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Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

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Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#11

Post by bluedino »

joelhaasnoot wrote: post #4

My wife runs a small little shop in the creative space too: the margins can be quite high for nice, high quality stuff and customers are easy to draw in for multiple purchases. (also it helps I do the tech side of things and there is so much open source, free or cheap stuff available tech-wise)

A friend of mine's wife started a very high margin business selling scrapbook grabbags on eBay. She'd buy up clearance items and local craft/hobby stores, and bundle them up to sell on eBay. She made enough money that after two months, PayPal came along and froze her accounts, cutting her cashflow off, effectively killing the business.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#13

Post by emilfihlman »

giarc wrote: post #9
emilfihlman wrote: post #7

>After returning from a year long maternity leave I found it difficult to juggle my new life as a mom working in the confines of a 9-5, I also came to the realization that the corporate life just wasn’t for me and became very unhappy. I was tired of faking it and really just wanted to follow my forever dream of doing my own thing and being my own boss. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation and got pregnant…

Maternity leave benefits in Canada are paid by the federal government through Employment Insurance (EI) program. New parents get 12-18 months of EI payments. Your employer is only required to hold a position for you, they are not obligated to pay your wage.

Ah, that's good to know because in Finland, your employer does pay it.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#14

Post by immad »

bluedino wrote: post #10
emilfihlman wrote: post #7

>After returning from a year long maternity leave I found it difficult to juggle my new life as a mom working in the confines of a 9-5, I also came to the realization that the corporate life just wasn’t for me and became very unhappy. I was tired of faking it and really just wanted to follow my forever dream of doing my own thing and being my own boss. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation and got pregnant…

>> This doesn't sound good, basically kickstarting a company on another company's money. Can I work on my startup idea when I take 2 weeks vacation in the summer? What's the difference?

50 weeks?

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#15

Post by emilfihlman »

bluedino wrote: post #10
emilfihlman wrote: post #7

>After returning from a year long maternity leave I found it difficult to juggle my new life as a mom working in the confines of a 9-5, I also came to the realization that the corporate life just wasn’t for me and became very unhappy. I was tired of faking it and really just wanted to follow my forever dream of doing my own thing and being my own boss. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation and got pregnant…

>> This doesn't sound good, basically kickstarting a company on another company's money. Can I work on my startup idea when I take 2 weeks vacation in the summer? What's the difference?

How about:

-Vacation time is not paid time while maternity leave is time the employer has to pay for.

-If working does accumulate vacation time (meaning it is paid) it's a fixed perk that the employer can take into account and knows when hiring you

-You must still always negotiate when you are going to take that vacation, you can't just start at a new job and instantly take paid vacation time.

-2 Weeks != Maternity leave

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#17

Post by mc32 »

emilfihlman wrote: post #7

>After returning from a year long maternity leave I found it difficult to juggle my new life as a mom working in the confines of a 9-5, I also came to the realization that the corporate life just wasn’t for me and became very unhappy. I was tired of faking it and really just wanted to follow my forever dream of doing my own thing and being my own boss. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation and got pregnant…

It’s not against the rules. I don’t see the problem. But even better, she’s growing the economy and everyone wins. You gotta like people with grit and tenacity to strive all while playing by the rules.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#18

Post by codingdave »

Note that she did something good from the very start - Solved a problem: "People were tired of paying high shipping rates from online fabric shops in the US and wanted to shop Canadian."

Find a problem. Build a solution. Market it. Listen to your customers. It is fairly standard advice, but it works well.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#19

Post by ccozan »

emilfihlman wrote: post #15
bluedino wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> This doesn't sound good, basically kickstarting a company on another company's money. Can I work on my startup idea when I take 2 weeks vacation in the summer? What's the difference?

How about: -Vacation time is not paid time while maternity leave is time the employer has to pay for. -If working does accumulate vacation time (meaning it is paid) it's a fixed perk that the employer can take into account and knows when hiring you -You must still always negotiate when you are going to take that vacation, you can't just start at a new job and instantly take paid vacation time. -2 Weeks != Maternity l…

Vacation time not paid??

Probably US.

Re: Bootstrapping an Online Fabric Shop and Growing to $20k per month

#20

Post by emilfihlman »

mc32 wrote: post #17
emilfihlman wrote: post #7

>After returning from a year long maternity leave I found it difficult to juggle my new life as a mom working in the confines of a 9-5, I also came to the realization that the corporate life just wasn’t for me and became very unhappy. I was tired of faking it and really just wanted to follow my forever dream of doing my own thing and being my own boss. So, I did what anyone would do in that situation and got pregnant…

It’s not against the rules. I don’t see the problem. But even better, she’s growing the economy and everyone wins. You gotta like people with grit and tenacity to strive all while playing by the rules.

Of course it's not the against the rules.

I'm criticising the system for enabling such action while punishing the employer.

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