How I Quit My Day Job
“If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.”
If you are an online seller, no doubt you may be thinking about quitting your day job. Well I did this a few years back and I have to say I have never been happier. I started selling on Etsy in 2012 while teaching interior design full time at a local college.
In 2014 my full time job ended and I began teaching part time at another college. I loved teaching but having more time to work on my store was an added bonus. During this time I was able to start my own website. I have found this to be an ongoing task. If you have your own website, I’m sure you will agree with me.
In 2018 I found I was teaching less and less and working on my shops more and more so it was an easy decision to stop teaching and devote myself full time to my online business. I’ve always loved designing so the transition from interior design to graphic design was quite easy.
At the end of 2019, Covid hit but it really didn’t affect us in the US until spring of 2020. Sales went down for a bit. Then they went up. It seemed like everyone was shopping online. My daughter who worked with me and I were very, very busy. I even decided to open a second store on Etsy - a printable shop called SNDPrintables. I have to say that 2020 was my best year on Etsy.
In 2021 things started to change. People felt comfortable going out shopping and sales fell a bit. When sales fell, I used the time to perfect my listings. I improved what wasn’t working so well and continued to work on my printable shop. And of course, I continued to work on my personal website.
2022 is bringing challenges as well. With prices for everything going up, along with changing world events, sales have been unpredictable - up and down. I have no complaints though. I’ve been fortunate as my online sales continue.
Quitting my day job has worked out great for me. I was able to hire my daughter full time. She works on the business side of things - ordering supplies, customer service, shipping, etc. This leaves me more time to design (which I love) and to work on my website (which I do). I even hire my grandson to help out when he’s on summer break from college.
For me quitting my day job was a gradual thing. It didn’t happen overnight and I am thankful that it didn’t. I don’t think I would be in the position I am today if that had happened. I’m grateful that I can work from home. I can take advantage when sales are slow, either working on improving my business or just not working and doing other things!
Another added benefit I’ve enjoyed over the years is taking my work with me. I’ve never had a vacation where I didn’t work since starting my online business but there is nothing like working at the beach! So I’ve been able to take several vacations through the years never worrying about the business because I can take it with me.
I’m going on my 11th year as an online seller and approaching 40,000 sales on Etsy. Life is good!
MY OFFICE
We recently redecorated the office. It’s much more efficient and I think it looks great, too! Everyone has their own space to work. That’s my desk all the way to the right. My daughter likes to stand and work so we bought her a standing desk. All furniture came from IKEA and was easy to put together.
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Hope you have a great week! Thank you for stopping by…
Until next time,
