This is a blog about how we came to have an on line store and the trials and tribulations of trying to succeed in business during a recession!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

My first blog !

Well here I am - my first attempt at blogging - where did that word come from anyways? Blogging - sounds weird, but still not as bad as twitter. Almost like jogging and that's too much work.
Don't really know what to write so I may as well start at the beginning. My twin, Gail and I decided to start our own beading web site. We love beads - seriously - we actually do. Beads let you be creative without too much fuss and bother, and you end up able to wear your creations and let everybody comment on them. It is a great way to feed your ego! Even if people hate them they are too embarrased to dis them while you are wearing it with a big smile on your face!
A few years back we started to make our own jewelry and just kept buying those beads. After a while we had so many beads we started selling them at home and then had visions of actually selling them on a web site.
Really, we knew little of what was involved- and both of us had full time jobs. Then sissy lost her job after 13 years working in a community non-profit organization. After about a year and a half later, I decided I wanted to keep my sanity and had enough of my job. Here was our opportunity to fulfill a dream. We found suppliers, not an easy task, and hired someone to help us launch the site (RED CARPET WEB PROMOTIONS). I use capitals because there are few people who can deal with sissy and myself at the same time and remain calm and retain their sanity, and Jason was great. The only time he got a little nervous was when I suggested we start another site to sell finished jewelry!!!!!!! Sheesh.
It took almost 7 months from start to finish - ordering, receiving and packaging the beads. Getting the site up and taking all the pictures and doing the descriptions of all the products. Gail took over 10,000 pictures.
We were so busy we had little time to worry about the recession hitting and the effect it would
have on our future business venture.
Actually, we figure that if people bead as a hobby, it is an inexpensive way to pass the time, but better still, at least 65% of people who purchase beads do so to resell. I heard someone on televison say that the recession is a great opportunity for new ventures so hopefully ours will succeed and will give others the opportunity to build a way to gain some extra income.

Our friends have been amazing during this process. They have given their 100% support, along with their ideas and offers to help in any way they can. Now that we are up and running, they are promoting our site and our products and we are so thankful to all of them. The Pandies are really a big hit as they are much cheaper than the Pandoras but just as nice, the lampwork beads are gorgeous, and the Design Gallery has prompted requests for ready made jewelry, so that will be our next project.

Gail and I are now working together on a daily basis. You can stay tuned to the blog just to see if we end up killing each other or not! Seriously though we both have different strengths and hopefully can merge the two into a successfully run business doing something we both love.
Gail will be participating in this blog and she is way funnier than I am. You can find our site by visiting at www.beadandsave.com

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Triumphant at last! Best of luck to both of you.

Suziebird said...

love shopping on your website!

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