I was gifted the most gorgeous sunshine yellow dungarees from Dotty Dungarees, modelled by my daughter who turns three in August. The past year has flown by.
The decision to start a business was inevitably for my children. It has been amazing being able to stay at home while working and be a mother at the same time.
While starting my own business has had a few pitfalls over the past year, I still stand by it as the right decision. I am feeling renewed today with confidence in what I am doing and a spark that is bright and bold like my daughters dungarees.
It seems phenomenal to me that ten months ago I sat there and thought that’s it, I’m doing it. I sat there and typed Starting Today Blog, and that’s exactly what I did, I started it right then. Ten months on I haven’t given up, although I’ve had moments where I thought I might.
Despite the mistakes I’ve made (and there have been many) and the huge repertoire of new skills I’ve had to learn, sprinkled in with some metamorphosis and big life changes, I haven’t stopped. What I’ve learnt is that I have the drive and the motivation to be a small business owner.
One of the most difficult stages I’ve found in this first year is overcoming that fear of failure. I did this by making sure I had a worst case scenario plan. What if I don’t make enough money in my first year, what will I do then?
What I did do was learn to budget intensely, and cut down my living costs. I’ve poured my spare time into learning and improving my skills. I’ve picked myself up after rejections and even put my home into storage so I could cut down living costs and downsize.
Despite my worst case scenario coming into fruition, I’m still here and I’ve made it work for me. I listened to this inspiring talk the other day that said ‘businesses don’t fail, they just run out of money and stop.’
“Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.”
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
It’s at times like this then when I am gifted something beautiful for my daughter that I am really appreciative of what I have received. They couldn’t have chosen a better piece and while I continue on with a drive to succeed, my daughter continues to stand strong and tall like a sunflower.
My inspiration and my dear sweetheart in her Dotty Dungarees.
Pins on Pinterest
So one of my biggest changes recently is the complete overhaul of my Pinterest account. I have made the decision to once again redesign my blog post pins on Canva. Out with the old and in with the new seems like a running theme this month.
After monitoring my social media account with social media analysis reports over the past ten months, my previous blog post images just haven’t been getting the clicks I was after. While I’m great at driving stats on Pinterest, getting that traffic to my site is a challenging one.
I’ve included three of my pin designs, because the stages I have been through with them I thought maybe interesting to someone who is just starting out. I want to point out why the first two didn’t work and why I am getting success with my latest design.
Pin at month five
While the image is clear and I’ve included text and my logo, these pin designs just didn’t get results. Other than it showcasing my photography, the text looks unprofessional as it clashes and while I loved this logo I designed it just doesn’t look the part.
Pin at month eight
While the image and text are clear and my logo is visible, again the image just wasn’t working for me. While the design is a bit more professional looking, it still looks a little homemade.. The logo looks a little grainy and drags the pin quality down.
Pin at month ten
I decided to scrap the logo. It wasn’t working for me and my brand has changed a little since I made it. I combined a clear and striking image with a dimmed filter. I then added bold white text and a square element behind the text. I also concentrated on the colours and combined a purple squiggle behind the text to contrast with the yellow sunflower.
What I will say is that I’ve noticed a huge difference already, and while I am still developing new pins for all my posts which is time-consuming, it is most certainly worth it. I listened to a podcast the other day that talked about the fluidity of business and how your brand will develop and grow and I think this is so true.
If something doesn’t work at first you must keep trying. The key to success is to never give up.
Thanks for reading, like and share my content if you enjoyed it.
Soph.
Your daughter’s a cutie. Those dungarees really suit her. 😀
Thank you Rachel 🥰☺️ x
These are the cutest dungarees ever and your girl is the sweetest! Lovely post xx
Thank you Della 😊 xx
[…] Anyway for the time being here is my lovely daughter modelling her new denim dungarees from Dotty Dungarees. If you’d like to read my post where she models the sunshine yellow ones you can read that here. […]