My Business, Brand, and Art Printable journey

In this blog post, I will tell you more about why I started my business, the SelectedCrafts brand, and why I decided to open an art printable shop.

I have always had a dream of starting my own business and I always wanted to build something for myself and for my future. Something that is different and that is 100% in line with the kind of life I want to live. So let me tell you how it all started!

Where did it all begin?

For a long time, I felt like I didn’t have the perfect product idea or the perfect brand idea to get started. In most ways, I still don’t. Having a business is a constant effort to improve and to grow.

I found out about the concept of selling art printables in the autumn of 2018 at a time in my life when things weren’t exactly going well at all. I had entertained this idea of making passive income for quite some time, so when I first heard about art prints I felt it would be a perfect match between my level of skill and my desire to start building a passive income stream.

The urge to get back in touch with my creative side had haunted me for quite some time, so the idea to make art printables was perfect for me. When I started my business I did not lack motivation but I was very worn out. The same year I had quit two jobs, changed country, tried to learn the ways of a new culture and a new language and all this while being oceans apart from my loved ones.

I jumped at the opportunity to start a business of my own. I had felt the urge to get back in touch with my creative side for quite some time, so the idea to make art prints were perfect for me. When I started working on the business and products of my own, it was a very rehabilitating experience. Art and creativity is truly the best medicine!

I had dreamt about being an entrepreneur way before I learned about art printables. In college, I had the chance to test out to run a small company as a school project. I was instantly hooked. Although it would take 8 years until I decided to it again.

How I started the business?

This part is very messy, basically, I just started. I started reading about how to make art prints. Then I figured out I had to register as a sole trader if I wanted to make a profit, *which I obviously wanted* so I registered. Then I registered for vat collection, learned about bookkeeping, and the rest is history now. Every step forward has been a new piece of the puzzle and while it is still far from complete, it’s starting to take shape. I actually started the whole journey by building this blog, then ended up leaving it for over a year as I focused on setting up other parts of my business. The road from idea to reality is far from short or simple.

Luckily I wasn’t waiting for a sign, or for the perfect moment to start my business. I just started and I am still figuring things out as I go!  

I have learned a ton of new skills since I became an entrepreneur. Some fun things; like designing products and making content for social media. Also really nasty and boring things like registering as a sole trader, handling vat-statements and doing my bookkeeping.

Far from everything about doing this kind of thing is all it is cracked up to be, I spend probably 95% of my time on doing the boring admin stuff. With that said, it is totally worth it since I can spend the last 5% on doing the things I really love. I sometimes wished I had known when I started how much time it actually takes. I feel like I might have fallen for the “fool-proof-get-rich-quick” scam that surrounds this whole type of business. You know the one were will make you “thousands of dollars in a month” before you have even started.

I always knew it didn’t work like that, but I still underestimated the amount of time and effort that goes into building a business. Luckily I am a very persistent person and I remind myself often that Rome was not built in a day. I am getting to where I want to be slowly and steadily!

And what long way I still have to go! When it comes to building the SelectedCrafts brand, there are a million ideas, zero promise that any of it will work and years of hard work ahead…. definitely worth it!

There will be a lot of fails and errors along the way. That is my least favorite part of being a sole trader, I wish I could always do the right thing straight from start. Unfortunately that not reality though and the only thing that really matters is that I will keep going.

Why am I building this brand?

Apart from my long term dream of becoming an entrepreneur. I want to build a life that I really love, a life I can’t wait to wake up to. The brand SelectedCrafts is a way to enable that to happen. I feel very passionately about art and design and I feel the happiest when I can be creative. I love to do DIYs or work on my home decor. So it makes sense, to try to direct my life in a way that allows me to do these things.

The SelectedCrafts mission is to help others build a beautiful life they love. Because my mission is to build a beautiful life I love. So as I grow, my business grows with me and together we can achieve this goal!

And let’s face it, there is, of course, financial benefits to having your own business. The idea to earn passive income was a huge part of why I started in the first place.

The most important thing this experience has taught me. Is that it really doesn’t matter where you start, the only thing that matters is that you start!

To sum it up

This brand is still a work in progress but so am I. Hopefully this blog post has made it clear what I am trying to achieve with my business, and more importantly why. I sincerely hope that you feel like you know me a little bit better after reading this!

If you have any questions about me or my business feel free to reach out. I like to help in any way I can 🙂

Make sure to check out art printable store the SelectedCraftStore.
You can get an idea about what I make in my shop section here on the blog.

If you want to get to know me even better I recommend that you join my newsletter. You will get tons of product samples, freebies , discounts, and other amazing things!