Lessons Learned: My First Year on Etsy

Hi. It’s me.

Oh, wait. I don’t have the Cher-Madonna-Taylor effect. I guess that makes sense.

I’ll try again. Hi. I’m Stephanie. I own The World All Around Book Shoppe and opened my Etsy-hosted doors in November, 2021. The shop, and my business plan, launched as a Blind Date with a Book service - I offered a few genres, mostly stuff I read, or had intended to read, but never jumped off my TBR into my hands. My product came from everything I stress bought during the various quarantines we endured, laying low at home. I’m a stress-shopper, particularly when it comes to books. New, well-loved, paperback, hard cover, weird, slightly water-rippled, ripped, perfect condition - I’m there. (It continues to be an ongoing problem, but at least now, I have the outlet!) 

But I had to do something with all of these books I wasn’t going to read. I may not be a pureist about the condition of my books, (hello, library binding, welcome to my personal stash), but I do care that the books go to people who will love them. I swear they have souls. I just swear it. 

So, Etsy it was. I wrapped the books up in brown paper, scribbled hints in black Sharpie, and mailed them out. And it was a lot of fun. So much fun that my brain - which never stills, I must warn you - started turning over new ideas with this cute little shop. How to grow. How to make my time investment worth it, if you will. So here’s how I sold over 500 books in a year. 

All my research was telling me I needed a niche. (Btw - how do you pronounce it? Neesh? NiCH? Inquiring minds shall never settle, or agree.)  Regardless of pronunciation, I needed one. It played in my head as often as my highly curated Taylor Swift playlist drums through my earbuds and car speakers and kitchen radio. 

It’s obvious now. Both with my business model crafted, and after analyzing the numbers and gauging excitement, particularly after the holiday rush this year. But in January, 2022, going mostly-Inspired-By Taylor was a little bit of a gamble. Would I alienate my customers who are not as, er… Swift-tacularr? Would anyone get it when I call her TSwizzle in copy? Would I be judged because I really hate Bad Blood, but I didn’t hate the whole Spelling is Fun fiasco?) QUESTIONS. I had ‘em.

My worries were for nought. The Bookish Taylor niche fit. The audience is there. They call themselves Bookish Swifties, for the most part, and I’m hesitant to step on the hashtag because I worry about becoming an infomercial, but the audience, it’s there. You’re there. Here. You’re here. And I'm basically the embodiment of Taylor and her 765 dancers in ME! in pastel suits and swinging briefcases. (See. Told you. Niche.)  

But I couldn’t go Full-Taylor right away. I had to scale it. (I’m still scaling it. Scaling it is your friend as an entrepreneur.) Burnout is REAL, and as a victim of burn out in my twenties, I gotta warn you - small business ownership isn’t for the faint of heart. Once the floodgates open for ideas, be ready, because they’re going to crash like a waterfall. When you start seeing ideas, it's hard to turn them off. And you’re (probably) only one person or have a small staff. Protect your time, and your energy, and almost most importantly - that excitement. It's what carries you through the harder times. 

Plus - why blow all your good ideas at once? Curate that shit, make it as amazing (and profitable!) as possible before you release it to the world. 

Which leads me to: those good ideas? Those flashes of inspiration when you’re picking your kid up from daycare or pumping gas or waiting for the guy tucking your groceries into your trunk to slam the lid and give you the thumbs up in the rearview mirror? Write that shit down. Try to get context down too. My most intriguing thoughts are usually rooted in sleep deprivation (which is gigantically unfortunate), but I strive to record my harebrained ideas in my Notes app. Google Docs is amazing, basic, and it's embarrassing how late I am to the Google Docs party. (The raging introvert that I am knows that in some ways, it's better to be late to the party, because then no one notices you’re here, and you can eavesdrop to your heart’s content.)

Heading into small business ownership, I was convinced by my (very incorrect) assumption that entrepreneurs are mostly extroverted. How else do businesses grow than for people to march out into the world and Sell Their Wares, you know? I was super wrong, as first pointed out to me in Why Introverts Make Successful Entrepreneurs by Caroline Castrillon at Forbes, published in January, 2022. (Do me a favor and ignore the Elon Musk, shout out please.) How is this possible, I questioned. Alas - and I know this intimately - introverts are creative. They tend not to act on impulse. They listen and have passion. And those tendencies are absolutely key to business ownership. Impulse-control is real. (Don’t ask Elon Musk now, or anyone still at Twitter.)

But it's crucial, no matter your place on the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, to know your resources, your village, your safe space. Close your eyes. You know who will help you lock the door, shut your computer off, hand you a chestnut-praline latte with a huge bag of peanut butter M&Ms and binge Bridgerton Season 2 (again) with you when you’re too overwhelmed, right? (Was that too specific? Let’s just say my safe people are legendary in their support.) Know who can - and will - help you. And ask for it. 

And finally - do regular self check-ins. Do you need a break? Where are you carrying the stress in your body? Are you snapping at your support system? Is your mental health suffering? Where can you pull back for a minute? Is there anyone else who can carry a load you feel like you may be dropping externally? People want to help. Let them. 

So, hi. It’s me. Stephanie, small business owner, massive Swiftie, copywriter, novelist, reader, millennial mom, former 90’s kid. I hope I’m not the problem, and moreover, I hope I’m a solution for your gift giving needs, or at least a damn good book recommendation, with, most likely, an Inspired-By Taylor playlist. Follow along at:

Instagram: @worldallaroundbooks
TikTok: @worldallaroundbooks
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/WorldAllAroundBooks