Smaller sellers, big decisions?

[Jackie]

Rachel aka @iheartteas just posted an interesting post on her blog, in which she ponders her desire to sell tea. Should she follow her dreams, which she wants to, but then how should she best go about it? You can read her interesting post here.
I’m dropping this whole subject into the forum, into the Seller’s Corner, because I’m interested in what sellers think. Did you design a plan, or are you just seeing how it goes? Do you take risks, or is it best to take it very slow? How do you think you want to distinguish yourself from others? Do smaller sellers have to make big decisions? Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Thanks @Jackie I could use all the input I can get.

[liberteas]

I would definitely say follow your dreams, but – and I say this from my own experience – know your dreams. What I mean by this is that when I started out in the tea business, I did so not really knowing what the heck I was doing. Basically, I was trying to recreate a chocolate blend that was no longer available to me, and somehow I got it in my head that “hey, I’m a creative person, I can figure out how to do this myself.” As an aside, this happens to me often, like when I’m shopping. I talk myself out of buying all sorts of things because I say to myself “I can make that myself.” But then I never do.

But I digress.

Anyway, I was working with trying to recreate a chocolate blend, and I didn’t like the different teas I was trying … they just didn’t measure up to the chocolate blend that I wanted to recreate, so I was working to do it myself. I got my business license because it opened up the world of wholesale sources to me and eventually, I had a whole lot of tea on hand that I was using to flavor and blend, and I couldn’t possibly drink it all myself. So, I started selling it online.

Some years later (and just a couple of years ago) I realized that the business end of things were taking over, and I was no longer this “creative person who could do that” … instead, I was running a business with no real desire to do all the stuff I had to do (ie: paperwork, marketing, etc), and I wanted to get back to the creative person, because that is who I am inside. I am an artist not a business person, and I realized that I’m better off writing about other people’s tea than creating my own blends and trying to sell them and keep a business running.

The teas that I do sell now (well, not NOW because I’m on temporary hiatus) are not “my” teas (as in, my creations), but teas that I’ve tried, written about, and have become part of my massive stash that I’m trying to lighten so that I can … what else? Buy more tea. 🙂 And I’m much happier.

Anyway… what I’m trying to get to is this: Know your dream. Then once you’ve decided what it is you want to do, what your dream IS, then, pursue it and give it 100%. Don’t be afraid of risks. I know you said you tend to be cautious, and cautious is GOOD but don’t let it get in the way of doing something that is going to be beneficial to your business. Sometimes risks pay off… but only risk when you can afford to lose whatever it is that you’re risking.

I would also say… you’re going the right way by making a plan. If you don’t map out your strategy, how do you know you’ve gotten where you want to … or need to … go? It becomes more difficult as time goes on to make the decisions if you don’t have a clear cut plan in force. It is also important to be flexible enough to change things if they’re not working and find another way around toward your goal.

I’m sure by this point, I’m just babbling and saying stuff you already know, so I guess I’ll shush now.

Best of luck to you, Rachel! I look forward to seeing how you grow your business!

[Gingko]

Those are very interesting questions! Rachel, thank you for bringing them up! And Jackie, thank you for posting about it here!

Some of the questions are what I have been thinking too!

First of all, I want to mention that I probably will be a moonlight seller (I mean, maintaining a tea business aside from a day job) for a long time. This means, I would like to keep the business, but I will not become a full-timer soon. In my observation of these a few years, I’ve seen more and more moonlight sellers, in both the States and China, and many of them sell fabulous teas. 😀

Here is what I think about some of Rachel’s questions:

Where am I am going with this?
– I don’t think much about this :-p

Do I keep doing what I am doing?
– That has been an on and off question for me. There were times that I wondered if I should still go on. And there were times that I had some relatively big changes in my life and I wondered if tea business should still have top priority in my life. But so far I just don’t want to give it up. If necessary, and if there are other things coming up in my life in the future, I will consider slowing it down, or downsizing it, before thinking of ending it.

Should I make an attempt at growth?
– Currently I don’t have time to consider this, and will probably consider this again in 2 or 3 years. I will not grow the size of tea selection/inventory, but as every seller, I would love to see growth of returning buyers 😀

If I make an attempt at growth, do I go all in and make big risks or take it slow?
– Definitely no more risk for me 😳 Risk makes me nervous and I didn’t start a tea business to get more stress in my life :-p

What sort of time and energy can I devote this venture?
– This is a challenging question for me too! I guess I can only try my best to achieve short-term balance, and then when things change, I will try to adjust again.

What sort of money can I invest in myself?
– Based on my “no risk” thought, I would invest money that, even if all is lost, will not break my heart. Also I would tend to invest on teas that, even if not sold, I would enjoy myself and send as gifts to family (I have a big extensive family!)

What makes me different from all the others out there offering the same thing?
– That’s a very important question, and is often the strength of a small tea business! I think that’s also the reason why small businesses could get along with each other and large businesses like to attack each other in their TV commercials :-p

[Gingko]

Some years later (and just a couple of years ago) I realized that the business end of things were taking over, and I was no longer this “creative person who could do that” … instead, I was running a business with no real desire to do all the stuff I had to do (ie: paperwork, marketing, etc), and I wanted to get back to the creative person, because that is who I am inside. I am an artist not a business person, and I realized that I’m better off writing about other people’s tea than creating my own blends and trying to sell them and keep a business running.

Thank you for sharing your story! This is exactly what I sometimes worry about. I feel I enjoy the tea business, but probably won’t enjoy a lot of non-tea matters.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate everyone’s feedback here. I want to respond back to your comments with detail but am still looking for the words. Until then I wanted to say thank you for taking the time to add your voice to the topic @Jackie @Liberteas @Gingko @Xavier

[Anonymous]

this is exactly what I am going through at the moment. I have been moonlighting, selling tea and  now finally willing to give up my day job to do it. I have an online store at the moment but want to think bigger and move into a unit to distribute from. The thought of this terrifies me as Ive been working from home and doing OK. If I move into a larger space I need to pay rent but wouldnt make enough with what I make at the mo. The problem is I need more space to make more cash, but not earning enough from the tea to move into the unit because I have no space to store large quantaties…argg. its a minefield. Have any of you encountered this catch 22 situation before? what did you do? xx

[Xavier]

If you can pay your teas after you sold them to your customers, you can make a profit and solve your problem.

Otherwise, it really depends on what your sales are supposed to be when compared to your expenses.

[bram]

Did you consider just renting storage space as an intermediate solution? Still doing most work at home.

[Jackie]

That sounds like a good idea @bram. It is so hard to survive in the tea business I would be very careful about renting a distributing unit. Thoughts on this one @iheartteas, now that’s it been a year since we first started this thread?

[Anonymous]

I am still taking it slow and only perusing leads I am most comfortable. I am not looking to be the next Teavana. My take would be if you can do it and you are only a little uncomfortable then do it. If not then you aren’t ready yet. Then again everyone is different and with different business plans. I suspect mine to be most unique as I run my business so I can afford to continue to stay at home, write, and be creative.

[Author]

Posts