- Today we are continuing our video series
talking to some of our Tizzit HQ members
about a question I hear quite frequently from makers,
just like yourself, who might be considering starting
a handmade business or have one already
and are just curious as to how others are organised.
And this question is,
tell me what a day in the life looks like
for your handmade business?
Now, in our previous video we heard from Wendy,
and what a day in her life look like.
And she was a full-time shop owner.
This week, I'm talking to Milena,
creator and owner of Mana Studio,
a fabulous handmade business that makes beautiful,
handmade macramé home decor creations.
And let's see what she has to say.
Ready?
Let's dive in.
(upbeat music)
Bonjour, my name is Deb,
and I'm the founder of Tizzit.co,
a membership community for makers and handmade shop owners,
just like your fabulous self.
You can learn more about our community, Tizzit HQ,
via the link below this video,
but for now let's jump straight into today's conversation,
a day in the life of Milena,
creator and owner of Mana Studio.
You've all heard me say this before,
but I think it's so important,
that I'm going to say it again,
each handmade shop owner will have days
that look totally different from another shop owner.
And that's the beauty of it.
You are each able to structure your days
to work for your business and your life.
Some of you work full time on your business,
some have kids, some don't,
some of you work part-time,
some of you work during the day,
some love to work at night when the kids are in bed.
So when you read stories of how other business owners
structure their days,
pick and choose the ideas that you hear
that sound like they would work for your business.
The last thing you want to do is measure your day
against someone else's.
That is a recipe for, you know, discouragement.
But when you listen to other people's stories,
knowing that every shop owner has a different day
and different routines that work for them,
it's a great way to get ideas and inspiration.
So let's hear what a day in the life is like for Milena,
and I will interject my thoughts
as we go through her response.
So when I asked her what a day in the life is like for her,
here is the first thing that she said, let me grab my notes.
"It's a bit hard to answer this question,
because I just left my part-time job
at an architecture office,
so I'm not sure yet how my new routine will look like."
I actually love this answer,
because it's a really great example
of how so many handmade shops
are constantly changing and adjusting
as the owner's lives change and grow.
Milena then talked a bit about what her days were like
when she was running her business,
along with working part-time.
"When I was still working part-time,
I usually got done with work at 4 pm,
then had lunch and a little break,
yes we have late lunch here in Mexico,
and then worked on my shop from 6-8 pm."
If you're thinking, lunch at 4 pm?
That is also what I thought, I'm very hungry by 12,
but Milena is in Mexico, so that aside,
you can see that Milena sets aside two hours every work day
to work on her business.
This allowed her to continue to establish her business
and fulfil customer orders
without working too many hours and risking burnout.
On her days off,
Milena of course had a different schedule.
And what I love is that,
she made it a priority to not only work on her business,
but to do some self-care as well.
So she says,
"On my days "off", I try to take an hour in the morning
to do some yoga and meditate,
because it really helps me start the day on a positive note.
Then I do whatever needs to be done,
if I have a pending order,
making and packaging it gets priority.
I also try my best to stay consistent with Instagram
and email marketing."
Milena said that one thing she has noticed
from her first year experiences
is the need to set up a system for prioritisation
and time management.
"Managing my time better
and setting up a schedule for myself to be productive
has been one of the biggest challenges
of running my own business.
It's definitely something I want to work on."
And this brings up another super important point,
you won't do everything right
when you are first starting your business and that's okay.
This is how you learn.
When you're in the first year,
like Milena was when she wrote this,
you are learning a lot based on what is working
and what isn't working.
And if your business is successful,
you start to realise pretty quickly
that having systems for task management
is totally and absolutely necessary
if you want to keep all of your ducks in a row.
We have a course over at Tizzit HQ
that is all about time management and productivity
for handmade shops that I would highly recommend
for any of you who want to set up some
great time management processes for your handmade business.
I'll link it below if you want to check that out.
Milena also says that she loves how every day
is actually very different.
She says,
"I really enjoy that it's so versatile,
because I hate doing the same thing all day long everyday,
that is so incredibly boring for me.
Running a business just involves so many different things,
and I just really like to have to do it all,
and learn it all.
It's never boring for sure."
And I couldn't agree more.
Milena's "day in the life" description
brings up some important tips for makers
who work on their handmade shop part-time.
When you work in your handmade business part-time,
it's extra important that you have
a solid prioritisation system.
In addition to the time management course
that I mentioned earlier,
I would recommend learning all about my matrix/post-it tip.
I will put the link to the video down below
so you can watch it and learn this great trick
that helps you sort out and prioritise the many to-do's
that are spinning around in your head
or somewhere in a piece of paper.
Not only can it help you be more efficient,
it also results in making better decisions
on where to spend your limited time.
Remember, that it's very much possible to achieve a lot
even while working on the side as Milena has done.
It's a matter of doing things in the right order,
prioritising well, and not doing too much,
which leads me to the next point, which is,
don't do too much.
For example, if you remember from her interview,
Milena has focused on Instagram for her marketing strategy.
She knows that she doesn't have enough time for Instagram
and Pinterest and this and that,
so focusing on Instagram allows her to stay consistent,
focused, and actually move forward.
You should never spread yourself thin
with too many marketing strategies and projects,
but even less so when you're working with limited time.
And it's actually a great way to learn
how to prioritise for when you go full time.
Next is prioritise
self care.
I love how Milena sets aside time in her weekly schedule
for yoga and meditation, which is what works for her,
because she knows she will start her day on a positive note.
It's important to take care of yourself
before taking care of your business.
You will do better work,
you will be more focused,
and you'll be happier, overall,
if you remember to take care of yourself
and not to constantly put your business before some time off
to just not work.
(Deb chuckles)
This is sadly a lesson that too many of us, myself included,
have to learn the hard way by burning out.
Lovely.
And honestly, I really wish that I had myself listen
to people who were saying that to me
when I was just getting started with my business,
and that were saying,
"Hey, you need to, you know you need to work less",
because often it doesn't feel right because you just,
you just want to go, go, go and grow this business,
but I promise you, taking care of yourself
actually helps you grow your business,
because you are more productive,
you're more efficient, you're more creative,
and it just feels better too, I promise.
So take care of yourself
so you can take care of your business.
I hope that each one of you listening to this
had one of those moments where you think,
"Oh, you know, that's a good point.
I should probably start doing that,
or maybe that would work for me as well,
I'm gonna try it out",
because support and encouragement is so important
when you are building your own handmade business,
and so is learning from what others shop owners are doing
so that you can pick and choose what would work for you.
If you'd like to join a supportive community
of handmade sellers,
our Tizzit HQ membership is all about helping you
achieve success in your business.
Our courses walk you through each part of setting up,
and running, and growing your handmade business,
and our monthly calls,
and our private community are there
to allow you to ask questions
and get lots of helpful answers from myself
and all our members.
So click the link below to find out more.
I would love for you to join us inside of our community.
Thanks for watching.
Make sure to check the links below,
and until next time, au revoir!