We held our fourth Craft Savvy Market on November 16, 2019 and this market proved that we cannot remain stagnant at any point on our journey as entrepreneurs.  No matter the challenges, we must push through and persevere in order to grow. Below, we wrap up and share part 2 of our lessons learned. Check us out in Instagram and Facebook @craftsavvymarket to see more pictures and videos from the event.

Growth is messy!! This market was especially uncomfortable because we took on a couple of new initiatives before our current model was “perfect”. As mentioned in Part 1, we added a new interview segment with one of our favorite bloggers/entrepreneurs, Trina Small. We had alternative segment ideas and a lot of debate on the best path to take, but ultimately settled on the interview format based on our overall goal for the market. Then we sent an offer out and Trina said yes! It sounds very straightforward after the fact, but I remember being afraid that it wouldn’t work, that she may say no or that having an interview in the middle of a bustling market would be a bust. In the end, the interview segment added value for our audience and drew new attendees to the market. I was reminded that clarity and results often come from doing, not in endless debate and planning.

Next, our decision to sell two new physical products at the fourth market didn’t go as planned. After brainstorming a design and making a few mock-ups of one product, we found that that version was just…meh. Instead of forcing it, we decided to hold off until we got the design right and took one new offering to the market, our gorgeous new affirmation magnets. I’m proud that we stepped out of our comfort zone in this market. If you wait for perfect conditions or a zero chance of failure, you’ll never stretch and grow to the next level. My learning was to push through the messiness and risk of failure and grow anyway.

by: Charlene Dunbar