I have never been a fan of the word regret, I was always a person who took chances and lived with the consequences. I truly believe that we are who we are because of the experiences that we live through. As I get older this 'no fear' attitude is harder to uphold with the same blind stubbornness of my teens and 20's.
With more experience of life and business comes more knowledge and more reasons to be worried about what happens when things don't work out as planned. This is also the case as we take on more responsibility as adults, owning or renting a home for the first time makes us realise that the buck stops with us, If we don't pay the gas bill, we don't get to have hot showers. We learn from our mistakes.
I spend a lot of time at our shop helping out GCSE and A level students with their textiles projects and it makes me yearn for the days when I used to experiment with colours, textures and technique. When I used to try something just to see what the result would be. When I was at college we had the chance to fill endless sketch books with ideas and samples. I can't remember the last time I filled a sketch book just because.
With running your own business it is even harder to experiment, the 'money' factor often stops an idea in it's tracks, committing a chunk of money to something you have no idea is going to work is a big gamble. Again responsibility ways heavy. At 21 I would have given it a try and if it went wrong figured out another way to pay the gas bill, 31 Year old me puts all my energy into making the idea work and am left with little to no energy and enthusiasm to figure out another way if it doesn't.
As an adult it can be hard to remember that nothing is impossible, I can't pinpoint the moment that changes for you, because it is different for all of us, but in order to create something special that other people want or want to be a part of takes one thing... A Risk. The risk that it may not work out, the risk that the people you want to sell to may just not be interested in what you have to offer. The flip side of taking that risk is that something even more wonderful than you imagined might happen. It is not until you have taken that chance that you will know, in order to know if it is a mistake, you have to make it.
The reason I wanted to talk about this today is that I am currently in the middle of a big decision making process with the rest of my family for the future of our business Sew Crafty. Going back to what I was talking about in this post, trying to pull more of the things we can offer in to one, more diverse business. It is a BIG risk, but I am determined to bring a little more of my 21 year old self to the table and take the risk that could make our business everything we believe it can be.
Do it. Take the plunge. Take a risk
Sammy xxx
Read Pt. 1 of my quotes series here : Jack of all Trades, Master of None
