2023 - A year in review for myself and my business ..... and looking forward in Small Business Startup Journal - The Journey To Starting My Own Brand of Travel Clothing and Handbags

emphasized textemphasized textWell, it’s December 31st 2023, about 12:29pm as I begin to write this entry.

What a intense year it has been. This year saw me try to juggle two startups, edge close to burn out, climb the ladder for my corporate 9-5 job and and lose one of my startups to an anti competitive large coproate media company known as channel 9.

While the loss of my second startup Solo Traveller Magazine broke my heart, and I still feel salty and wronged by it, it has brought to light some other things I would like to address in the new year, presented me with the opportunity to relaunch and capture a wider audience and do things even better for when the time comes and I am ready to relaunch the brand.

I was spending enromous amounts of time on the magazine though, and neglecting myself and not being able to spend as much time with my Nan, so perhaps it was God’s way of guiding me to a ‘not right now’, but hold on to this as it will be a part of your future.

But this entry is’t about my personal life as such, more about how I plan to launch my brand finally in the new year. I know I started this in 2020, and it has taken me so long and presented me with so many challenges to be able to get to this point, but I finally have my decent samples and I love how my collection is coming together.

So, let’s start by looking back.

The past year saw me in contact with a toss of the coin supplier that I almost did not go up to at an expo I attended in 2022 in late November. It took months to hear back from them, and once again I thought I had been fooled into thinking I had found a supplier only to have my time and money wasted. Just as I was about to move on, I heard back from the owner, explaining his staff member who was my main point of contact had left, hence the delay.

I shortly received my sample, and to my delight, it was perfect. I was then able to meet with the business owner who luckily is not too far from where I live, making it easier to check on my progress with the designs.

The next steps where to see what colours and patters could be made in the style.

I also liaised with my direct manufacturer supplier in China on creating some totes and bags, cutting out the middle man process, compared to the process of having my clothing made and of course my other handbag project. I was able to have some beautiful hemp and leather bags made with some amazing travel inspired totes using AI art.

I was also able to have another handbag sample made with my Australian contact for my leather anti-theft handbag designs, a much more time consuming and expensive process. This however meant that I had to delay each sample made as it cost so much and was expensive to have a sample made each time there was something that needed to be improved on.

Fast forward to later in the year and I heard back from my Australian bag supplier and manufacturer contact who was faciliatiting the design that was being made in Victoria, that she was no longer facilitating the process of making bags, and instead would put me in direct contact with the bag maker and manufacturer that she went through.

While this is sad news, I do hope it will being down the cost and allow me to have samples made more quickly. I am yet to reach out to the direct contact who owns the factory in Victoria.

Looking forward for 2024

2024 will be an exciting, challenging and slightly stressful year, but it will be juicy in it’s rewards either way. I have planned and set aside funds to launch at the Melbourne Reed Gift Expo, a major retailing expo in Australia with the hope to get my label into the industry and find a few resellers. I will be launching online and having to start up on my social media, I will need to somehow find a way to juggle my finances, while having to save up personally for a home which I can no longer put off due to changing family situations and pay off the last of my credit card debt.

I will need to also find time to manage my health goals such as going to the gym, while finding time to keep reading and learning and manage my responsibilities as a carer for my Nan, while also persuing a career opportunity at work.

I also have no idea if work will confirm and allow me the time off for the expo, which could present as a problem as I have already paid a deposit. All these things are swirling in my mind for 2024, will my projects only cost me money, will I make money, will I launch on time, will I get to go to the expo, it’s really not that far away. Will I be able to have my scarf design made in Chiffon and Bamboo Jersey, will I be able to have my designs printed in the fabrics I want from my fabric supplier or will I have to only use what’s in stock with the current supplier
(another spanner in the works).

Will I be able to launch a leather anti-theft bag, how will I be able to afford teh costs of having it photographed, will it all come together professional enough, will I have enough time to do everything?

I can’t wait to compare where I am and what I have achieved this time next year.

So with that all said, here I am signing off, for the last entry of 2023.

Goodbye 2023, you were a year full of intense learning, ups and downs excitement and heartbreak. I can’t wait for 2024, I have an exciting feeling about this year.

xxx Miss J