Shop Bargainista's One Year - 12 Things I Learned My First Year in Business

Today is a very special day. Shop Bargainista has officially been in business for one year! Shop Bargainista was established on June 2nd 2021 and we chose this date for a special reason. Happy One Year Shop Bargainsita, LLC!

June 2nd 2020 is when our inspiration behind Shop Bargainista gained her wings and went to heaven. Sharon Williams, was one of the most stylish, chic, classy and God fearing individuals a person could have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Whether she was draped in designer or beautiful in a bargain that was just too good to be true, Sharon was the epitome of style and grace and most importantly, humble always. We chose to open for business one year ago on the anniversary of her being in heaven because Sharon would not have wanted it any other way. She was a light and such a positive individual and although this is a sad day for her daughter and CEO of Shop Bargainista Kristin Williams, she would want her to make the best of any situation and that is exactly what she has done while grieving these last two years. So today, we celebrate Sharon, along with the one year anniversary of Shop Bargainista. I love you Mom, I hope you’re proud.

Shop Bargainista would like to take this time to say thank you. Thank you for your support over this last year. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Shop Bargainista has been a success only because God was leading and guiding us every step of the way.

There are a few things that I would like to share, well 12 things to be exact about our first year experience in business as a new and resale online boutique that specializes in clothing and accessories.

12 things I Learned My First Year in Business:

Don't Wait:

Are you waiting for the perfect time to get started? Well don’t! There is no perfect time. There is no, I need to make sure I have everything together and in order. Just do it! There are so many loose ends that you will have to tie together throughout your experience, but with God leading us, we have experienced nothing, but success. Get started and stop waiting and he will do the same for you!

Reevaluate Often:

One thing I learned fairly quickly is what items I did the best with and I think I was fairly shocked about it too. My pre-loved brand name items are most definitely our most popular purchase. The beauty of Shop Bargainista is we’re unique because we personally go out and handpick all items that we sell and thoroughly study the items condition if the item is pre-loved to make sure your bargain is ready to ship to you.

So when I say reevaluate, I mean that whatever your specialty is, assess those items, see what sells well and what doesn’t. That will really help you along in your journey, it has really helped with mine. For example, if I set up at a vendor show, I do exceptionally well with jewelry overall, whereas if I do what I do on a daily basis which is online based, I do really well with pre-loved clothing and typically any accessories, but specifically handbags and shoes. Reevaluating what you do well with ultimately allows you to think about your next moves too. If you did well in one area, that makes you think well hmmmm, let me try this or try that. So moral of this section is to constantly reevaluate your specialty so you can keep growing. I’d say by my third month, I already had intuition on what my best selling items would be

Research Multiple Platforms:

When you’re based online, it’s important to research multiple platforms to sell on. From the moment I started I knew one thing I would be doing was researching what platforms I wanted to sell on. All my items are listed on multiple platforms. I love cross listing. It really gives your items the opportunity to have multiple views and increases the likelihood that they will sell. From the day I started, I’ve sold on multiple platforms and I can’t say enough how well that has worked for Shop Bargainista. I encourage you to try this and see how it works for your business. The only forewarning I can give regarding this is you have to heavily monitor your inventory. There is always a chance since you’re cross listing that you could sell the items on two platforms at the same time. Once you sell an item, you need to train yourself to automatically remove that sold item on any other platform that it is listed on. I actually think there are apps that help make this easier so I plan on looking into that in the future.

Keep Records of Literally Everything:

I learned this early on. I was a little overwhelmed by how well things were going when we first launched. I kind of let my record keeping, i.e. receipts, spreadsheets, etc backslide a little. I learned quickly this isn’t beneficial for me or my business. I keep literally every receipt no matter what it’s for. If it’s a purchase for your business, KEEP IT. You need to keep everything because you never know what you may need it for in the future. In addition to keeping all receipts, I keep very thorough and detailed spreadsheets too. I also print a copy of any orders I receive on whichever platform it is sold on. All these records are pertinent when it comes to filing your business taxes at the end of the year. I’ll get into the importance of researching and getting an experienced business tax preparer later in this post.

