I see a lot of posts on-line and on social media about "Oh, I love doing [craft], and am thinking about doing it as a business/side hustle".
I don't want to harsh anyone's enthusiasm, but today is one of those days when reality is hitting me hard, so I thought I'd share one of those "downsides" to doing something you love as your income.
So, I'm a crafter/fiber artist. I have a show in a little over two weeks, and I'm frantically trying to finish some stuff so I can have enough stuff to sell. And I'm freaking out because 6 weeks after that, I have a MASSIVE show.
Getting ready should be my top priority. I should be in full on production mode.
I'm tired. I'm sore. I'm achy. And I'm not sure that what I'm working on is going to come out like I hope it will. I don't think it's going to sell. I don't think it feels nice or what people thing yarn should feel like. I'm feeling like everything I do is crap (it's not), and that nothing will sell, and I'll be out the time/money that I've put into this event. (And really, if nothing sold at the first event, I'll be that much better of for the following one.)
In short, there are days when things don't go right. When your head is conspiring against you, and you just want to curl up in bed and go back to sleep. You might be coming down with something. You might have the flu.
But, as a crafter, you don't get sick days. If there are days you don't make or produce, then you have nothing to sell, and you don't get paid.
Which sucks in some ways. People get sick. People battle mental health issues. People get tired.
But when you own your own business, you *must* keep going.
So, today, I'm at one of my spinning wheels, hoping that this yarn comes together like I hope it will, that I will do a good job of it, that I will price it right for it to sell and for me to still make something off of it. I hope to do well enough at this upcoming event so I can buy things I need for my booth at the next one, after all the fees have been covered.
There are no safety nets when you own your own business, unless you have a regular job as well.
