I am trying so hard to not cry when typing this....ok too late, Mrs. Waterworks over here....after nearly 3 and a half years of being in business, I chose today as the day I close her doors forever. Maybe it's the recession, maybe my 7 negative feedbacks, or maybe a shift in the market trend, I don't know but after 943 sales and 3 different locations, minxden is now no more. It feels that a part of my soul is now gone too, I put so much hard work into this shop, and for a while there minxden was thriving beautifully, I thought I could easily make it to 1,000 or more sales. I was 57 pillows short of my goal...only 57. In a way, I feel like I have failed. Like dropping dead of a heart attack in the last 50 meters of a 10K race...I was so close to 1,000 sales. I hate failure like no tomorrow. I kept minxden alive as long as I could, and seeing my 2nd etsy shop boom in sales in the past 4 months, that could of contributed to the slow death of minxden. As I take a very long deep breath in my shaky lungs, I know for certain I will have those who negatively critized me and minxden say these 4 dreaded words to my face "I told you so...." I tried so hard to show them different, to prove my negative critics wrong...and I am so damn mad at myself for not making it with this shop...I knew I did something majorly wrong if minxden couldn't last 4 years...what did I do wrong? where did I go wrong? were my prices too high? too low? the fabrics? were they not nice enough? my craftsmanship? was it lacking? did I not advertise like I should have? about 100 questions are going through my mind and I pray that only by the grace of God himself that Minxdenpartdeux, my 2nd etsy shop will do so much better...it sucks to fail once, but to fail twice at the same thing, that won't do in my life. That won't do.
Well with the few pillows I have left, I will simply donate for good causes, and give to loved ones as gifts I guess.
5 comments:
My dear girl, why on earth do you feel this is a "failure"???
From where I stand, this is a SUCCESS. Almost 1,000 cushions sold and featured in print. If you won't be proud of that achievement, I will be proud for you.
If there is one lesson to be learned here, it's never, ever take negative comments to heart. Reserve that for constructive criticism.
Love, C.
c-
when I set my standards, and I always set them really high and I don't achieve my goals, I am really hard on myself and become my worst critic...my whole life I have never set any lower standard, like minimum goals. A lot of others, like yourself are telling me I did a great job and I have indeed achieved something, I can see where you are coming from and all, but with my personal satisfaction, it's never enough with me and how I feel...I wanted to see minxden well over 1,000 sales before ever thinking about closing it down...and when others give me negative criticism, I just can't take it...I completely shut down. that's why those 7 negative feedbacks always get to me and angers me to no end, because they weren't deserved at all. I guess this is how I am hard wired. But I do thank you for your love and support, and all of your positive critiques, coming from my mentor, it really does mean a lot to me!
xoxo
i feel ya, i opened my shop in december and it was such a slow start and then all of a sudden i had business and since i had more business i was able to lower my prices and since my price drop, my sales came to an abrupt end. etsy is weird. i started a store on storenvy.com its free you just pay paypal fees but other than that its free. i like etsy better but hey a little extra business couldn't hurt. i just started getting all my supplies in the mail from over a month ago and now my sales and shop views have plummeted. i may just sell the bulk of it and walk away haha. ugh i can't handle these slow days. I'm glad your second shop is doing good, i hope it stays that way. I'm just switching to a supply shop to get most of this stuff sold. my other site i have just a few items and i overpriced them just to see what happens. sometimes people think if an item is more expensive its better but with handmade it doesn't always work that way. well i think you have done just great for yourself, the only time i was featured in an article it involved criminal activity. now i sew handbags and make necklaces. things change.
I think you have been a resounding success! I love my pillow. You have sold them all over the world!
Negative feedback comes with the territory I think. There are people who wouldn't bee happy even if they were made of gold and free.
Plus, featured in print?!?!? I'll have to try and get a copy of that magazine.
You are loved and brave and successful!
heather- you know your etsy business is quite young, give it some time, you may see booming sales before you know it, it usually takes time to see results you were looking for!
Auntie Kim- thank you, I know I am loved by many and that gets me going day by day! love you!
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