One step forward, half a step back

(wordpress thinks it’s March 1 – to their surprise, it’s really 2/29 – a leap year!!)

Getting my retail boxes yesterday wasn’t all bad. I had set the bar at a normal rate based on my previous experiences dealing with Chinese vendor samples.

The greatest fear, and this may sound silly to some, but I was not sure how the white color was going to turn out.  The vendor said they only have one white shade so I had to see what that was before either 1) finding a new vendor or 2) printing a white color that may not turn out well at all.  But as luck would have it, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  I remember having one white sample from a different vendor being almost blue grey.  I just couldn’t believe they called it “white”. Obv, I didn’t go with that vendor.

There are other issues that I did not forese but most seem resolvable.  However, it looks like I will have to produce one more sample round and the issue being that that’s more money I will have to spend.  I had some hope that I wouldn’t have to but there’s just no way around it on this one.

Anyway, I’m not exactly at square one but I may be toeing that line.

It’s been a few weeks

Lots have been going on, both on the work side and personal side also.

My packaging is done but now trying to finish up the last bit of it with the retail boxes.  Waiting on first samples with that.

Let me say that working with new vendors, especially those in China, has been the  most difficult part of this process.  Lack of trust is a big part of it and as someone once said to me, when it’s your money on the line you become dubious of everyone and everything.  I would like to say that I trust my gut and it usually hasn’t let me down yet but even now, with the money spent, there needs to be much more proof that everything will go smoothly.  That said, had a few hiccups with vendors but nothing that probably wasn’t going to be part of the course of doing business in China.  But once you find a reliable vendor, things do improve and move much more quickly.

Of course, the hard part hasn’t even begun yet….

 

Inspiring reality

This weekend, I read that Julie Macklowe  (Vbeauté skincare) said that you should treat Saturdays as if it were Mondays in the cosmetics industry. It’s obviously a no-brainer.

At some point during my journey, I will welcome to work 7 days a week if I have to to make my business sustainable.

For now, I just want my products to get here so I can start selling!!  I am excited to start and hoping to make my husband understand that it may take a few years before it really takes off.  Until then, I will be grateful for every sale.

 

Things are finally coming together

So the world, with regards to my biz, is coming together.

I’m waiting on one last bit of information for the outer packaging but so far:

- tubes are in production

- formula is one small step away from production

- deposits have been paid

took me a lot longer than I had anticipated but obviously I should have anticipated issue arising, and there were plenty of those.

Year of the Dragon is the year my idea comes to market.  Couldn’t ask for better timing.

finally, last formula is here

I finally received the last formula for my collection.  Two months late – so many comments but I’ll keep to myself on this one.

So far a couple of tests turned out well.  A few more tests to go but I’m confident there won’t be any re-formulations.  That would be very good for my timeline, already two months behind.

 

SEO – def not free

My website vendor alerted me that SEO isn’t free.  Who knew?

I guess my experience in the corporate world, with full-time coders, it wasn’t brought up because they were paid regardless.

Well I know now and knowing is half the battle, but it’s also 33% more I have to carve out in the budget.

Another day, another several hundred dollars.

Random thoughts from a small business beginner

I have never blogged before so this is very new to me.  I am usually afraid to post things that can be seen by the online masses but I know that eventually, I will have had to succumb to this form of media outreach as I start my own business venture.

Now that I have started my own cosmetics company, called Spright, this blog will try to attempt to convey the everyday adventures of a first time business owner.  Pretty scary stuff.

Thanks for reading. More to come!