Booming biz -- now what?

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cdcarter

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I guess I asked for it when I started selling a few pens. Just to people I know.

Next thing practically everybody who bought a pen bought one for a gift. People saw theirs and started ordering. Now currently I've got orders for 13 pens, and more coming. Might seem trifling to some of you big timers, but that's a lot when it's just a little Saturday a.m. hobby, especially when you have a coffee table to finish. Suddenly it starts to feel like work.

I assume I'm not the first to go through this little phase. The cash flow is nice, and I enjoy turning, but darn it, I do other stuff too!
 
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LOL happend to me too, my wife would come home from work with orders of 10 at a time. Finally I had to tell here that I needed her to sell the completed pens and not custom orders. It is ok though as part of the deal when she tells them is that I dont do this full time and I got bad leg so some days just cant get stuff done. She just picked up a possible order for 50-100 pens engraved with business logo. Slim-lines b-b so how much fun is that gonna be?!
 
I hear what your saying, same thing happened to me. I started to feel some stress trying to get orders done and it made it feel more like work. I don't do many special orders now, though I will. I charge extra for special orders. I mostly sell pens that I have already made and people just choose what they like. I have a real small inventory I try to keep on hand (about 30 pens) and I try to keep some of the popular stuff on hand. I don't sell my stuff real cheap, and I think that has helped to keep me from getting over whelmed. I now have time to make special pens for my family and friends, or myself, and it feels like fun.
 
I made my mom a BOW slimline (not B2B, I put some curves into it), and she loved it. So did a lady at her office, she wanted 2, and her hairdresser, she wanted 9. So, I had an 11 pen order at a point when I had about 4-5 pens total under my belt. It turned out well (pun intended), but it did feel like work. I told my mom to stop selling pens for me! I can't imagine turning a hobby into a job, but for some, that's how they really enjoy it. Just depends on the person.
 
I hear ya'! Boy do I hear ya'! I started doing this for fun, not profit, but things have changed.Not to say that it's not still fun but it's slowly beginning to feel more like a job. I don't want another job.Seems like everyone who sees my pens loves them and wants one(or two or three).Makes me feel good and I love the compliments but,I don't want another job!!
 
Originally posted by rherrell
<br />I hear ya'! Boy do I hear ya'! I started doing this for fun, not profit, but things have changed.Not to say that it's not still fun but it's slowly beginning to feel more like a job. I don't want another job.Seems like everyone who sees my pens loves them and wants one(or two or three).Makes me feel good and I love the compliments but,I don't want another job!!
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I can hardly wait until it becomes a job. I've been laid off twice in 3 years (currently consulting while I find another position), so it would be nice to have a job that only I could lay me off.

I have sold 8 pens and have two custom orders that I will get around too (types I haven't turned previously). My wife has made gifts of about a dozen so far. At some point I expect that more requests will come in, hopefully it won't stress me too much.
 
Originally posted by n4631x
<br />LOL happend to me too, my wife would come home from work with orders of 10 at a time. Finally I had to tell here that I needed her to sell the completed pens and not custom orders. It is ok though as part of the deal when she tells them is that I dont do this full time and I got bad leg so some days just cant get stuff done. She just picked up a possible order for 50-100 pens engraved with business logo. Slim-lines b-b so how much fun is that gonna be?!
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Nolan, can I borrow your wife for a few months?
 
Originally posted by kent4Him
Nolan, can I borrow your wife for a few months?
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LOL she is super in so many ways I just couldnt let her go for all the money in the world![:D] She even went down and got a spot at the local farmers market to try and sell some, she had a blast as she got the booth with her friends daughter who paints. Only sold 1 pen to a city councel person but heh she had fun.
 
Lord knows that I will never "turn" a profit at this, but I do enjoy selling a few pens. It is a good feeling to know that someone values what you made enough to part with some cash for it.
 
I wouldn't mind that problem. I haven't been pushing things much, but who couldn't use some extra $$? I'm not even close to needing to go back to a retail part-time gig, but I'd much prefer to have my side business than to do that if needed be. Also, I don't know how long I want to work the corporate ladder. Once I have things going well financially, if I could transition to working this and other WWing projects as a full time business, that'd be great. Get 10 shops to order an average of 10 pens a month with an average profit of $30/ pen... That'd be it. I'd quit my job and do that, no problem. The only downside I can think of is that a really bad day here can give me a headache, but a really REALLY bad day in the shop could be a bit more damaging [B)]
 
I started turning for therapy following my accident, I don`t really care if I sell some pens or not.

Fortunately I do not need an extra income.

My wife started showing her pen off and orders started flowing, I donated 2 pens as prizes to the church my Dad attends an wow everyone want to buy one.

Started to really stress me out, felt more like work, my website has no pens on sale I am not even hooked up to a search engine (don`t tell my wife).

Yet I am now sitting with 10 pens on order, and I know for sure there are at least 20 or so going to follow as Christmas presents.

Imagine what it would be like if I really tried to get orders in! [xx(]
 
Like some of the others, I would like to have your problem, Carl. I'm lucky in that I don't need the extra income, but I've gone way overboard on buying blanks, and would love to be able to sell some. So far, I've only sold about a dozen.

I hope it continues to be fun for you.
 
Well, I shouldn't say this, but I think the quality is what's bringing me the business. People are coming out of the blue wanting pens because they love the ones they're writing with (or the ones their friends are showing off).

Repeat business makes me happy, because it validates the quality of my work.
 
Carl
Good place to be in. Word of mouth and repeat business is your best friend. You must determine that you are still keeping this a hobby, or a part time business. Because with a hobby the hours you can spend finishing a project because of other obligations. Take it slow because as you well know expenses can really get out of hand. But formost you need to get you pricing down so that you are relly making a profit. Again if it becomes you no longer enjoying it than your quality will suffer and that is what customers came it you in the first place.
 
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