New Year

I always like the break over Christmas and New Year as a great opportunity to reflect, and think about what I'd like to do and things I'd like to change in the coming year. One thing was to blog more regularly, but I clearly need to do more work on that one!

I've been self-employed for almost three years now, so I've been thinking about where I'd hoped to be by now, and where I'm at. It has been hard work, and a lot more difficult than I expected. I didn't achieve the growth I had hoped for last year, which means my financial position is only slightly better than a year ago, and still quite far off my goal of earning a living.

This of course raises the question of whether or not it's sensible to continue. The prevailing wisdom is that it takes three years for a business to find it's feet. There has been a lot of trial and error, and the associated costs of this, along with the general costs of setting up a business. I've learned which products work better, so know which direction to concentrate my efforts.

I have a lot of the skills required to run a business, but feel I'm missing something, that spark that brings everything together and makes it sing. I like running my own business, and the freedom it brings, so would like to find that missing piece, and to make it work properly.

To this end, I have a few plans this year. I would like to be more organised, and have been going through everything having a good sort out, and trying to catch up on boring paperwork and filing that seems to get forgotten. I would also like to put some more time into marketing. This is one area that I always seem to leave to last, which means it often gets forgotten, but is an important part of a business. I have subscribed to an online course by Designing and MBA called Marketing for Makers which I hope to complete soon. So once I get my time management sorted, things will be all go!

I had hoped by now the office would be all tidy and I could put up some new photos of it. It has been redecorated over the last year, and I'd been wanting to finish tidying so I could take some after shots to post up. That hasn't happened yet... soon, I promise, but I did find last years photo post, which I posted exactly a year ago. It's quite nice to look back and see how much it has changed!

Manderley Home and Garden Festival

Last year I really enjoyed the Manderley Home and Garden festival, so was looking forward to going back this year. It really is a lovely event, in a very picturesque setting, as can be seen below – this is the view from the back of my site!

It's a great day out, with stalls, entertainment, food and beverages. You can look inside the historic homestead, and you can even take a dip in the pool if you packed your togs.

It's on again tomorrow from 10am – 4pm at Manderley, which is opposite the Lake Forsyth rest area, not long before Little River. It's $15 per adult, with under 12s free.

If you do come along, don't forget to take a look at the sales table – there will be some good specials on tomorrow as well!

The Tea Party returns!

 The Rose in Thorns tea party is back, in a brand new location. If you want to shop in a relaxed environment, enjoy tea and cupcakes with fine china all in good company, then why not come along to the next tea party?

It will be held on the 16th September at 3pm - 5pm at my home in Northcote. If you would like to come, just fill in the rsvp form and you will be sent address details a few days before the event. You can also rsvp to the facebook event if you wish.

There will be some great specials on clearance items, and I will have some candles lit, so you can see them in action.

If you can't wait that long, I will be at Dunkley's Craft Show this weekend at Addington Raceway. It is on Friday 7th through to Sunday 7th, from 10am till 5pm each day. This is the first time I've done this event, and I'm looking forward to it. There is an admission of $12, but if you print out this coupon, you can get a $1 discount.

New soy pillar and floating candles

After what seems like forever, I have finally uploaded my new candles to my website and Felt shop. The floating candles have been in progress for quite some time. I wanted something small that could fit inside a teacup, which required a lot of testing to get the right wick. These last for 3-4 hours, which is longer than the old floating candles I was making.

I also wanted to try my hand at making soy pillars. As you may have noticed, most soy wax used is a blend designed for container candles. However there are pillar blends available, which is the wax I use for the melts. My supplier recommended blending it with a palm wax for the best results, but to me that defeated the purpose of making a soy pillar. After some testing, and a lot of tinkering, I have produced a 100% soy pillar candle that burns really well. Soy wax is different to paraffin where it needs to keep a wall of wax around it while it burns down, because if it leaks, it leaks a lot. I maybe able to conduct further testing to combat this in future candles, but in the meantime I have produced a lovely candle that glows nicely through the wall, and burns for over 50 hours.

