The Small Business administration defines a small business as a business with no more than 1500 employees and and revenue that doesn’t exceed $41.5 million. I wanted to put in perspective the actual definition to all the businesses like mine that are also called a small business.
To me, a business with the above description seems HUGE not small. But it shows the comparison the company described above has to major corporations. I think it’s important to share this because there are a lot of misconceptions about small businesses or owning your own business.

There are many incredible aspects to running Tea Thoughts that I feel so fortunate about and I want to go over them and then share the flip side.

Making my own schedule: I’m not constrained to someone else’s schedule. I can easily fit in things I like/need to do like chores or working out. It feels very freeing and definitely less stressful. I get to meet my mom for lunch if I want or participate in an event during the day. Perhaps one of the most important things is being able to vend at certain events that I couldn’t before because I would have had to use vacation days.

The flip side is that I don’t really ever feel off the clock. I feel like I need to respond to people via email and social media immediately. I’m in a stage where this feels essential because I need to keep customers happy and also get orders in. Obviously, I do take time and have gone on vacations but even then it is difficult for me to feel ok in unplugging. Early in the morning or late at night, if there is something I need to do, there isn’t really an excuse not to. During the day I will likely take work breaks to cook, clean or run errands which means I make up the time later. This allows a lot of flexibility but also makes it feel like I work from the moment I get up right up until the moment I get ready for bed.
Being my own boss: This is related to #1 but stands on it’s own. You can probably relate to having a boss that you maybe don’t see eye to eye with or someone above you that you don’t feel appreciated your work or ideas. As my own boss, if I want to do something, I can just do it without needing anyone’s approval but my own. It is a new level of freedom to be able to explore creative ideas that someone else maybe doesn’t like. I think this has benefitted my shop and my own art/creative projects. It shortens the time to accomplish things in some ways because I don’t have to get approval and can start on a project right away. If I mess something up, I don’t have someone else lecturing me, that’s up me to alone.

The downside to being my own boss is also that there is no one else. I don’t have a team to rely on, I don’t have someone who has slightly more responsibility than me. I have the freedom to do what I want but I am also responsible for the outcome 100% no matter what it is. If there is an issue, I can’t delegate to anyone except myself. This often feels a little stressful and sometimes lonely as well. While I am able to do whatever I like, I also don’t have any help except for google. Everything I’ve built has been from my own researching and learning. While that does have an empowering feeling it has also been incredibly difficult at times. The last part is that because I’m my own boss, I am extremely hard on myself. In many ways, I feel as though my self worth is tied to the success of the shop.
I’m very lucky to run my own business: I AM very lucky. There are many things that needed to align for me to take this leap and they happened. Every morning when I wake up and open my laptop to start tasks, I can’t believe that I am still able to do this and for now, I will continue to do so. It feels like a dream come true that I get to do something that despite some difficulties, I truly enjoy. I think back to how unhappy I was in other jobs and try to stay as humble and as grateful as possible that I don’t have to work those jobs anymore. It’s not just about freedom, it’s also about control. Running Tea Thoughts allows me to feel a sense of control in my life that I didn’t have before. I feel like I’m building something meaningful where even when I was doing meaningful work, it wasn’t really mine. Tea Thoughts is truly mine and the opportunity to build something of my own is very special.

It’s hard to show the flip side of this but there are some drawbacks. There is nothing guaranteed with Tea Thoughts, I am still at a stage where it could easily all end with a few bad months. While I am happier, I don’t have as many safeguards and I’m doing things day by day, week by week and month by month. Things can get very tight. While I am happy, it can sometimes be difficult for others to understand my choice of profession. It can be hard to turn down invitations from friends and family when I have a lot of work to do. It can be hard to get people to take me seriously instead of just as a “cute little shop.” I am grateful that most of my friends and family are very supportive.

I wanted to share these things with you not to complain, but to be real. I think it’s important to stay true to me and I think that is possible while staying professional. I also have become friends with many of you so I feel comfortable to share.

My advice is that if you’d like to start your own business, do it! But don’t expect it to be easy, you have to really love it because it’s a lot of work. In the near future, I will be offering a guide (for US shops) who want to get started. I helped a friend who opened an Etsy shop recently and it was really fun and rewarding to share my knowledge with her.

I also kept this relatively brief but wanted to know, is there anything you want to know about what it’s like running Tea Thoughts? If you have a question you’d like me to answer, leave a comment and I will respond!

As always, thank you so much for your support of Tea Thoughts! My business wouldn’t be what it is without you!