Owning a business takes a lot of work and thinking through before you start. You have to be ready for all of the downs as well as the ups that are going to come with owning your own business.

If you’re not caught up with the latest that’s been going on, I opened my very first online shop, named ShopTBPD, exactly a week ago today! It’s a goal of mine that has been sitting on my list waiting to be checked off and it felt good to finally do so.

I’m aware that there are some of you out there who might want to open your own shops and are curious about what the very beginning could look like. This is why I decided to share my first week as an e-commerce shop owner!

Friday.

Friday was opening day, and to my surprise, I received my first four orders! I only expected to make about one or two orders (one of them being from my mother) and I am grateful to have people around that believe in me and trust me 1000%.

Saturday.

I was still on a high Saturday from the opening and receiving my first batch of orders! I didn’t receive any orders this day, but it wasn’t a worry for me. I know orders aren’t going to come every single day, especially as a brand new business with not many items as of yet.

Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, I attempted to go live on the ShopTBPD Instagram to make orders, and it didn’t necessarily turn out the best. There were so many things that were going wrong and I had to start the live over twice, which was very frustrating. I will say that I’m proud of myself because I have never gone live and am very uncomfortable on video. I’m not sure if I’m going to go live again, but I appreciate the few that watched and I was able to enjoy it a little despite all of the trouble I went through. I also received another order while I was live, which made a total of five orders! I made a very small goal to receive at least five orders because I prefer to be as realistic as possible and to make that goal within the opening weekend was mind blowing!

Sunday night, I packed up the orders that I made earlier and this is where even more difficulties began. I am new to Shopify and there are a lot of ins and outs when it comes to it. I was struggling with so many different things, all while the clock kept ticking and time continued to move forward. Eventually, I did figure some things out and was able to get the items packaged to be shipped out the next day.

Monday.

Monday was the big day…dropping off my first batch of orders! As someone who has had to drop off orders for my mom in the past, I wasn’t new to the process. However, this was the first time that I was doing it for my own orders! Being my own business owner now means that the workers will get to know my face once again and I am ready to become well acquainted! Once I finished dropping off my orders, I couldn’t help but stare at the receipt in excitement. All of the struggles (including almost sending everyone their money back and quitting) seemed like a small inconvenience after fulfilling my very first five orders.

Tuesday.

Something unexpected happened this day that almost made me forget the excitement of Monday just that quickly…my mug press machine broke! It didn’t break fully as in stopped working however, as I was adjusting the knob to comfortably fit the 15oz mug that I was trying to test a design on, an important screw popped off that was very difficult to get back on. I felt so many feelings because I wasn’t sure if I was able to get a new part or if I had to purchase a new machine entirely just because of this. If I couldn’t fix it, that would mean momentarily shutting down the site when it just opened. That was the last thing that I needed as a new shop owner!

Wednesday.

Wednesday morning I decided to try and call the company where I bought the machine from. I was told that I could order the part that was needed however, I can become very fixated on something sometimes, and I was going to give myself one more chance to fix it myself before ordering the part and shutting down the shop momentarily. After an hour of confusion and sweat, I was able to fix it (I hope). I tested it out and made the test mug designs, but please keep your fingers and toes crossed that there will be no problems. I also realized today that I really need to get on my organization game because adding a shop just added a whole new pile of work to my already growing pile.

Thursday.

Thursday was more on the chill side for me. I did a test design on a mug and my machine has been staying together, so I’m hoping that means the screw is in the proper way and nothing is messed up!

Friday.

We have now reached Friday once again (which is today)! I did not receive any more orders during the week, but that’s okay. It’s all about appreciating the process and growth that comes with being a new business!

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As you can see, not every day was filled with happiness and joy. No matter where you’re starting in your business, every day will have something different in store. No matter what happens, keep pushing forward and remember to enjoy the process!

Do you have your own business? If so, what advice would you give to a new business owner?