One of the best things about the past year has been experimenting with my new business. I’ve enjoyed seeing what worked and I’ve learned so much from the things that didn’t.
When I started on this path last May, I had a dream, a rather loose plan, a lot of determination and some pretty specific expectations. The interesting thing is that so many things didn’t go as I expected at all!
My favorite unexpected thing is that Nerdy Bits Protein Bites have been far more successful than I ever dreamed. I had intended to sell them as a fill in item until other things got established but instead, they have actually become my main business focus.
On the other side of things, my offerings with The Artsy Nerd Holistic Relaxation Company have been varied and somewhat unrelated to each other in the form of seamstress services, Relaxation Massage etc.. In some ways, I feel like I’ve been experimenting with The Spaghetti Theory. Some things stuck, a lot didn’t.
This week, as I contemplated the coming year for The Artsy Nerd, I asked myself what I want my business to represent in 2020. The more I thought about the direction I want to go, the more I realized that “Wellness”, rather than “Relaxation”, far better describes the intention of my business. Eating healthy snacks, avoiding refined sugar and limiting dairy and gluten are absolutely wellness focused! Reusable fabric alternatives for food storage and gift wrapping are healthy, sustainable wellness offerings. Yoga classes can be a powerful wellness tool for both the student and the teacher.
After lots of thought and deliberation, I’m excited to share the plan for The Artsy Nerd in 2020:
- Tweaking my business name to “The Artsy Nerd Holistic Wellness Company” in order to better represent my intentions for 2020 and beyond.
- More focus on Nerdy Bits Protein Bites with streamlined flavor offerings, and more growth with wholesale clients.
- Introducing a line of healthy Breakfast Bites and Keto Fat Bombs
- We’re going to develop and promote “The Porch Market” outlet store. (Stay tuned!)
- Offering more options for “Getting Closer to Zero Waste” reusable fabric alternatives including fabric Gift Bags. (So excited about those!!!)
- I’ll continue to offer yoga classes and I’ve refreshed the name of my all access class to “Yogi’s Choice”
- In order to spend more time on my core services going forward, I will no longer be offering Relaxation Massage, Wellness Coaching or Seamstress services.
SO… WHAT’S NEXT???
So where do I go from here with the idea of Wellness? What am I passionate about and what skills could I share with others that allign with the intention of wellness and help my business grow?
To that end, I had a rather exciting epiphany. A huge part of wellness for me has always had to do with being at home, feeling cozy in my space, especially when things are tidy and organized. In fact, over the years I’ve noticed a definite correlation between how stressed and unsettled I feel , and how disorganized or cluttered my living space gets.
When I was a full time mom, with a full time job, I often felt like there just wasn’t enough time in the day to do it all. It was a huge source of guilt, stress and frustration for me that I didn’t always have time to do the dishes and laundry and floors etc.. I was working long hours, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and just didn’t feel cleaning when I got home. Then came the guilt of setting a poor example for my child and feeling like a failure for not having a photo shoot ready home at all times.
At one point, during the “hectic years” we had someone come in to help tidy one morning a week. I remember getting tears in my eyes as I walked in the door that first night and realized I could just relax, make supper and not worry about having to go to work on the house after working all day. It felt like I had been given a giant gift in the form of clean counters, floors and windows. (I really am quite a cheap date. I am happy about very simple things. LOL)
This week, as I sat down with my favorite coffee mug and a good book, I took a look around my freshly dusted and scrubbed kitchen/living room space and smiled contentedly. “This.” I thought. “This is what I want to do.” I enjoy cleaning and tidying and there have to be other folks who just want a little help with that so they can come home and relax and make supper with their family too.
So, Home Cleaning will be the other aspect of my Wellness based business heading into 2020. I am accepting Cleaning Clients for regular weekly or bi-weekly tidying or for one-time organizing or cleaning projects as well.
Looking forward to seeing where The Artsy Nerd takes me this year. As I learned last year, it may not be anywhere that I expected to be. Let the adventure begin!!
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