What would I do differently-If I could start Over

This picture is special to me because I took it while I was secretly preparing to launch the Breena brand last year.. Only If I’d known in the beginning how much work needed to be put into starting a new business from scratch.
Well, I wouldn’t change anything, maybe just one little thing but I will talk about What would I do differently-If I could start Over at the end of the post.

the beginning

I think it wasn’t that hard with my first business launch (Bernadette Photography ) -or at least I don’t remember working sleepless hours every day in the beginning- but I guess it’s different when you launch a whole product line, and need to get everything perfect for your little e-commerce shop. I was working in the background for almost a year before I first published our shop in November..

I had to learn so many things..

For example, how to build a website from scratch.. It took countless hours of learning. I wanted to create everything what I imagined. It probably would have been easier to just pay for someone to make it, or pay monthly for a big website making site to create mine from templates, but I didn’t like the idea of paying that much money. I needed to be so careful about how to spend every penny, and what to spend on. So I wanted to save money on the long run, but I was also very keen on learning how to make my own website anyway. I love to create things on my own, as you can tell!

I also spent some times on making all the graphic designs, including designing the logo and all the marketing materials.

I am so perfectionist, I really wanted everything to look the best..so I took my time to figure out every little detail that went into this brand..

at the finish line

Just when I almost finished with all the planning and learning things (not to mention the whole drilling adventure, and the time I spent on learning how to make jewellery) I decided to ditch the idea of foam fillers in the jewellery boxes and make more eco-friendly options. Collecting sea glass is like a recycling process, so why should I support plastic waste when I can be more conscious about our choices?!

My dad suggested the lovely idea of filling the pillows with herbs so I could add more magic into every jewellery box. I believe in plant energy, so it was a really lovely idea, (Thank you dad) and I was so excited to do this, but regarding to make it I then needed to learn how to sew.. and also had to learn more about the plants and about how to find the best for this purpose.

So it took me off of launching the shop for a couple of more weeks again while I got them ready.

Then long nights of taking photos of jewelleries for the webshop, editing and uploading them to the site, getting everything ready for launching.

Then doing it all over again, because I felt the images were not representing the jewelleries in the best possible way.

And then I did it again because they weren’t that minimalist as I imagined… (I know, at this point I kind of felt like I was my own enemy, and just put deliberately more and more obstacles in front of me to make it more hard to reach my goals.. I really needed to learn to accept things as they are, without spending way too many hours of perfecting every tiny detail.)

After months of hard work

The time came, and I finally finished with everything by November. There are still a lot of things to learn (like I still learn silversmithing in the background, to be able to create more designs) and also I still change and shape things along the way, but I am glad it is finally on and we got so much positive feedback already.

So as I mentioned above, there is only one thing I would do it differently if I could start all over again..

And no, it’s not the photos, thank God I am perfectly fine with them by now   – but it is the way I was overthinking and planning everything.. I was overworking on so many things, and missing out on the big picture..

In the beginning I had a hard time delegating. I hold so many strong beliefs such as “It has to be done a certain way (a.k.a. ‘my way’) in order to be successful” and it caused me so much stress and endless efforts of trying to avoid any mistakes. But life knows best, and sometimes the things are not as flawless as you imagine, and THAT’S OKAY.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to do as best as you can. A small measure of perfectionism can have its perks. It can be what motivates you in times of trouble.The problem is if you think you must do it through flawlessness. It is just not going to happen. Mistakes are always happening, but if you let them, they can guide you to a fresh set of new skills. Like writing this blog post. I am sure there are many grammar mistakes, as english is not my first language- but I am proud that at least I am leaving my comfort zone and speaking another language..Even if it is not perfect, and I need to learn still, I ACCEPT WHERE I AM RIGHT NOW..
IT’S STILL ME.. With all my mistakes and flaws…:)

So I wouldn’t worry about getting everything so perfect now. They will be perfect in a way for someone, without worrying too much about every tiny details anyway. Your business is YOU, it is unique and therefore it is so beautiful.

ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT LAUNCHING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

DO IT NOW!

Just enjoy the journey and stop being so hard on yourself.