top of page

Five things I have learnt in the first seven weeks of starting my business

Updated: Aug 5

A photograph of a desk with a laptop with a coffee cup

  1. I draw 10% of the time

As an illustrator, you may expect that I am drawing all the time and to be honest I did too! I decided to start this business because of my love for drawing and seeing what other illustrators got up to and how successful and exciting their life looked (yes social media isn't always accurate but from what I saw and researched, I thought I should give it a go too!). Anyway, my point is that I thought I would be drawing more often than I am. This doesn't mean I don't draw everyday - I do, but not to the extent that you may think. There’s so much more to my business than drawing and creating products. A lot of my time is researching marketing tactics, adding to my website, looking into markets that I might want to be a part of, filming content and ideation tasks for social media and sooooo so sooo much more! 


A photograph of a person drawing with a plant in the frame

  1. Things do not always work out how you predict they will

I thought I knew my products, what will sell well and others that might not. Boy, was I wrong! I have gained more of an insight to what people love when I go to markets. The more I attend markets and actually hear what people have to say about my products the better! I can't hear people through Etsy listings and I can't hear people watching my TikTok's without them commenting. This has encouraged me to go to more markets with my stall to LEARN. 

In addition to this when I film content for social media videos, the more effort and time I put into them, the more I think that they will go viral they don't! Yet, the simple ones which take little effort do! At least that makes things easier for me I suppose.


A photograph of persona standing behind a market stall

  1. Timing matters

As much as I would love to post reels as soon as they are filmed and completed, upload Etsy listings when I am happy with them and post blogs as soon as they are done... timing matters!

It’s all about when my target audience is present. I want to give that social media post its best shot to find as many relevant people as possible so I have to do a lot of research into when my audience is active.


This learning curve has also come along with which markets do I attend during the calendar year? Spring time, people aren't really buying much whereas coming up to Christmas, consumers are buying more.



A woman holding up an illustration of a rustic kitchen drawing

  1. No one shows up for you other than yourself

Friends and family ask why I am working so much lately yet it is because I am the only on running the business, in the business and working on my business. I want nothing more than this business to succeed and especially in the early months, I need to crack down to really give it it’s best shot. I love every part of my business at the moment and I am so excited for it to grow with you all and blossom into something spectacular. There’s a long road ahead yet I can't wait to travel it!


A photograph of a green birthday card with flowers on and a pink background

  1. It’s hard to take time off

If I could physically and mentally work 24/7 I reckon I would! Like I said, I love what I do yet I need to remember to take a break enjoy my weekends and look after my health. At the moment I am trying to stick to and eight hour day to not exhaust myself even though I love it. I need to take every day at a time and I don't want this business to overwhelm my day to day because as much as I want it to succeed, I am not a robot lol.


A photograph of a cactus greetings card on a green cutting board

All in all, it has been the most amazing learning curve form myself and my business. I cannot wait to see what the next couple months for Emily Palmer Illustration looks like but I know it’s going to be a good-en! Keep an eye out as there’s lots to come.


Emily


Find me on social media:

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page