Inspiration for the would-be entrepreneur

A year ago I quit my full time job to follow my dream and start my own business. Deciding to strike out on my own and forgo the comfort of receiving a regular paycheque with someone else's signature on it was by far the scariest and most important decision I've ever had to make. For me, it was not an easy decision by any means, since I loved my job and the people I worked with, and for the most part was content with my career. It would have been very easy for me to stay right where I was - working my way up in a company that I believed in and felt appreciated at, having a regular 9-5 job with a stable income guaranteed every month and enjoying my evenings and weekends off to have a personal life (which any business owner will tell you doesn't happen once you've started the business). But the entrepreneurial bug, as they say, bit me and held on for dear life; it wouldn't go away until I had at least tried. (If you can't stand cliches, then I suggest you skip the next couple sentences!) Someone once said that "as you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things that you didn't do," and I knew that I'd regret it immensely if I didn't at least try my hand at being a business owner.

Now, once I'd made the decision to give it a go, staying motivated was key. I'm not going to lie, there were millions of times that I thought to myself "this is crazy, who are you to start your own business? This will never work, you should just go get your old job back" and I had to work at staying motivated despite the many obstacles that I faced throughout the whole start up phase of my business. One way that I stayed motivated, and I think that this made the difference between packing it in and giving up when the going got rough for me, was by constantly immersing myself in books and articles about successful entrepreneurs. One of my favourite books is "Starting from Scratch" by Wes Moss. In it, Moss shares the stories of 21 "regular people who made the entrepreneurial leap" and are now thriving in the business world. Reading their stories and seeing that they all faced and overcame the same obstacles that I was now facing was truly inspirational to me. Others books that I read and drew inspiration from were "The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart" by Maxine Clark, the founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop and "Pour Your Heart Into It" by Howard Shultz, Founder and CEO of Starbucks. I've read tons and tons of business books, including the standards like "The E-Myth" and "In Search of Excellence" etc, but these 3 in particular stood out for me, as they are about regular people like me who took took the leap and made it. I would recommend them to any would-be entrepreneur looking for a little inspiration during the tough times of following your entrepreneurial dream...

Fave Handbags hits Richmond, BC!

Ok, so I know I said I'd try to blog at least once a week, and then proceeded to NOT blog for a few weeks, but I have a good excuse. We've been working away at getting the online ordering function on the website ready, plus I had a handbag party to plan for this past weekend! The party was in Richmond, and it was a huge success. I'm proud to say we even had a local celebrity grace us with her presence - Joy MacPhail was in the house woohoo! The Mexican Fiesta theme went off without a hitch, empanadas and sangria warmed our bellies and the games and prizes were enjoyed by all. The ladies all got a chance to see the Fave Handbag line up close and play around with all of the fabric choices, and in the end lots of awesome handbag creations were designed that day! Thanks to all the ladies who came out to our fun, fabulous, Fave afternoon!!

Going live...

Wow, I can't believe this day has finally come! Today, our website, www.favehandbags.com, went live on the net, and I have to admit some days I thought it was never going to happen. It was almost a year ago that I decided to quit my job as office manager at Nannies on Call to make my dream of starting this business a reality, and it feels like much longer than that. This is also my first foray into the world of blogging, and it's something I'm going to have to get used to. It's a little strange, isn't it? Kind of like giving the world constant access into your personal journal, or better yet, a glimpse right into your brain and the crazy, wacky or sometimes boring thoughts you spend your days dwelling on. Me, I've been eating, breathing and sleeping this handbag business for the last year, and I have to say it has been the most exhilarating year of my life.

When I was attending the Venture Program at BCIT, which is an entrepreneurial skills training program, we were strongly encouraged to start a blog. People obviously blog for many different reasons, some strictly personal, others purely professional, and some are a mixture of both. My blog will be the latter; I will attempt to update weekly whether it be personal or business matters that find their way into this lil' ol' blog o' mine. I can't say for certain that I will be able to maintain my intended weekly schedule of blogging, but I will do my best. For now, I'll end this entry with the inspirational quote that helped me through the past year and kept me motivated and moving forward.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- excerpt from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, by Marianne Williamson