Building a Biz: Excuse Busting

With only one night to ourselves (J had to work all day Sunday), we decided to head out to the lake for the night.  With the sole purpose of just relaxing!

I spent my 'relax time' finishing this book that I picked up a couple weeks back.  Every since I decided to move forward with my furniture upcycling business, I've had tons on my mind and this book helped ground some of my thoughts.  I've decided to call the biz Lather Creations., and I thought I would bring you along for the ride as I figure it all out with my new Building a Biz series.  Hope you enjoy!

I thought long and hard about what was holding me back from doing this thing and how I could start to shut down my excuses and move forward.

Excuse #1 - I don't have a big enough work space.

I have an office, half a spare room, a kitchen table, a closed front porch, half a root cellar, a deck and a backyard.  Surely I can find room to work somewhere!  Sure, it's a pain to move supplies around weather permitting, work in confined spaces and constantly have to clean up.  But as Jelena from Poppyseed Creative Living reminded me "Martha Stewart started out baking cookies in her mother's basement!".  You have to just start somewhere.

Excuse #2 - It's too complicated.

Everything's complicated before you learn how to do it.  And everyone starts out from that place of not knowing.  There's no rush, one step at a time.  So I'm reading a book about it.  And I opened my own Etsy shop.  I'm preparing my shop profile, checking out my competition and getting the lay of the land.  I don't have enough stock to start selling but each little step I take towards my goal keeps me going forward.

Excuse #3 - I'm not good enough.

Says who?  My inner voice of course!  But if I'm interested in beautifying old furniture, saving money and owning one of a kind pieces, who's to say someone else won't as well?  As the saying goes, no risk - no reward.  Things won't be perfect right away, but I'll get better as I go.  This will happen by starting RIGHT NOW.  I'm buying supplies and working on my craft. I'm reading books about different painting and upholstery techniques. Today I've been working on three different pieces and I'm excited about getting better with each one.  I'm following the blogs of people I think are good enough, to learn as much as I can.  And I'm creating.  Yay!

Do you have any experience starting with something new?  How did you stay motivated?  What holds you back from doing what you love?

Written with love,
Lenore