In 2015 my sewing business was languishing, put on a far
back burner by our flourishing bed & breakfast business. But in early summer, I read that a pop-up
marketplace called SEED Ventures, part of The Oberlin Project, was going to open as an entrepreneur incubator
and was currently looking for applicants.
They were especially interested in local entrepreneurs who were
launching relatively new businesses specifically with an environmental
sustainability development bent.
Well, my business wasn’t that new but I was kind of
re-launching it, especially as I was in the process of changing my product line
from the old laptop bags and so on to products more aligned with the B&B,
like placemats, coasters, trivets, etc. And clearly I was into the “triple bottom
line” of profits, environment, and people practices. What the heck, I thought, I’ll apply; what
have I got to lose? Although, to be
honest, I didn’t think I’d be chosen (to be really honest, I thought I was too
old, that they would want young, energetic entrepreneurs).
So, it was quite a bit to my surprise – particularly since a
couple months had passed and I’d kind of forgotten about it – that I learned
that I had, in fact, been chosen to participate in the incubator. My fellow entrepreneurs consisted of:
Sue Wilson
of SudzyPup, a maker of dog soap and eventually people soap
Corey
Butler of Doki Doki Chocolate and his chocolate-covered pretzels
Ann Mickel
of Love Delivered, who handcrafts cards from found materials
Bryon Skvor
of Humble Grounds, a coffee roaster
We set up shop in a real store in downtown Oberlin using
leftover furniture from the owner and things brought from home. None of us knew much if anything about
merchandising so our store layout and window display wasn’t the best, but we
were learning as we went along and it looked pretty nice on opening day,
October 1, and the evening reception was a big success.
Sales were a little slow but it was only October and Oberlin
is not the busiest shopping spot in the world.
Toward the end of the month we had a couple of local store owners in who
basically told us our layout and window sucked (they didn’t put it anywhere
near that bluntly or crudely) and we didn’t have enough inventory. So, big revamping of our displays, and by
November things were starting to look really good.
Parents’ Weekend at the college was a big day for us and we
all enjoyed a nice uptick in sales.
Thanksgiving was pretty good, too.
Needless to say, we were most excited about the upcoming Christmas
season. We planned an “advent calendar”
of daily sales and promotions, and put on various events to bring more people
into the store. Some of these were quite
successful, like the joint tasting event of Humble Grounds and The Runcible
Spoon (jam). Others, like mine, were
total flops.
The lack of success was entirely my fault, as I really
didn’t want to do any events and so did not do a whole lot to advertise
them. The first was a DIY workshop where
I was going to teach people to weave fabrics together to create candle
mats. I think setting the fee at $15 was
a mistake – especially when the public library was offering workshops for free
– and no one signed up for it. (I was
relieved.) The second event was an offer
to personalize items that people purchased; I brought my embroidering machine
in and spent the day in the store, but not a single person came in. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised,
though; I had put up exactly 2 flyers and not in the best of locations.
The holiday season was good for everyone, great for some
(but not for me). We were advised not to
create too many products geared to Christmas and indeed, the few that I did
make and put out didn’t do especially well.
What did do well were my white coasters embroidered with squirrels
(albino squirrels are an Oberlin institution) and my trivets made from an
elephant-printed fabric. I literally
could not keep these 2 items in stock which was an unusual and fun problem to
have.
The pop-up closed on December 31, as planned; as far as I
know, it will not open again, at least not in that location nor with the
current group of entrepreneurs. On
January 21, each of us entrepreneurs gave a final presentation to SEED Ventures
stakeholders (including the Oberlin Project and the Oberlin City Council) about
our results, experiences, and next steps.
I had some very interesting insights and “aha” moments
throughout the 3 months that have led me to completely rethink my approach to
my business. More about that in a future
post.
By the way, B&F Handmade Housewares are still and ever available at www.etsy.com/shop/buckeyeandfrog!
By the way, B&F Handmade Housewares are still and ever available at www.etsy.com/shop/buckeyeandfrog!