Quit my teaching job to do this

I've always wanted to start something on my own, so sick of a 9-5. I used to teach, it gave me so much fulfillment but comes with a hefty load of expectations. I was also struggling with a newborn during that period and felt so attached to her that I wanted to be with her all the time. So I took a leap of faith and resigned when my girl turned 1 (I hated that I dragged this long to leave my job). I started to see a trend in iron-on patches and customization (first saw it in Seoul but they were so expensive, I got one for myself and it costs me 45SGD for both sides of patches 😭) so, decided to give it a shot and price it reasonably. It's simple, not too much of a hassle, just source for some patches and a strap, how hard can it be? (or so i thought).

Then came sourcing for designs, I am always very particular about the aesthetics so I want to source good quality and adorable design patches but that would mean a higher cost. I get "ahhh your designs are soooo cute and much better than the ones at pop up booths" or "I wanna buy everything and stick on my entire body (🤣)" and that's enough for me, knowing my shoppers will come back again because they are cuter than what they can find elsewhere.

I shall keep you guys out of the boring stuffs like logistics of everything from shipping large/small orders, packaging, supplier/manufacturer communication (tough because its all in Mandarin but I'm glad mine is not as bad as i thought) 😅

My business is still ongoing, still very fresh and honestly 3 months in and I already feel like giving up BUT I really want this to work out so I'm still pushing through.... Then came a day, I received a request to do a booth at a kid's birthday party (omg?!) and took this chance to gain exposure and experience, which I am so thankful for.

Running small businesses are tough, you'll get it when you're in it. There's always a but... what if... if not.... but then there will also be an 'aiya, just do it'. So here is my 'aiya, just do it' and hope for the best 🌸

#RealTalk #hellolemon8 #storytime #sidehustle #boothing