First Year Business Anniversary!
- Andrea Chloe
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
Wow, this journey has been such an incredible whirlwind. I didn't think I'd make it this far as a brand-new business owner, but here I am, a year and two months later!
Several big highlights (aside from designing, producing, and selling my own brand of Mental Health Tarot Decks at pop-up markets all over Toronto):
Attending a total of 29 Markets.
Hosting 2 Tarot Workshops.
Getting invited to do a podcast.
Running out of my first round of stock orders.
Participating in a group art exhibition at Northern Contemporary Gallery.
2 editorial features.
1 Design Directory recommendation.
Curating my first SOLO art exhibition with 30+ attendees (bear in mind, opening day on a snow day).
Honestly, this isn't terrible at all - it shows me how far I can go on my own and with help from my community members. Things I've done exceptionally well in:
Connect with other vendors, make friends, and look out for each other! These are my community members. They look out for me as much as I look out for them.
Combined all my experiences and lessons in previous roles (namely Disney retail, art gallery sales associate, librarian technician, office administration, and children's entertainment) to successfully implement and execute my tasks.
Having fun and being present when networking.
Being brave and trusting my intuition, and allowing myself to make mistakes.
Knowing my product value and my business value, AND helping other business owners understand their value, knowing your own light doesn't dim just because you help others shine.
At the same time, I discovered there was still room for improvement—I learned a lot and thankfully avoided grave errors. Any mistakes I did make always had simple and effective solutions. I handled them gracefully, I think! Some advice I would give to others at this time:
Never apply to markets months in advance.
Avoid applying to markets with application fees that costs above $200 for one day.
Speak to your elder vendors more often - they have a wealth of experience, don't be afraid to ask questions.
Don't just accept applications from people you don't know.
Keep track of all your spendings in an excel sheet for tax season (if you're not confident with this, please hire help like I did!) Make sure every entry is detailed. (This might be a future blog post, but let's see.)
Make effective use of a planner and monthly agenda.
Know what your business needs are. If it doesn't make sense to apply for shelf space for your products, don't do it.
Know your audience and research market locations - it is the responsibility of the market organizer to help with your marketing, but it is also your responsibility as a business owner to study your demographic and see "what's hitting and missing."
I haven't done anything so far to celebrate this milestone, but I have a lot of creative ideas that I want to ruminate on first before execution.
Some new goals for this upcoming year:
Think about the direction I want to take my business and create
Also create for fun and see where that takes me personally
Be more intentional with my updates and avoid using AI completely as a crutch
Be more mindful with the apps I'm using to promote my business
Connect and use infradian and circadian rhythms as a way to manage my business and avoid burn out
I'm excited, and I can't wait to see what new experiences lie ahead!
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