods, an online retailer that specializes in handmade, that I think you will be interested in entering. If you make cool stuff and could use a cash prize along with some great exposure, read on…
So here’s the deal: This challenge is a woodworking design contest. That means home décor, wall art, tech accessories, jewelry, games, etc are all fair game – as long as the main material is wood. The sky is the limit but only finished products, please.
The winner will receive $500 and an UncommonGoods vendor contract. Woohoo! In the past, readers have loved entering these UncommonGoods contests. And I am not surprised…They are truly a great company to work with. So head on over and enter your design.
Deadline: February 28th, 2013 at 11:59 EST is the deadline for submissions (that’s one week from today).
P.S. There is also a little somethin’ somethin’ for runners-up: All runners-up will receive a critique of their work from the guest judges, and UncommonGoods’ marketing team will provide tips for marketing and growing their businesses. Additionally, UncommonGoods’ buyers will review each entrant’s full portfolio and may consider adding the work submitted to the UncommonGoods website in the future.
How do I enter again? You can enter images of your finished products in the woodworking category right here: http://www.uncommongoods.com/designs/wood-contest
This post is brought to you by UncommonGoods. All opinions and ideas are my own. Interested in partnering with Paper & Stitch on a future campaign? Visit this page for more info.
This contributor post was written by Tiffany Han.
There’s a lot of talk in the business world of saying no. How to establish boundaries. How to set limits on your time and commitments. How to stop being accountable to other people and start being accountable to yourself.
There is a place in the conversation for all of that (in a big way!) but today, I wanted to talk about the power of saying yes.
Saying yes can do transformative things for your business, pulling you out of your comfort zone and pushing you toward something bigger than you’d normally do.
But, Tiffany, how in the world do I say yes to something that I don’t know how to do? Wouldn’t that be crazy? (Y’all KNOW I love the crazyfaith right?)
That’s the key – saying yes is what will make you figure everything else out. Especially if you’re someone who likes to drag her feet.
Let’s backtrack to the fall of 2011. I saw Brittni post on twitter that she was looking for new P&S contributors.
Oh, I thought, I love what Brittni is up to and would love to write for her.
But, while I had written a few guest posts for blogs, I’d never been a regular contributor. I considered myself a life coach who dabbled in helping people with their creative businesses. I’d never written a dedicated business coaching-type post.
And yet, in a moment of whim and crazy (those moments are usually the BIGGEST game-changers), I replied to her tweet and told her that my submission email would be over shortly.
I said yes. And then I had an omg-what-have-I-done moment. But, because I didn’t want to be that flaky person on the internet who says she’s going to do things and then doesn’t (Don’t be that person.), I sent in my email. I followed the directions that Brittni had put forth (always do this. Always. If someone tells you exactly what they need, give it to them.) and sent the email.
And here I am.
This might sound really simple, because, honestly, it was.
There are opportunities to say yes every single day. Raising your hand, even if you doubt your credentials, can be a game-changer for your business. It all starts with the yes. And ends with you showing up.
The say yes challenge:
I challenge you to say yes to at least 3 things this month that you would normally just think, “Oh. That might be nice someday.” about. 3 things. And then report back here what happens.
You’ve SO got this. I promise.
Tiffany Han, CPCC is a life & business coach for highly-creative people who aren’t living the highly-creative lives they want. Just yet. With provocative questions & hard-edged encouragement, Tiffany helps skittish someday-ers become fiercely focused creators — and proves that dreams do come true. But only when you demand it.
I can’t believe that it has taken me this long to mention it, but a book recently came out by Jason Malinak called Etsy-preneurship: Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Handmade Hobby into a Thriving Business. It’s a really good read, packed with tons of info on everything from bookkeeping and legal stuff to marketing and Etsy tips and tricks. As it happens, I am actually in this book as well (pages 159-160) as a resource for top Etsy sellers. Of course, I was honored to be included in
You can learn more about Etsy-preneurship here and you can pick up a copy on Amazon (just checked and it is a Prime item, so it ships free for Amazon Prime members).
