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Health & Fitness

10 Lessons from in My First Month as an Indie Polish Designer (one for each finger!)

The small business part of my indie polish undertaking is just as exciting as creating my MicroBrews nail polishes. Now that my shop has been open for a month, I'm recapping 10 things I learned:

1.       Manicures are advertising. The first thing someone does when I tell them that I have my own line of indie nail polish is look at my hands. I can’t blame them – wouldn’t you want to know if someone was using their own products? The good news is – I do! I don’t sell anything I wouldn’t wear. Now, I just need to make a little time to wear and show off the polishes I’ve created.

2.       Patience is a virtue. When I made my online shop live on February 28th, I thought my polishes would sell out overnight. They haven’t yet! Each new idea to build sales and create great polish means I am building a sustainable business about which I will remain passionate.

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3.       Say yes – and figure out the details later. A friend emailed asking for a custom polish, a local boutique proposed a make your own polish party. Both ideas I might not have thought up on my own. I said yes not knowing how I’d make it all happen, just that I would.

4.       You have to give something to get something. A new product is an unknown product! Customers won’t click through to my online store without a friendly nudge. To help get my company’s name out there, I’ve sponsored two giveaways, one on Instagram and one on Facebook this month. Follow along to be the first to know of a new contest to win polish – or email microbrewsnp@gmail.com with your own idea for a giveaway challenge.

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5.       Plan ahead: The details can wait – but not for too long. Nail polish is often an impulse buy, meaning my polishes need to be in the right place at the right time. Colors need to be seasonally appropriate and require a month of tweaking, testing and promoting.

6.       Stay creative: I love the immediate feedback from customers and supporters that is possible with a small business. Social media makes it easy to share what’s happening in my polish lab and see what people think.  My recent “Your Polish Here” challenge helped expand my list of potential polishes. Being around creativity helps me stay creative and motivated.

7.       Be open to feedback and advice. People who love polish have great ideas. The more information I get from my target audience, the better Microbrews will be.  

8.       Perfection doesn’t happen on your first try. Mixing up polish means there are some bad batches. Colors and glitters that don’t work together, a formula that has the consistency of tapioca pudding…I take detailed notes for every new polish attempt, so I can either recreate it – or, in some cases, never try that particular brew again!

9.       Pay attention to what others are doing. There are some great indies out there! Watching how they market, talk about and promote their polishes is educational and inspirational. It also helps make sure I’m setting up my polishes to have a uniqueness that can’t be found elsewhere.

10.   Talk about what you’re doing! I’m finding that the more I talk about what I do; opportunities and sales follow. My passion for my handcrafted business shines when I get to talk about my micro-venture. Recent conversations aren’t only about polish, they’ve covered ideas on how to market and promote my work, merchandising and doing what makes you happy.

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