Concentrated effort + Time = Success

A while ago, my husband starting taking an interest in real estate investing. Being the reader he is, he read anything he could get his hands on that had to do with this new found love. Through his journey of educating himself on the topic he has come across many motivational books. Luckily for me, he filters out the good from the bad and recommends the ones he thinks I would enjoy or could benefit from in one way or another. The underlying theme in the authors of these books is that they either are, or have studied in depth, successful people.

All of the books have had great messages and sound advice, but the one thing important thing I’ve noticed to be a reoccurring theme is this:

Concentrated effort + Time=Success  

(Funny that I write that as a math problem when I despise the subject-but I digress.)

Seems so simple right? Only when I sat back and actually thought about myself critically, I couldn’t honestly say that I have concentrated on anything (relating to business), and I certainly haven’t done anything for an extended period of time. To put it simply, I am not focused. I have a creative mind that likes to wander from one thing to the next. You should see me clean house. I will start to clean the bathroom, then two minutes later I’m changing the litter in the cat box. Noooo, I know what you are thinking- I don’t have Attention Deficit Disorder. There is always a perfectly good explanation on how I get from point A to point B. For example, in the earlier mentioned situation, I most likely went to take the bathroom trash out to the garbage bin, passing the litter box on the way, and catching a whiff of unpleasant odor. And hey, guess what? The stinky litter goes to the very same garbage bin as the bathroom trash, so might as well just make one trip! You see what I mean? Same applies to business. Only it’s worse because I don’t really enjoy cleaning house. With The Farrier’s Daughter I am dealing with passion, and as we all know, when passion occurs it’s sometimes hard to know where to draw the line ;-)

Since 2006, I have been what I like to call “exploring” my creative side and the industries that support it. In one way, the timing has been perfect. Being a stay-at-home mom has given me the opportunity to try different things without the pressure of making a certain amount of money-or any money for that matter (Insert shout out to my husband-Thank you Nick). On the other hand, being a stay-at-home mom has changed the way I look at things.

For a while I tried to do shows. Gathering and refinishing or re purposing vintage goods was a blast for me! I absolutely loved staging my booth for the shows that I did. However, the cons soon outweighed the pros. As a vendor, I wanted to give my business everything I had. The problem was that I only had so much to give and it didn’t seem possible to give 100% to being a stay-at-home mom, a supportive wife, and a vendor all at the same time. Add to that my lack of storage, and an extra set of hands via business partner, and I quickly realized that that particular arena was not for me. I had the concentrated effort, but it couldn’t go on for long.

After many long talks with my husband, I decided to focus on handmade goods-Cowgirl Canteens specifically, that were easier to store, haul, and set up if I did decide to do a few shows every once in a while. It wasn’t long after this decision that I realized having just one product was going to be a challenge for this artistic brain. I put off going retail for the longest time, then finally pulled the trigger. With surprisingly great success right out of the gate, I should have been on a roll. Unfortunately, I am the world’s worst salesman. Remember when I said I despise math? Well, it’s safe to say I hate selling even more. Don’t get me wrong, I like to have things sell-I just don’t like the process of selling them. While creating a product takes me to my happy place…selling that same product could possibly be the equivalent of hell. Even in the most laid back of situations regarding repping my own product, my heart beats so hard that I swear people can see it trying to jump out of my chest. My hands shake, and my head spins. It is terrible! So, it’s safe to say that trying to drive my wholesale accounts was not something that was going to get my “concentrated effort”.

Meanwhile, some friends of mine asked me to start doing some visual merchandising for them in the form of a HUGE window display at their new salon. Another great way for me to use my creative juices, and while I love doing the job for them, I’m not certain I have the means to turn it into “my job” ... brings me back to that lack of storage issue again. As a result of the window display, lots of people get to see my style, which has opened even more doors. Interior design, business design-all design, but looking through my directional glasses, I have completely lost focus.

So what is the one thing that has stayed consistent through all of this? My desire to grow a business that allows me to use my creativity, my dream of creating a brand that is well-known, understood and successful, and my desire to be able to do those things while being one kick ass wife and mama! So moving forward, I have decided to focus on online sales and events where I get to mingle with people (because that, in my opinion is the only way to sell). I have decided to use social media and this blog as a tool to spread the word about The Farrier’s Daughter. I hope that people are able to get a little glimpse into what we stand for, the uniqueness and quality of the goods we offer….which means I have also decided to start expanding. Yes, finally expanding! For so long, I have heard people say, “I love your style, but I don’t drink.”, or “These [Cowgirl Canteens] are adorable, but I don’t carry a flask, I prefer beer.” I have been listening; your voices have been heard. I’ve been planning and dreaming and scheming about new items for so long, and the time has come to go for it! I hope you join us as The Farrier’s Daughter gives a concentrated effort, because this my friends, is going to last for a long time.

Here are a few ways to follow along:

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

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The Farrier's Daughter website.

FACEBOOK

Click on the "F" above to head on over 

and "like" The Farrier's Daughter on facebook.

PINTEREST

Click on the "P" to follow 

The Farrier's Daughter boards on pinterest.

INSTAGRAM

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The Farrier's Daughter on Instagram.

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