Some of you (if anyone actually reads this) know that I had surgery at the tail end of 2019 and spent the first month, month and a half, of 2020 recovering, which was planned because January is SLOWWWWWW for my business. I get a few Valentines sales in February, but not really a lot. Women tend to order more from me that men, because most men just aren’t geared to think of items I sell as gifts. Totally okay with that.

I started back to work, hard and heavy, in March. Looking back now, it’s so laughable. I had 13 decent days for most of 2020, and then it all went to mask-making for MONTHS. I decided last night to do a comparison. The first 6 months (and a week) of this year, compared to last year. The amount of money I made isn’t important (it’s not much I promise) so I blacked it out, but look at the percentages.

This year has not been a “good” one by any means, but the idea that my sales are up my 804% and my online store is up 556% from the first six months of last year just shows that last year was horrendous.

At the end of the year, with month after month of not making enough to even cover the city bill, much less lights, rent, etc., I had to make the choice to close the doors to my storefront. This was after stimulus checks went out, after people applied for PPP loans that they should never have gotten (I didn’t apply, my bad, because I wanted that money to go to people who “needed” it).

2020 was the death to so many small businesses, but after coming home, regrouping, and working than ever on my online store, I am choosing to look at it as a rebirth for my business. It has freed up my time to do more with my kids, to blog, to actually keep a house that I’m not ashamed for people to visit, and who knows what else… I still miss my storefront. It breaks my heart when I have to drive by it. I felt for a while that I had lost my sense of purpose, my sense of being, but I am finally starting to get my footing and feel not as much like a failure.

Next time you wonder what happened to that cute little shop on Main Street in your small town that seems to have disappeared into the night, ask yourself- “When was the last time I shopped there? Did I spend any of those stimulus checks there?” If you can’t remember, there’s your answer… But hopefully, their business, like mine, has been rebirthed online.

Until next time,
Alicia