"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." -Socrates
This quote hit me hard, change...no one likes it, we fight it with all we have sometimes, it is however inevitable, especially if we want to grow. The last 19 months have presented change to all of us that we probably could not even fathom prior to early 2020. I heard a saying early on in the pandemic that went something like "we are all in the same storm, but in different boats." So true! We all had to figure out how to navigate the rough seas. I think it also gave us all time to gain perspective on the things that maybe really matter to us.
Early into the pandemic, when every thing (including us of course) was shut down, I would wake up in the early hours gasping for air from a deep sleep. It was a scary time then not knowing really if my business, which at that time was about 50-55% service based (Via DIY workshops) would survive. When I first opened the shop back in 2015, 100% of our revenue was DIY Workshops, that is all we did. Into 2016 and 2017 our business grew and we met so many incredible people (YOU!). We started to see a large downturn in 2018 in both our open workshop format and private parties, that trend continued thru 2019 and well, 2020 was a mess...LOL! As our workshop business continued to decline we continued to grow our product business, but not quite to the same rate that our workshop revenue fell off.
With the pandemic came much more online shopping and we began to meet new customers nationwide with our products, specifically our flagship Porch Candy® products, and eventually as we began emerging from the pandemic, our product revenue was growing.
In all transparency, when I began thinking about letting the DIY workshop piece of our business go, my initial thought was I was also going to sell our shop business location and move back to my home studio, which frankly isn't that much smaller than the shop. LOL! The one thing I did NOT want to do was alienate our local customers and Porch Candy® is also one of those products you have to sometimes see "live and in person" to fully appreciate.
With all of this in mind, knowing based on years (even pre-pandemic) of understanding our business that our products were the piece of our business growing, we made a plan that effective October 1, 2021 we would:
1. Step away from DIY Workshops on-site and instead focus on DIY Craft Kits and helping other creatives, who purchase bare metal wholesale from us, grow their businesses.
We have the pleasure of partnering with several amazing ladies who facilitate DIY Workshops at their shops and/or will come to you:
Erin Snodgrass, The Painted Tin BinChristy Vaughn, The Rustic Fence Company
Connie Belt, Connie's Creations
Chris Schwarting, Streator, IL - Crafty Creations with Chris
Any of these lovely ladies would love to meet you in one of their upcoming DIY workshops or set up a private party at your location. If you are interested in growing your own DIY business with our steel shapes, please see our Wholesale Agreement. We would love to partner with you.
2. Create a more convenient process for our local customers to pick up their purchases.
We built a self-service pick-up location on our shop back deck that allows our customers to pick up their online orders Monday thru Saturday 7a-6p at a time that is convenient for them. The feedback has been awesome and it makes my heart so happy that it is serving our customers well! Once you purchase online and your order is ready your "ready for pick up" notification will contain links and additional information on scheduling your pick up. So convenient!!! So EASY!
3. Repurpose our 800sq ft to much better serve our customers with reduced turn around times by having functional space.
Our space is now "sectioned" into:
*The Showroom - this is the front room of our shop where you enter and we have so so many Porch Candy® designs on display, ready made door hangers to match and many other home decor items. Our showroom is open Saturdays 9-Noon and we will be expanding our hours for the upcoming holiday season, stay tuned.
*The Storage Room - where we keep all our bare metal, all shapes & sizes neatly organized mind you...hahahaha!, craft supplies all labeled in containers. We also keep orders ready for pick up in there too.
*The "Pack & *Ship" Station - which honestly has been such an improvement as my ol' bones are no longer packing up orders on the floor.
*The Creation Station - This is basically my workspace where I cut vinyl, do my DIY lives and organize incoming orders into work lists as/if needed
*The Studio - The space where the magic happens, where all the products are painted one by one, just for you. Formerly our DIY Workshop room, this room is in the middle of a facelift. Be sure to watch our social media channels for updates and/or come and see it in person at our HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE.
The kitchen and the bathroom are slated for a bit of updating in the new year.
4. Grow our online presence - We have implemented a new online/social media strategy to serve our customers in all the facets of our business; the creating, the informative, and the downright fun.
As our website (ItsScrapicated.com) serves as our storefront more these days than ever, we have been building inventory and now have "IN STOCK" tags on all in stock products on our website. We would also welcome your reviews (and be oh so grateful!) on any of our products that you may own to help other customers who may not be as familiar with our products make decisions. You also get 50 loyalty points for every review too.
Follow us on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, PINTEREST, and YOUTUBE too.
I know it is a lot of changes. I made them all with you in mind coupled with the growth and strength of our business for years to come. Please reach out if you have any questions. Serving you to the best of our ability while providing quality handmade products is our top priority!
Thank you for choosing handmade and shopping small this holiday season. Our families <3 you!
xoxoxoxo,
-T2