Feeling Like I was "unsuccessful" this morning...

So this morning I was talking to my husband and shared with him that sometimes I feel discouraged because I sometimes feel like my small business isn’t as “successful” as I would like it to be six years in. And this is not to take away from the things that I have done or the ways that I have grown, but there are certainly things that I am still working towards! I have shared how comparison can be nasty in other posts, but that definitely attributes to me feeling less successful. I know that you can not compare where I am at to other businesses because I may be on my fourth step and they are on their tenth, and there are many areas where I am “behind” even though I started BabyCloth six years ago. 

For example…did you know I have an email list? I still remember my husband telling me that I needed to set one up when I first started my website and I was like “what are people going to want to hear from me?” But it turns out that I would have had a lot to share and I finally got one set up! To be totally honest I am still working out a good rhythm on it so if you join you definitely won’t get bombarded with emails from me. But my goal is to start sending out recaps of the blog posts I share each week, and if you sign up you will get a discount code for 10% off your next order! But that would definitely be a part of my business that I am on step 1 and should not be comparing myself to someone who’s been doing their email lists for years. 

Anyways, my husband came back a few minutes later and reminded me of the goals I have set for myself and achieved and the reasons I should not feel that way. Once he and the older kids left for school I did my prayer journal and Bible reading. I am very close to finishing my reading plan that took me through the whole Bible and one of the books I am in is Ecclesiastes. King Solomon was rich in so many ways ranging from wisdom to monetary wealth, and in this book he shares about vanity and the fact that life does not feel fulfilling without God. You can work all you want and achieve the physical things you want but if you do not have relationship with God then all of that is for nothing. 

Chapter four had two verses that really stuck out, and one specifically felt like God speaking directly to me as a response to my feelings of “not being successful”. 

“Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” - Ecclesiastes 4:4

Haha okay, Lord, I hear what you are telling me. I can not be envious of my neighbor and compare what I am doing to what they are doing. I should be comparing myself against what God’s will would be for me and this small business. And if that was not enough verses 9-12 reminded me about the importance of community and support because “a threefold cord is not quickly broken” which is so true especially in the small business world. There are women who I only know through social media that also run small businesses and I cherish those relationships and support greatly. 

Last year in 2022, one of my goals for BabyCloth was to get into a retail space and I achieved that goal! It even led to wholesale orders with another small business owner and that felt very successful. This year I wanted to make sure I did a social media fast so I could pray about God’s will for BabyCloth. Once I did that in the month of June I knew that my next goals would be to focus on my niche item (I share about my niche items here), which I knew were custom orders. Another goal I then had was to start a blog. 

I shared that one thing that stopped me from starting an email list was feeling like I did not have much to share. When I started BabyCloth I had just learned to sew and had two kiddos ages two and under. I was still so “in the weeds” of motherhood and being a small business owner. The enemy loves to whisper lies to us that we often believe and at that stage in life it was that what I would share was not going to be helpful or wise enough. I would not say that I feel totally different from that now, but I do have different insight. I am far from perfect and even when I write posts about cleaning up suggestions or getting through a tough day that does not mean that we always get it right. 

I will say what has changed though is recognizing those lies from the enemy and remembering that they are not the truth. I recognize that even though I am still learning and growing, I can share what I have already learned and areas that I have grown. In addition to that, I can share the things that I struggle with and areas I am working to grow. My prayer would be that in sharing these things, others will feel like they’re not alone and can find a level of support from one another. 

When I started the blog I wanted to post three times a week and I was able to keep up with that fairly consistently. I did realize though that posting twice a week felt more realistic for our lives with young kids right now. Mondays are often a “catch up” day after our busy weekends so I needed to have that day to catch up on work as well. I also took a week off around Thanksgiving because I was very sick from my ovarian cyst but I have learned to be graceful in that. It is not my timing, but God’s and this business doesn’t belong to me but ultimately up to Him. I constantly have to remind myself of that and trust God’s timing for growth in BabyCloth. 

I have been praying about my goals for 2024 and it is kind of crazy to think about all of the change that will occur next year. My husband and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary which is just crazy to think about and so very exciting. The twins will be starting kindergarten next fall and it will be the first time in eight years that we will not have a kiddo at home. I will be entering the stage of motherhood where we have all school aged children. 

For BabyCloth I would like to get on a better schedule, an area of weakness I have always had was in scheduling content ahead of time. I am not always posting “same day” but I am certainly not as ahead of schedule as I would like. I also would like to start using tools on a regular basis that help in those arenas, I have recently started using Tailwind and I know I am not using it to the full potential. So leaning into those ares of my business I know will feel very helpful. I would also like to get my email list up and running with emails going out on a regular basis. Not to bombard people but just share little snippets outside of the blog and any time that I am working on something new! These goals are very doable and I am able to track whether I will be doing them or not. The two main things that I try to keep in mind with goal setting is 1. Make it achievable. Even if its setting goals at a “baby step pace” you get to set a new goal once you’ve accomplished the first step! 2. Set a timeline up for your goals. I will have to plan out the dates which I’d like to have each goal completed (or close to completed) and then I can readjust what is needed as I get things done! 

What goals do you have for this coming year? They can be personal or business related. I would love to read them below and cheer you on along the way. 

Blessings, 

Ellen