The B word. The one we are all striving for and in search for. Balance.

The dictionary defines balance as an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady or a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. Anything stand out with those definitions? Even distribution, elements are equal or in the correct portions… In my opinion, that sure seems pretty confining if everything is supposed to be even and equal 100% of the time to achieve balance.

Not only does it seem confining, it also seems insanely unattainable and a goal that is so out of reach it’s not even realistic. We’re all told our lives would be amazing and almost better if we figure out how the heck to balance out our life in every way. We’d be happier, wealthier, healthier etc. But most of the time I find that it just leaves us (me, anyway) extremely frustrated and defeated.

And when you throw small business into the mix of it all, things can just feel downright impossible especially if you’re yearning for that perfect balance.

SMALL BUSINESS BALANCE

Wearing many hats, for me it’s retail buyer, wholesale account manager, fulfillment, workshop and event planner + coordinator, merchandiser, studio manager, CEO, CFO, marketing director, art director, creative director, and even janitor (seriously!)...the list goes on. There’s simply too much that needs to be done for one person. Many businesses operate lean with just a one woman or one man show. Running a business lean has always been something I’ve strived for, the less frivolous expenses you have in business, the more profitable you are. It’s really that simple.

Trust me, I know everyone’s to-do list can literally be a mile long, but once you really look at that list, what on there is really important? It takes a lot to tell your pride and ego to let go, to only do what is essential. Only doing the things that are the utmost important and forgetting the rest. Being okay with things being undone. It takes a lot of courage to ask for grace from colleagues and fellow business owners when you turn down additional work or partnerships to honor only doing what’s essential to your life and business.

P.s. If you want to read more about essentialism, I really encourage you to read this book. It’s one of my all time favorites and I read it once a year.

SMALL BUSINESS + LIFE

If I’m going to be really honest here, I’ve put my business first in my life. Yup, it’s embarrassing to admit but I’ve put my business before my relationships, marriage, myself, and even my dogs on many occasions. I’m grateful that the people (and dogs) in my life understand my passion, but a big focus of mine in 2019 was to let the business work for me for a change.

Allowing myself to have days not physically at the shop and truly not working. Having actual weekends off for the first time in 6 years. Prioritizing to eat 3 actual meals a day. Seems ridiculous but I would opt to finish out an email or take a meeting instead of eat. I felt like if I wasn’t working hard all the time, I would be lazy and not deserving of success.

Small business is so personal, it intertwines with your life even outside of work. There’s no calling it a day after 5pm when you are literally your business. It’s a practice I have to remind myself of daily, to do less but with more intention. I really want to encourage you to do the same, let’s turn away from the glorification of busyness and lean into only doing what is essential to our daily happiness.

HOW TO FIND YOUR BALANCE:

Carve out time to sit down and evaluate what’s important for YOUR life. And then do the same for YOUR business. Make a list.

Now take that list, and only pick 3-5 things that are essential.

Things to consider: Ditch all the things you feel like you should do, simplify. There are so many things we feel like we should be doing- we should be exercising 5 days a week. We should be on all social media platforms for our business. I challenge you to pause, and only do what serves you and your business. Get down to the basics.  At the very core of your life and business, what is actually important to you?

It’s better to do a handful of things well vs. doing a bunch of things mediocre. Trust in the ebb and flow, of life and of business. If you allow things to flow, you’ll find a rhythm that resembles balance. But in a way that truly serves you in all areas of your life.

HOW DO YOU FIND BALANCE IN YOUR DAY? WITH YOUR PERSONAL LIFE? WITH YOUR BUSINESS? TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.

D.I.Y. FIBER NECKLACE INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut a length of cotton cord/rope. *Pro-Tip: Cut your piece a little longer, you can always cut it shorter as you wish. Also keep in mind the entire piece should be long enough to fit over your head!

2. Pick your color palette and yarn color choices. Cut about 24” of yarn (you can use longer pieces but we wanted to color block our necklace + the longer the piece of yarn the more you have to maneuver)

3. Place one end of the yarn on the section of rope you want to wrap, run the yarn the length of the section (typically about 3-5”) and then create a loop back up to the start of your piece of yarn.

4. Start wrapping your yarn down the length of the yarn loop piece (you should be wrapping over 2 pieces of yarn at this point)

5. When you get to the end of the section, use the loose end of yarn to go through the loop at the bottom.

6. Pull tight from both ends to secure! *Pro-Tip: There is some flexibility in shifting/scooting your wrapped section on the cotton cord to get your color blocks closer together or to create a seamless look!

7. To create a closure, you will loop your cotton cord around each other and do the same wrapping technique to secure the cord.

8. Enjoy your new handmade, fiber necklace!

New Faces!

We’ve been growing our small but mighty little shop + studio team! You’ve probably seen someone else besides me around the shop :) You can meet our team here, or better yet, come by for a visit! We know how important it is as a small business to have a wonderful support system around us and we’re so thrilled to have some of the most hardworking, paper loving and fun women who will make your time in our shop + studio an amazing one!

Do you love paper? Do you love being a part of a local small business? If so, check out our open availability here!

May Book Club- for more details + to RSVP.

What we’re excited about: We love opening up our studio on the last Wednesday of each month to host our book club meetings! Everyone is welcomed as long as they’ve read the book beforehand :)

MEET THE PLANT:

This is perhaps one of the most underrated plant- it’s in the same “family” as the pothos but a variety that almost makes it seem velvet-y and I love the color variations on it’s leaves.

