Swatch day! This may be the single most exciting thing I've done for my business in the 3+ years I've been selling on Etsy.
I decided to design my own fabric after coming to the sad conclusion that would-be customers were taking my designs and fabric combinations to less expensive sellers behind my back, even after I'd invested time and messages and scavenger hunts for just the right shade of gray for them. I couldn't really put a stop to it, since the fabrics I used were not my own. But since hiring some sewing help, I've had time to figure out what I really want to sell in my shop--the colors and designs--so I debuted this simple geometric line yesterday.
And of course, this morning I woke up to numerous messages reading "Where did you get this fabric?" and nothing else.
And I've promised myself I'll message back, "I made it myself!" and nothing else.
Because you know what sucks? Since I'm a teacher, there's a part of me that just wants to help people out. It's my job, it's intrinsic. So every time I message back that I made it myself, I'm going to feel like a biatch. I know they're only trying to save money. I know they are trying to be industrious. I'm that way too.
But I also have to protect my shop and the food it puts on our table. To share with even one person is to basically share with a major (cheaper) competitor.
I'll keep telling them about the other standard fabrics though. That's my truce with the world of WHERE DID YOU GET THIS? (it is a whole world, isn't it?) And my advice to anyone trying to break into some sort of work from home business (whether it be selling on Etsy, local photography, or baking freaking cakes) is this:
Set yourself apart. Quiet the noise that tells you you are in direct competition with another person. Don't steal their ideas and undercut their prices. Take time away from Pinterest. Sketch some things out that you and you alone love. Then create those things. And pay yourself an honest wage for the work you did.
And if they get stolen, when they get stolen, then you'll create something else. Leave those old things behind and keep running ahead, because you are drawing the curve that they have to stay ahead of.
That's it.