Aspergers,starting your own business and problem encountered

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krex
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24 Feb 2008, 9:04 pm

So heres the deal....


I am a 44 year old female who has worked several different jobs,all of which I end up hating and being overly stressed by.I seem to last a year to 4 years and then start all over again(at the bottom)at something else.The last one is working with dogs,and I love them but the company sucks and they dont treat them good enough(IMHO).Also,the barking is driving me nuts.


So,I am trying to start my own business and finding it just as challenging.I have always made things and thought maybe I could sell them and get paid to do something I love....problem?I didn't realize how much "net-working" and self promotion it required.
There are also a million little steps that you have to do before you can sell anything(take pictures,describe item,figure out pricing and mailing cost,pachage and mailing,finding ways to promote what you sell,go to craft shows and other "net-working"....I suck at all these things.I just want to make stuff,lol.


Sooooo....I am inviting you all to come visit my store(I just opened and only have 15 items and that took me 3 months to figure out how to list).You can visit it [email protected]





http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5412685

(I hope the link works...I also suck at computer stuff)


I would also like to hear from anyone else if you have tried to make money doing something related to your obsession and any feed back on my store...improvements?I know the prices seem high but I have hand sewn everything and each thing took me about 10 hours,so the price(without even the cost of materials)pays me about $3.00 an hour ie below min wage.(NO wonder it is hard to compete with stuff coming out of China)


Hope you like my shop and honest(aspie) feed back is excepted(just dont be tooo brutal,lol)


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reika
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25 Feb 2008, 12:16 am

Great deal on the Bongo Drums, Krex can't wait to get them!! ! My daughter is gonna love them.
Post MORE items for sale. That's all I know to tell you, as I have NO business experience at all. And don't give up, it takes a little while for anything to come to fruition. I'll keep checking back to see what else you have for sale.
:D :D :D CONGRATULATIONS on your New Venture :D :D :D


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Capriccio
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25 Feb 2008, 12:21 am

I can give you one tip I learned in one of my college courses. Get people who are good at different things. Your strength may be in making the product, but not necessarily marketing it. You may be good at management, but not good with finances and accounting. For a successful business venture, you need to have your bases covered.

Those are all crafts that you made? They look nice! A little pricy though.



MsJ
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25 Feb 2008, 12:51 am

I don't think they're pricey at all, especially if you were to figure out a good "designer" type angle for them (that'll bring in the NTs for sure! :) )

But seriously, if the promotion, networking and all the other stuff is really not your thing, the best thing you can do is to find someone who actually likes doing that type of stuff and going in partnership. You just have to keep an eye on things to make sure everything is cool - don't be naive about it! You'll want this person reporting everything they're doing and the results they're getting, and how they plan to make the results even better.

Wow, I think I almost sounded like an NT just now. 8O But I actually spent several years on my own studying "remedial business and marketing," mainly because I'm pretty much unemployable (way too self-willed), so as a self-employed person, I needed to sink or swim... and sinking is just not an option.

-J.



Izaak
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25 Feb 2008, 9:40 am

I don't know if you've considered it but rather than operating the store yourself maybe operate as a supplier to some other retail outlet. I did this to make ends meet for a while.

I bought paua shells and made them into necklaces and earrings. Some bracelets but not so much. In then end I would take them to jewelry stores or fleamarkets and offer them to people who already had jewelry stores. And they would either buy them off of me or would sell them on consignment. This may not even be something you wish to pursue, just something that was a lot easier for me. In the end I would get a whole bunch together then once a month go down to a jewelry shop (at market) and give them all that I had made on consignment and collect what profits there were. Just an idea.

Even if you continue to pursue your own store, I don't really have too many suggestions as it is not my area of expertise and not really the kind of thing that I would buy.

Though one specific suggestion. In the description for your bead bag you have beads STRONG on a strong copper wire. The capitalised word was perhaps meant to be strung?



krex
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25 Feb 2008, 11:25 am

Thanks for the suggestions.I am considering looking into consignment,I just dont know if there is a market for the weird stuff that appeals to me.As far as trying to get a partner to help with the stuff I am bad at....I tried sweet talking my BF into doing it but he is more aspie then me and is only interested in guitars.I could never make enough to pay a stranger to do it.The idea of going to a crafting event and having to great strangers......yow,scares the heck out of me.At least it only costs me .20 cents to list an item for sale.(I will probably be 90 years old with a trunk full of this stuff someday....maybe it will be "in-style" by then.


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Carbonhalo
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25 Feb 2008, 6:42 pm

I suck at selling... especially myself.
That makes it hard to get any job.
my average period of employment is less than a year, not counting working for an in-law (5 yrs) in a pro shop. "Hard sell" is completely beyond me... it was my competance as a "sports pro" and instructor that kept me employed. ( strangers I can deal with if the conversation doesnt stray to far from the template)

Regardless... I've spent most of my life living below the poverty line, and now I'm self employed as a tradesman contractor. (Where there is usually even less deviation from the template)

I got this job, and my last, over the phone... no interview required, and the bits I cant do are already handled for me (Finding customers, working out charges, Logistics & inventory)

I bought a farmlet with my inheritance and I've been making, building, creating and growing things for sale, but I can't sell, nor find someone to sell for me without being exploited.

It's a bit frustrating to have an unmeasurably high IQ, but still be incapable of filling out a dole form, or even opening a paypal account. I've always wondered about my form-phobia.