Business Bits - Dream Big

Welcome to my first little post on businessy topics! While I certainly don't have an MBA (but I married one) & I'm by no means an expert....I've become super interested in all things entrepreneurial & would love to share my findings with others who, like me, seek to move their talents into a profitable, thriving business- whatever shape that comes in!


Sooo, where to start? How about where I wish I would've begun with my Etsy shop- with the dream.

the idea.
the thought.

the beginning of the pursuit. {Image Credit Valentina Design}

It's so cliche I almost don't want to write it...but I think it's important nevertheless & it drives all subsequent decisions: Dream Big.

I guess if we were to get all technical, we might call it a business plan. But maybe even before getting there it's just a matter of dreaming-imagining-envisioning where oh where do I want the business to go? what do i want it to look like? how will it shape my life?

Here's the opposite of dreaming big: starting an Etsy shop & thinking, "hey, it would be nice to have some extra cash. maybe someone, somewhere would perhaps buy my little bag. maybe. who knows. i'll just put it up. we'll see. nothing will probably happen. maybe. maybe i can sell a few. maybe i can pay some bills with it. we'll see. it would be nice......"

well, sadly that was me. that pretty much sums up my life decisions up until my Etsy shop took off & i realized that much empowerment came from that & (simultaneously for me) being a mom.

Now, (maybe a wee bit late) I really dream. I think, I plan, I want, I hope. And I want to do it BIG.

Not to say I'm not grounded. I grow slow & I grow small. But...I'm growing...and since I started dreaming....I now grow in the direction I had hoped for.

Here are some questions I found kind of initiated this process:

1. "If I found someone to invest $100,000 in Quiltish, what exactly would you do with it?" - Hubby.
This is such a fabulous question because I really had to think, What do I want Quiltish to be? Do I want an actual store? What would I make/sell? Would this change the small goodness I have now? Do I even want to do this forever?

2. "What would you do/be if you knew you wouldn't fail?" - Pastor.
Oh boy, as someone so leary of failure (had enough of that thank you very much!) I really had to push my limits & think, well, what the heck would I do?! write a book? get my Ph.d? own a store? start the business idea i have that has nothing to do with sewing?

3. "When you look in the mirror does an entrepreneur look back?" Inc. Magazine
I think this is a good question no matter what I'm doing in life.... When I look in the mirror does a .... mother/wife/teacher/friend/student...look back? I'm all about introspection and I think it's helpful to take inventory. If the face of a friend doesn't look back in the mirror to me...then I have some changes to make. Same thing on the business front- if I don't see an entrepreneur there (and quite honestly, I haven't decided if I do!) then I either need to change my path or make personal changes.... that's that. It is what it is.
Other questions to ask before pursuing a business found in Inc Magazine here

Once the dream is dreamt & the questions answered then all other decisions become easier and more meaningful.....


So, there we go. A little bit of business to start off the week. What are you dreaming up?