Try Vendor Shows:

Do some research on setting up at a vendor show. Setting up as a vendor whether it be an outdoor market or pop up vendor spot can really give your business the opportunity to gain exposure. I set up at my first vendor pop up just a few months after opening. I watched some YouTube videos to gain some info on what I would need to set up for my first pop up and I found that extremely helpful. My goal going in was to just make my money back that I had spent for the space and the table that came along with the space. I exceeded my expectations by making quite a profit so I was very happy about that! I passed out lots of business cards and interacted with lots of people. Setting up as a vendor was super beneficial, it helped me get Shop Bargainista out there. Whether you gain one follower or customer or 100, a gain is a gain, always celebrate your wins.

Get an Experienced Business Tax Preparer:

Please educate yourself on all things IRS and the department of revenue. I’m still very much in the process of learning about this. I can’t go into this subject to much because although I filed my taxes and went through this process as a business owner for the first time, it wasn’t pleasant for me in the aftermath. This is an area I plan to educate myself on more and I highly suggest you do the same!

Focus on your success:

No matter how big or how small, celebrate your wins. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, ok? The beauty in all this is it’s your business! You are your own BOSS. You have the ability to say yes or no to anything that you please! Whether it’s an event that your intuition tells you wouldn’t work well for your business or whether you’re on the fence about trying something new and nae sayers are like, nah! Well, you get to tell yourself yes! Whether you have one sale a day or one hundred, celebrate yourself! Take yourself to dinner.

Build your Customer Base:

Listing on multiple platforms helped me in this area! If you initially made a purchase with me on a platform outside of my website, I always take the opportunity to put marketing tools inside your packaging to drive you back to my site! Whether gaining a customer from a I like your necklace in the grocery line to social media, it’s really important to aim to retain them. We want you to be a barg babe forever, duhhh. I have to say I’m pretty much a walking advertisement, if you know me then you know I love interacting with people, so I’m not shy when it comes to shouting out Shop Bargainista and you shouldn’t be shy when it comes to shouting out your business either!

Social Media:

Point. Blank. Period. Social media is so important. Being consistent is so important. I have to work on being much more consistent I admit, but this is beyond a great way to gain exposure. I go through fazes of being consistent, but it’s something I learned even before being in business that it can take you to new levels if you’re consistent so I’m hoping to get there one day.

Don't be surprised:

Don’t be surprised when you don’t get support from people you anticipated getting support from. Be prepared to build alone, eat alone and hustle alone. You’re going to have some lonely days. Other people won’t always understand your hard work and dedication because God didn’t give them your vision, he gave it to you, so don’t be surprised with lack of support. When I’m working in the Shop Barg headquarters, aka my basement I do nothing but listen to sermon after sermon. I am constantly seeking God throughout my work days. Now don’t get me wrong, I do listen to a little Jack Harlow now and then too!

It’s so important to make sure to surround yourself with people who are actually supporting you and be careful who you share with, everyone that is around you isn’t for you, no matter how much they may pretend to be, always remember that and I knew this long before one year, but I always feel it is important to share and reiterate this. Move in silence and be cautious to share your hopes and dreams outside of those you know in your heart of hearts you can trust. God will always put one great person in your corner who truly means you well, if you have more than that, you’re abundantly blessed! In the same way you want support, make sure that you’re supporting other small businesses too!

Have an Idea? Write it down:

Entrepreneurial minds are always flowing and going. It’s easy when you get an idea in your head to forget it just as easy so make sure you write it down. As you’re writing down ideas, get yourself a planner and write down everything else too. I always have my planner with me. When I’m working on Shop Barg the first thing I do is write down what I would like to accomplish for the day, what items I need to prepare to package and/or ship, etc.

It's ok to Make Mistakes:

You’re still learning. It’s your first year, or maybe you just started or haven’t started yet. It is totally ok to make mistakes. No one is perfect. Take it as a lesson learned and move forward. Don’t beat yourself up. Mistakes allow you to grow, do just that and move forward.

I hope you’ve enjoyed “12 things I Learned My First Year in Business” I’m no expert, but I’ll always share. Any one bit of info I can share to encourage or help someone else is always my goal. Please share and oh yea, make sure you shop our bargains. Use Promo Code: ONEYEAR June 2nd - June 5th for 25% off site wide! Happy One Year Shop Barg, one year down and a lifetime to go!