Gerrybot

When we started our business about a year and a half ago, Scribble Designs slowly morphed into a web design company.

That wasn’t the original plan! Lisa and I actually started the business with the intention of designing and selling children’s educational products. Financing the initial print run was tricky - we didn’t have any spare cash, and we didn’t want the risk of a large loan to start us off.

So, we took the more cumbersome route - we decided to raise the capital through our other marketable skill: web design. We initially got a few jobs from the local enterprise agency which started off our portfolio, then people started coming to us directly through word of mouth. Eventually (almost a year later) we had the funds we needed to start the printing press rolling!

When we took delivery of the printed cards, we also took responsibility for collating them manually. You could never guess how time consuming (not to mention painful) this experience was! Standing for hours in front of our kitchen counters with rows upon rows of flashcards, gathering them up, putting them in the boxes, finding somewhere to store all the boxes……

Next time (if there is a next time), we’ll hire some people to do this, or brow-beat family and friends into helping….

Anyway, the “TA-DA” moment has arrived! Our first set of children’s educational flashcards is now available! You can visit the site and see examples of our cards and even buy a set if you like. We won’t try to stop you!

Oh dear. Innocently, I called in with a potential outlet customer for my first range of picture flashcards.

With a sample pack in hand and a notebook, I approached the counter of the shop to introduce myself. The girl at the checkout asked me who I was and where I was from. After answering, she lifted the phone and called the lady in question:

“There’s a sales rep here to see you”, she says.

What? A sales rep? No, I’m a designer. I’ve designed these cards myself. I just want to…to…..sell them to your shop. And with that came the slow realisation that I have crossed into enemy territory. I am a sales rep. Granted, I’m a sales rep for myself, but that doesn’t make it any better.

Expect to be hanging up on me in the near future….. 

For a couple of years now, my wife and I have been toying with the idea of starting a business.

We’re intelligent people, we’ve got business skills, and we’ve got ideas. Too many ideas, to be fair, but that’s something we need to work on.

We’ve also got goals. We want to work for ourselves and our little family. We don’t want to establish a mega-brand, by any means. All we want is a sustainable business that will grow with us and keep our family comfortable and secure in the coming years.

Can it be fun? I’m not sure.

At the moment, I’m working a full time job as well as trying to establish this business. My working hours are 7:00am to 2:30 each afternoon. I get home for about 3:30pm and then family life kicks in until the kids go to bed at 7:30pm.

Then the second job kicks in. So from then until midnight (most nights), Lisa and I work at building our business.

It’s a punishing schedule to work to. Ultimately, the business should sustain both of us working full time, but the question is: How do we get to that point, and how long should we keep trying for?