The First Step : Taking the Plunge

This is the first in a weekly series about small business. I recently filed as a sole proprietorship, after three and a half years of treating the "business" as a hobby. This series will document my journey, aspire to give you all a glimpse into what running a small business is like, and hopefully be of use and inspiration to other aspiring entrepreneurs out there.

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"Whatever you want to do, do it. There are only so many tomorrows." - fortune cookie

After work on Christmas Eve (I know!), my boyfriend and I went to see Iron Giant at the Film Forum and then had dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby. The quote above was my fortune that evening, and it spoke to me in a way that fortune cookie fortunes rarely do. Later, when I was moving, I lost the fortune, which only elevates its stature in my mind.

I started Chelleline Cards as a hobby the summer before I went to law school. I'd spent years in cerebral hobbies (writing, reading), and I was itching to work with my hands again. I decided to go with greeting cards after I stumbled on a greeting card blog. I had a bunch of catalogs from Book Expo (as a result of my New York Brain Terrain blog), I bought some cardstock from Staples, and in one June afternoon, my first four cards were made. One month later, I began listing my cards on Etsy. And from there, it grew. Kind of. I sold at several craft fairs, and got the occasional sale on Etsy. I began reaching out to stores. But it was all very sporadic.

The thing is, I never really took the plunge with Chelleline Cards the entire time I was in law school. Law school was my priority. I was spending a lot of money on the education, and I didn't want it to go to waste: I wanted to do well in school. Predictably, my "business" suffered as a result. Even though I treated it as a hobby, I still wanted it to do well. I often wished that I'd thought of the idea earlier, say, during the summer of 2006 when I was not sure where I wanted to go with my life.

Fast forward 3 years later: I'd graduated from Fordham with good grades (missing the cutoff for cum laude by thousandths of a decimal point), passed the bar, but found myself without a full-time job due to the economic crisis. And I was now in debt (I had no debt prior to law school). I went on informational interviews, I checked several job boards every day, I applied to every job posting I saw that was related to my skills, including some non-legal jobs, got a few interviews, but no offers. Throughout Fall 2010, I worked at two jobs part-time, which meant I was working every day of the week and which paid me just enough to cover my rent and have $200 extra, and worked on Chelleline Cards in the spare time that I had. I did get a mention in TimeOut New York, which was nice. No, it was more than nice - it was validation. Validation that I was doing something right.

At the end of 2010, I decided that 2011 would be the year when I would try to take my business to the next level - when I would try to make it into a real, legitimate, full-time business. I filed as a sole proprietorship and applied for a selling license (which I received). At my boyfriend's suggestion, I bought a cutting machine to help me cut some of my designs (it has saved me a LOT of time and may have been the best move I've made so far this year. And yes, I know I need to update my website on this fact). I applied for a wholesale account with my cardstock supplier, which has saved me a lot of money on supplies. I continued to strengthen the relationship I had with my current stores, and started to establish relationships with new ones. I am happy to say that as of today, April 28, 2011, I am now in 14 stores - 9 of which are new this year! And I have more plans for expansion, which I will share as this series continues.

Although I've had plans to expand the business since December, the most recent development in my life has strengthened my resolve. My boyfriend and I will be moving to Montreal later this spring, and I won't be able to practice law there - at least not without taking 1-1.5 years of classes first.

A lot of naysayers would say that now is not the best time to start a business. The economy is bad, you're in a lot of debt, starting your own business is risky, etc. And there is some truth to this. But you know what? Those things limit you only if you let them. It's never a good time to start a business. There are only so many tomorrows. You might as well do what you want to do now.