July 2022 By Lisa Desjardins, Owner of Candlehaven.ca
We all know that dismal feeling. It’s 6:00am on Monday morning. Time to climb out of our warm bed, rush out the door, scarf down a coffee while sitting in traffic only to arrive at our job where we’ll work all day to make someone else rich; To make someone else’s dream come true. When we’re sick, we’re expected to be there. Other than a few precious vacation days, we’re there. When there’s extra work to be done, we’re there late. We spend more time at our jobs, than at our homes with our families. Rather than be miserable we just learn to live with it. We tell ourselves we’re okay with it because its not like there’s anything else we can do. After all, the only way out of the daily grind is to invent the next big thing, and most of us are not inventors. Dreaming about leaving our day jobs behind is just that. A dream we dare not think about too long. Buying lottery tickets is the only little fairy-tale indulgence most of us will allow ourselves.
But what if it isn’t actually that hard? What if you don’t have to re-invent the wheel? What if you can do something you’re good at like candle making, or resume writing, designing jewellery, DIY crafting and earn money doing it? What if you could actually earn your entire living doing this? If you’re thinking you have to be the next Martha Stewart, you’re wrong. Stay in your lane. You just have to be the next YOU and have the courage to put yourself out there.
So, here’s what you’re going to do. Take what it is that you enjoy and do well and learn how to do it better than you ever have before. Consult your new business partners YouTube and Google for every piece of information they have. Hone and refine your craft.
Next, you’re going to learn to build a website to promote what you do. Look at others in your space. See what they do well, what they do poorly, and ultimately, make your website better than theirs. Learn about search engine optimization so that you can drive traffic to your website. Again, remember YouTube and Google are you friends. Everything you need to learn to be a successful business owner is at your fingertips, from website design, social media marketing skills, to product photography, to pricing and profit margins. People spend years in school learning what you can learn in months by watching videos on your lunch breaks while you sit at your dead-end job. You can build the future you want instead of just occasionally letting yourself dream of it.
Time will pass every day whether you do something about your circumstance or not. You will blink, and ten years will have gone by. If you want to be a successful business owner at the end of those ten years, that is what you will be. Commit to the process. At Candlehaven.ca, we a champion for the entrepreneur. We want to see you succeed at creating your own candle business so you can wake and make pretty candles every day. Have the courage to try. We will be there to support and promote you every step of the way.