Both the floating and pillar candles are available in rose, vanilla, frangipani, mandarin & mimosa and white tea fragrances. I hope to add some more fragrances to this range. These will be available at both the Craft Invaders market and Methven Craft Fair. If you would like a $10 discount voucher for the soy pillar candles, all you need to do is sign up to the newsletter, which you can do here. If you are already a subscriber, there is a coupon in the email sent out yesterday. Offer ends 5th August 2012.

Market update – Craft Invaders & Methven

Today I've been figuring out how to fit all my stock onto one table for next weeks Craft Invaders market. I've got used to having two tables in my outdoor gazebo setup, but I'm grateful to be inside next weekend, so happy to downsize to be warm!

The following weekend I will be out at Methven for the annual Methven Craft Fair at the Memorial Hall (the same building as the info centre). It is on the 4th & 5th August from 10am – 5pm on Saturday, and 9am – 4pm on Sunday.

I will have specials on clearance stock at both markets, but it's first in first served on discontinued items. I will also have eftpos available for the first time. It's something I've been wanting to offer for quite some time, so I finally made the leap and organised it. I will be still accepting cash too, of course!

If you can't get to either of these markets, you might like to pop down to one of my new stockists. Pepperberry at 919 Colombo Street now has a selection of candles, along with Cadeaux at Shop 2, 7 Joll Road in Havelock North, one of the new stockists from the recent Gift Fair.

Winter Gift Fair

Last week was my first foray into trade shows, when I exhibited at the Winter Gift Fair, a trade show for retail buyers. It was a little different to the markets I usually attend. There were a wide range of exhibitors, ranging from large importers to small scale owner operators like myself. There were some other exhibitors there I knew which helped make the whole experience a bit less daunting.

It was a worthwhile experience, a great way to get my name out there. I got orders for some new stockists around the country which I'm currently working away on. So keep an eye out for Rose in Thorns candles in a shop near you! There were also some other shops interested in stocking my candles, so the list of new stockists may keep expanding.

I launched some new products at the fair – soy pillars and small soy floating candles, which I will add to my website and Felt shop in the next week or so. In the meantime, I have some older stock I'd like to clear out, so I'm having a sale to help create some more room for the new products. Everything in my website is discounted by 20% - 50%, and I have discounted most of the teacups in my Felt shop, along with some other items. The sale ends on the 30th June, so don't miss out!

A big thanks to everyone that helped out, friends that offered advice while getting organised, and those that were also exhibitors. Also to those that placed orders, and showed interest in my products. I'll keep you updated on my new stockists as I despatch their orders to them.

Evolution – looking forwards and backwards

Yesterday marked both a beginning and ending, as changes often do. When I first started out working for myself, I was given the opportunity to work part-time for Felt, doing support and admin. This was just what I needed, and it came along at the right time. It gave me regular work while I spent time building up my business. It has also given me a valuable insight into how a great business works – thanks for the opportunity when I needed it Lucy! Now it has come time to take the leap again, and let this go to focus more on my candle making efforts.

So along with yesterday being my last day answering Felt enquiries, I also sent off two posters to print that I have been meaning to do for a very long time, and picked up my very first colour laser printer. So it was a day of milestones! My next big step is that I will be exhibiting at the Winter Gift Fair in Christchurch next weekend. This is both an exciting and daunting prospect. It is a chance for retail buyers from all over New Zealand to source new products for their stores, so I have to be well organised! I'm hoping to make lots of new contacts, and pick up some orders.

The past few weeks have been a time to look back as well. It's been just over three years since my first market, and at the recent Encraftment market, I sold the last of the candles I made for that first market. It's interesting to look back and see how much my products and displays have changed over this time.

(these pics are from Tekapo, I didn't get the chance to take any at Encraftment)

I recently caught up with an old acquaintance I hadn't seen in almost 10 years, which reminded me of the old days in my first flat. It's also been nearly 10 years since my uncle passed away, and I've been thinking about him recently too. He had ongoing health problems, but his incredible resilience had led me to believe he was invincible, which sadly wasn't the case. He had an amazing zest for life, an insatiable appetite for learning and a great sense of humour. He was interested in everything, and I remember the last time I saw him, he was asking all about what I did in my job. I'm really glad I had the opportunity to get to know him.

I wonder what things I'll be looking back on in ten years time? Only time will tell, but hopefully they will be interesting!