Meet the Satin Pothos. This plant is just as easy to care for than our triplets (who are also Pothos). This plant is sometimes confused with the Silver Philodendron which looks strikingly similar.

We only wanter this guy when the soil is completely dry, and his vines and leaves have grown a TON since we moved into our new space and gave him a home high up on a shelf with plenty of natural light :)

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL REST OF THE MONTH AND I REALLY HOPE TO SEE Y’ALL IN THE SHOP + STUDIO SOON!

When we first dreamed up of The Paper + Craft Pantry, the intention was to become a destination stationery and paper shop in Austin, as well as the go-to spot for all things workshop. The business was always built with these two parts in mind.

I’ve personally always loved workshops, hosting them, teaching them and taking them- and I really felt like there was a lack of a space that suited the kind of experience I wanted to offer our community.

Workshops have now become very popular and dare I even say, a trendy thing for a lot of businesses to dabble in. I personally think it’s an amazing thing because there is now no shortage of ways people can get creative and learn! The only downside is there can be some oversaturation and also a potential discrepancy in quality that may skew someone’s mind on workshops.

A lot of people ask me all the time on how we host workshops. It’s something that I’ve learned and evolved with over the years- through trial and error (a lot of error). And I’m honestly still evolving and learning how to better serve our workshop community!

Want to know what the top thing I wish I would have done differently in the beginning of hosting workshops (back in 2013!)?  

Properly valuing my time.

I grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to prepare for a workshop, the amount of time it took to source out material, build a curriculum, find a location, time needed to create material for marketing…

A 2.5hr workshop ended up being over 12hrs (give or take) to pull off. That’s A LOT of time to value and translate into a ticket that a paying student will understand the investment for. When someone is paying for a workshop ticket, they often just account of the actual time they will be in the class and the materials. If I’m being really transparent, we do source very high quality materials- but the cost of the workshop materials is actually a very small portion of the total workshop ticket.

You can 100% go to your local craft supply store to pick up supplies + watch a youtube video to learn. But I truly believe that you get so much more when you get to experience it alongside others, and when you are being led and instructed by someone who is incredibly knowledgeable.

The bulk of the workshop ticket really goes towards the instructors time, years of hard work to be a pro at what they do, the time they are taking away from their own businesses/family to be here to teach. I stand very firmly on compensating our instructors (and myself when I’m teaching) and truly valuing their time.

THINGS TO CONSIDER AND QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN HOSTING A WORKSHOP:

LOCATION

Where will you be hosting this class? How much is it going to cost you to rent the space? If the space is being provided to you at no cost- keep in mind that you may at some point have to allocate money for a space (which means you’d have to increase your workshop ticket) Does this place accomodate your needs? Does it have tables, chairs, a bathroom, parking, wifi or anything else you might need for your workshop?

DEMAND +CONTENT

What do you want to teach? If you aren’t the one teaching, what kind of classes does your community want? Have you had a lot of interest in a particular topic? Keep in mind that when you host a class on a specific day and a specific time, there are going to be people who say they want to go but can’t make that date.

Also take the time to do some research as to what else is out there, are there other studios or places offering what you want to offer? Is it something you can partner with them on? Or are you able to pivot and shift so you are not over saturating the market?

PRICING

Calculate the cost of your ticket based off of every factor!

COST OF TICKET = COST OF SUPPLIES/ COST OF TIME (BEFORE THE WORKSHOP, DURING THE WORKSHOP ETC.)/ OVERHEAD COST (LOCATION)/ MISC. COSTS (TICKETING FEES, SNACKS, DRINKS ETC.)

You can still make a workshop ticket fee accessible and of value to a student while still being mindful of your actual costs!

*Another thing I feel is important to address is to price your ticket (and your business) competitively. Sure you can offer it at a cheaper option that what else is out there, but keep in mind you will be doing not only yourself a disservice, but you are also doing a disservice to other small businesses. I also really think it’s important to attract people because they align with your business, not just because you’re the cheaper option. Just some food for thought :)

MARKETING + PROMOTION

People are visual beings- having clear visuals for your upcoming class and workshop can really help in getting people excited about your workshop or class! You want to give people enough time to plan ahead for your upcoming workshop yet want to be sure it’s not too far out that it gets lost in their busy schedules. Finding that “sweet” spot can be tricky and truly is something that each person needs to figure out on their own. I’ve seen fellow creatives who have massive followings and a loyal following who can sell out a workshop that’s listed many months in advance as well as some who have sold out a workshop in hours.

LEARN- BE OKAY WITH AN UNCERTAIN OUTCOME AND LEARN FROM EACH EVENT!

Not every class will sell out. You can host two of the exact same workshops where one sells out in a matter of minutes and the other is a struggle to fill. There are SO many variables when it comes to someone’s life and schedule it’s truly hard to predict or really know. You can make your best guess based on some trends or habits you might see, or even based off the season and what else is going on around your specific city or town- and trust me, you’ll still get those curve balls.

I personally love when classes are more intimate, it allows you to go above and beyond to create an incredible experience for your students. We’ve hosted classes with 4 students and classes with up to 50 students. They are both great in their own way! So don’t be discouraged if you try to host your first class and aren’t able to fill it.

If you read this post through the end, I hope you found value in what I shared. There really is no simple solution or formula to hosting a successful workshop (or event!) I hope these things will at the very least prompt you to consider some of the things I feel are important to consider when hosting a workshop!