Expansion

I have always been one to let the business lead me where it goes. I don't really push it much more than a little each year. I feel like that way it will grow in a way that I can handle and that I can still have control over and enjoy the process of growth.

The last few years have been taking me in some new directions. I've been trying new shows, this year was the PA Farm Show and I have a list of others that I want to try and apply to a few per year. I've applied to two more larger new shows this year and I am still waiting to see if I get accepted or not.

I have also tried growing my wholesale. Last year I registered with Etsy Wholesale and started selling the things I felt were ready: lip balms, lotion bars, bath fizzys. I've gotten a few orders and a few reorders already so that is a good thing. This year I am working on new photos and plan on expanding and offering soaps and accessories (like dishes and washcloths) too.

One of the things that I want to work on this year are my Wool Washes. We've redesigned the labels, making them easier to read and understand, we've changed the bottle sizes to make the product more affordable and won't last as long so customers will reorder more often. I am expanding the number and types of scents offered as well. This is one thing that once I get it going I plan on taking on the road, handing out samples, and order forms at different stores in the area. I am trying my first fiber festival this year and want to try and get into a few more and see how that goes too.

I always have a list of new products that I want to try and offer. Sometimes these things fall into place relatively quickly, other times they take years and years for me to come up with exactly how I want to do do them. Air fresheners took years for me to find a person who could make the paper blanks in a way that I liked. Lip balms were made in a few different containers before I found the tube I use now, and the containers for the Bath Soaks were found just as I was making a decision to keep them as a product or not. Just changing packaging upped those sales enough to keep making them.

There are many days that I get anxious and I want to push push push and get things going bigger and better. Then I remember that I am in a great spot and I need to have faith and let it lead me where it wants to go. Just when I get crazy worried about finances or the future something pops up and I am reminded that I am right were I am supposed to be and that it will always work out in the end. If it hasn't worked out, its not the end.