Testing the waters: Oh, butterflies in my stomach!

Back in my elementary and high school days, I had to sell items of sorts like snacks, inexpensive accessories, among others, both in school and in the neighborhood. As an adult, I also experienced selling shirts, cosmetics, and even food supplement to my officemates. Those were my experiences in retail. To buy ingredients, bake, design, package, cost, promote, and deliver the product, however, is a whole new different experience I must say.

After months of taste tests, samples, and gift-giving, I finally got the courage to take orders for some of my baked goods from my first ‘customer’. As I’m the typical anxious person (even during my free product trials), my anxiety heightened the moment I was already preparing for that first paid order I accepted. Thoughts like “What if my bakes didn’t turn out as nice as in the past?”, “What if she didn’t like them as much as she did the first time she taste tested them?”, ‘What if I didn’t meet the delivery time commitment?”, and “What if I didn’t cost the products right?”

It’s a comfort though that my first ‘customer’ is a close friend, who loves food as much as I do and who is very supportive of my baking and cooking adventures. Still, I didn’t want to disappoint her so I gave my best to serve her quality products.

I realized that getting into ‘real’ business isn’t as easy as just taking your hobby to the next level so to speak. It requires a lot of work and perhaps courage. I’m not sure yet if I’ll have the resolve to navigate this uncharted waters, but I hope to do so in time. I just want to take things very slowly now and enjoy. And whether I’ll take this (business) path or end up in a different destination, I know this experience will always be worth it.

Again, my friend gave a positive feedback. I was so relieved!

Oh, butterflies in my stomach! I know you’re gonna stay for a while.