This is my journey of how I started my small business at the age of 14.

Now I just turned 15 last December and by the looks of it, my business is successful, and still growing.

For starters, here's a little background, I'm an artist who started my art journey in 2020. You can see the details here:

• 🌹 https://read.cash/@Rose.artsss/who-is-roseartsss-an-introduction-46cefeda

When and how it started

It started in the year of 2021, August. Like any other day, I was browsing TikTok in my free time, then I stumbled upon a book binding/sketchbook making video. After watching that video, I instantly got the inspiration to try it out and make one for my self.

I saw the video fairly late, around 10pm. I don't have all the supplies I need, but I do have some stuff that I could butcher. At the time, I only had a few sheets of watercolor paper left. And the other materials are also very limited. I couldn't make a medium size Sketchbook with the materials I had available. So I decided to make a Mini watercolor sketchbook. 📘

At first, I had a real hard time figuring out how to stitch and bind the Sketchbook, it took me around 2 hours just to make my very first handmade watercolor sketchbook. And I must say that the result is really wonky and has a massive room to improve XD, but that's the best I can do with all the materials I've butchered lol.

And here it is, the start of it all.

At that time, I was really thrilled with what I was able to create. I have a circle of friends in the art community who are also artists. We have a group chat called "HUMBLE ARTIST✨" After I made the Sketchbook I was really excited to share it with my fellow artist's friends and know their reaction to it, and surprise! They loved it!

Then my twinny in our group chat, we call each other twinny because we have the same name hihi. She then told me that she wanted to buy it! Omo yes, she told me she wants to buy a handmade sketchbook from me!

When I read what she said, I was happy beyond words, like someone is willing to purchase from me even tho my first prototype was really wonky (༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ)

Then the idea of selling handmade sketchbooks struck me after she said that she wanted to buy one from me.

Make the idea into reality.

Now that I had the confidence and motivation to start my business, I now need to know the things I have to do and know about starting a business.

I have come up with these pointers that I followed when I started my business

1.) Platform to sell products

I now have an idea of what product I would be selling, but must also have a platform to sell my products. I have very limited options to choose from, it's either Shopee (an online selling platform in PH)  Or  I'll build my own shop website.

And I chose the first one, which is Shopee. Why? Because Shopee already has a huge platform that could reach so many people, and it's very convenient for both seller and buyer, and shipping costs less for buyers if it's within Shopee. Overall, it would be more practical to sell my products on Shopee rather than building up my own website.

Though Shopee also has its downside, their TF or transaction fee costs 7.5% per item. Well I mean, it's an understandable tax since we're using their platform and all that stuff, right?

2.) Products

I already know what I'm going to sell, but it's all handmade. So I must know the cost of the investment I'm going to spend on my products.

Materials

Like I've said, I didn't have enough materials to make my products. So I went ahead and shopped around for various materials such as: watercolor paper, material for the hardbound sketchbook, sewing supplies, paints, packaging etc.

My first initial investment only cost around 500 pesos or 10 USD. Yes, for only 10USD, I had everything I need to start my small business. ✅

3.) Making the actual product

After my first handmade watercolor Sketchbook, I practiced and practiced the right way and technique to make them. After a couple of days, I was satisfied with how my Sketchbooks are coming along.

So I went ahead to do the next step.

Make your product unique and stand out from others

This is one of the most important steps, how would you make your product stand out?  Because let's face it, you're not the only one selling that kind of product. So think of a way for that product to stand out and be unique and for people to notice your product.

As for me, I have done my research on my fellow sellers who sell handmade sketchbooks. I noticed that almost all of them sell their Sketchbooks with a faux leather cover. So I have come up with the idea of hand painting my sketchbook covers. 🎨

That's what made my product stand out from others, not only that the Sketchbook itself is handmade, I also hand paint every single Sketchbook cover. With that, I also had more freedom to make different and unique designs.

4.) Know your target audience.

I'm an artist, and my target audience are also my fellow artists. I had the upper hand in this point because I have a lot of mutuals and friends in the art community.

So know your target audience people, you wouldn't sell handmade sketchbooks to gamers right? You get my point.

5.) Where and how to promote.

I'm an artist who uses Facebook to post her works and stuff. That's why I already have a handful of people who always sees my work, So that's why I choose Facebook to promote my product. I already have the upper hand again because my target audience is also artists who are my mutual/friends already. So I choose Facebook to promote my products.

Presentation.

Also, this might not seem important, but the presentation is key.🔑 Even if let's say you have an amazing product, but you present it poorly, no one would notice it.

So take your time with taking photographs of your work, editing them, etc. Present them beautifully and aesthetically for the eyes of your consumers. Because trust me, The first thing people notice is the presentation. 💐

And finally, the day of release.

On September 8, 2021. The day I released my product. It's only my test run whether people will buy it or not, so I only made 10 stocks. Here is my post on Facebook that day.

And surprisingly, in only a matter of 4 hours, I was able to sell all of them! Not only that, people loved it so much and are waiting for the next restock! (灬ºεº灬)♡ this was a massive success and I couldn't be more happy and thankful.

For now, I will end this here. I'm excited to tell you guys in my future article how my business is doing now.♡

Authors remarks.

If you're also hesitating about whether you should start your small business, then this is the sign to start your own business.👈

I know it's hard, The fear of it failing is keeping you back from even trying.

People might not believe in you at first and that's alright. The first and only person who should believe in you first is yourself.

Let's face it, not all people will believe in you, and sometimes they'll even make fun of you for the things you want to achieve. And that's alright. The first step you must do is to believe in yourself.

Where To Find Me?

You can find my other stuff on social media by clicking this image below, also if you might be interested in taking a look at my sketchbooks, information is also available from this link. 👇