How can I get the confidence to start a business and follow through?

[Mysterycat23]

Hi all. On mat leave at present thinking of ways to earn a bit of money. I've a few ideas of things I can make and sell. My problem is though I have a good imagination and can plan out steps to take e g. Make, take photos, list on etsy etc. I really struggle with follow through. It's like I plan it out and then get bored. I actually spent a few hundred pounds on one particular idea last year before falling pregnant. Made a number of items but never listed anything to sell. It's all sitting there in a box and I want to pick it up again and make it work.

I have a friend who paid for a large chunk of her dream wedding making one specific item and selling on Facebook. Alongside working full time. DH is supportive and points out she has made a success of her ideas so I can too. But I don't know where she gets her confidence and determination to advertise and make so consistently. I'm honestly intimidated and it makes me feel like a failure because I'm too scared to sell anything.

How do you stay motivated to find time each day to work on your business? Do you get feelings of boredom or despair that it won't work and you're wasting valuable time? Is there a certain personality type for success or can I learn to be more committed? How? I really want to overcome these crappy feelings once and for all as time is marching on and I'm just frustrated with my own flakiness.

Part of me thinks I just need to pull my head out of my arse and just do it but I am honestly terrified of getting a bad review or not selling anything or people making horrible comments about the things I'm making. I don't know that I could cope with how that would make me feel. How can I get some confidence and determination please?

Making and selling products is personal because you've created those items. However like everything and anything some people will love what others hate ( life would be boring otherwise).

Ask someone else to create the first listing for you use as many photos as possible and be as descriptive as possible. Offer returns on non personalised items excluding postage which will mean less bad reviews as if they don't like it they'll just get a refund.

Write a list of the reasons why you want to do this and recite each morning.

Life is too short to not do things out of fear we regret what we don't do more than what we do.

Xxx

Have courage and go for it ! You can do it ! :) just remember small steps at a time and remember to take time for yourself every day .

Inertia affects the best of us.

Iv e been running my business for over 10 years. I have a huge new line of stock, ready bought. The idea of the massive task of artfully displaying, photographing, drafting the webpage, redrafting s a million times, re-writing a big chunk of my website. Augh!

Suffice to say I have been ready to go with this branch of the business since Christmas. Yet it's still not live.

I was the same when I first decided to design my own website. I could have paid someone to do it. But I wanted to learn and realised that in the longer term I'd be better having total control over making, designing and updating my own site. Massive job.

... But you know what? After procrastinating for ages, once I did start, I really went for it. I love getting engrossed in my business. Creating my website was like that.

Moving back to eBay was another big thing. After 6 years off the site, i knew the work needed to create an established presence was a massive task.

Cue lots of procrastination. But once I started, things moved much quicker.

So my advise would be: break or down into small chunks. Massive tasks like "launch a business" is daunting. A smaller task like "take photographs of 1 product to figure out the best photography angles to replicate" is doable in 1 afternoon.

Regarding your precious time being wasted, remember that the time investment earlier in a big project is often more so than once established. Assuming you are retailing identical (or similar) items, once the work is done, mostly you just relist and manage sales.

Thanks for replies.

Jennifer that's a good idea about offering returns. I will make sure to add that in.

Hello kitty thank you :)

Fate that's a really good point about the work and time needed is much more at the beginning. I've been so overwhelmed with starting and hadn't considered how much less time will be needed once all the shop photos are there and listings have been created.

Inspired now to crack on and create my first listing today. Eek!

Your main problem is fear of criticism and/or people not liking your stuff. It's all about managing expectations. Be honest, take lots of photos from different angles, provide a very clear and detailed description. Just don't pretend they're something they're not.

I have a hobby. As part of that, I make kits and models, etc. One item in particular, I made and then decided I didn't want to use it. I nearly just chucked it in the bin as it wasn't perfect enough for me - looked a bit of a mess to be honest and didn't work too well. But, I decided to put it on ebay instead and it sold for £20, warts 'n' all. Even got good feedback for it. All because I put an honest description on it, laying out it's problems. Obviously someone else was either going to improve it or could use it in that condition.

Get a few listed, with a pessimistic description, maybe cheaper, and get a few sold. Then you'll feel more confident and maybe able to enhance the description and raise the selling price once you know that people will buy them and are happy with them.

I don't have much more to add other than

You MUST accept returns on none personalised items. It's the law. You must also refund the postage they have paid you.

Hello MysteryCat23,

in terms of getting stuff done, it's common to get overwhelmed with the mountain of tasks ahead. It's human nature. One way around it is to break a task into tiny chunks.

EG: Instead of saying, "Sell XXX on ETSY",

Day 1: Create ETSY profile
Day 2: Pick 1 item to sell
Day 3: Take pic of item
Day 4: Write description of item
Day 5: Post item

Etc. Make each task small. So each day you're walking, taking small steps, headed towards your goal.

Motivation is built on momentum, not will-power. Setting tiny achievable goals is incredibly confidence building.

On overcoming feelings, get a pen and paper and list 10 reasons why you want to do said project. Then list 5 consequences of doing nothing. Answering these helps you tap into your innate motivation.

Fear of failure: everyone fails. You will never truly know yourself until you've been tested by adversity. Besides, if one person likes it, there will be others. If someone dislikes it, it's their personal taste, not yours. Fears are the gateway to power. It sounds corny, but overcoming them makes you limitless.

Go on.. I bet there are people dying to see those treasures you've made.

Mysterycat23 Did you manage to get going with this? I've just come across this thread and would love to hear that you've made a fabulous success of your venture.