Wow. Just wow. I’ve started writing this blog a number of times and have struggled with where to start. This past month was easily one of the hardest I’ve had in a long time. With that said, it has also been one of the most rewarding (you know, besides the birth of my child).
I know they say ‘never let them see you sweat’ but I’m all about transparency and I was sweating big time, guys. Sweating, crying, shaking. All of it. However, now that I look back, I’m excited and giddy beyond belief.
Wooly Doodle has always been a hobby business. It’s something I created out of my love of creating and I was lucky enough to people who wanted to buy what I was making. All that changed with our last launch. To put it lightly, things kind of blew up.
Within the first month of our last release, sales increased by 145% (and that doesn't include our very first retail orders either). That means we were faced with 145% more work with the exact same processes, production methods and resources and for the first time since the beginning, orders were coming in regularly and they weren’t slowing down. I’d love to say we crushed it but the reality is that things got messy pretty quickly. From production issues, to politics and drama, to miscommunications and mess-ups, to long, long long days on repeat - October was filled with it all and there were several times when I wondered why I was even doing any of this.
The answer every time I asked myself that question was YOU. You are all the reason I do this and you have all been so incredibly understanding and patient during this cluster bleep of a time.
What’s with the title though?
There’s a leader at the organization I work at that would say all mistakes are treasures. This has become my unofficial mantra over the past couple of months (mostly because it keeps me from feeling like a total failure). The truth is mistakes are only treasures if you take the time to pause and learn from them which is exactly what I’ve been trying to do these past couple of weeks.
These mistakes have made me realize the old model is no longer sufficient and it’s time to overhaul our production process in a way that will have me breathing into a paper bag less and you getting your goodies a lot faster.
What happens next
We are going to take a pretty big break. The store will be closed for most of December and half of January – but for good reason, I swear. We are moving to a ready-made model, starting with our LADIES ROMPERS (launching this month, I promise). This means that gone are the days of waiting 4+ weeks for your items to ship. It will be a bold new world of having your items shipped within 48 hours of your purchase *high kick*.
I also have some major plans in the works to keep bringing you new items, new prints, new patterns and just generally new things to swoon over and am getting all the necessary resources lined up to make it happen.
So, I hope you’re as excited for the future of Wooly Doodle as I am. I want to thank you for keeping me grounded during a time that has produced more than one grey hair on my head (for reals). I know I sound like a broken record but I have the very best supporters and customers and even though I may not actually be rich AF, I’m definitely grateful AF.
Elizabeth xo