business tips

HOW TO BUY THOUGHTFULLY DURING SALE SEASONS

A guide to buying thoughtfully this sales season.

It’s that time of year when our inboxes are inundated with businesses vying for our attention: 

You need this! It’s so cheap! Don’t miss out! You might regret it if you don’t buy it now!

As a small business, we appreciate the cash flow boost that these sales can offer. And, as ordinary Aussies with home loans and rent payments and expensive grocery bills, we acutely understand the impact a discount has on a tight budget. 

But when it comes down to it...? 

When we take a deep breath and consider our In the Folds values...? 

It just doesn't align.

And so, as per all the previous years we've been in business so far, we won't be participating in the Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales. Because we don't want you to binge purchase our product just because it's cheap. 

We only want you to buy them if you're actually going to use them. 

But mostly? 

Because we create products that have extraordinary value just as they are.

As we chatted about this in a team meeting recently we thought it might be helpful to share our different perspectives on the sales seasons, and then share some of our tips for buying thoughtfully during the sale season. 

The best thing? 

These tips are actually helpful all year round!

OUR THOUGHTS ON Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales

EMILY: I find the sale season conflicting as a business owner. I admire brands that steer clear of discounting their products during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend, but I do understand the appeal of making some quick sales and boosting cash flow, especially towards the end of the year. It can be difficult as a business owner to ignore the pressure and the rush to do what others are doing, but all it takes for me is to take a deep breath and I instantly know that Black Friday sales are not aligned with the values of In the Folds. I want people to purchase our products with intention, knowing that they will be used and enjoyed, not because of a flash sale. I want the people buying into the brand to become part of our community.

On a personal level, I try to be intentional about my purchasing behaviour. It is something I am still reckoning with since becoming a mother. Before having a child, I had a lot more time and could take more time to purchase the things I needed. I searched for things secondhand on marketplace and charity shops. Now, with a little one either needing a new pair of shoes yesterday or something we need for the house so we don’t trip over her toys, it feels harder to spend the time searching for things secondhand. 

LEANNE: I try to have a considered approach to consumption where I can. It’s why I got into slow fashion and sewing my own clothes in the first place. I have always enjoyed thrifting and refashioning vintage garments as a mode of creative expression, as well as more fundamentally for ethical, economical and environmental reasons. 

Obviously I am not immune to pushy advertising. There are constantly things that crop up on my radar which induce a desire to shop, but I try to hold off on impulse buying where possible. 

And yet sometimes there are occasions where you spot something and instantly know it was unequivocally meant for you. If you don’t snap it up immediately, your size will likely sell out and you will be disappointed! Spontaneity is definitely allowed. But, I try to make it the exception and not the rule, to ensure my consumer habits don’t get the better of me.

XANTHE: Our family has a really tight budget so discounts are something I’m always on the look-out for. However, because I have a clear understanding of the impact that overspending will have on my family, I’m less and less inclined to even think about spending on things I don’t actually need.

During the sales seasons I’m usually more focused on buying the regular everyday things that I know I’ll definitely use. It’s not very exciting, but cleaning products and skincare are my go-to purchases at these times. It’s also a great opportunity to up-skill in my area of work because online courses and training are usually included in these annual sales. And I’ll always give FB Marketplace a good look before buying new too, especially when it comes to furniture, or things for the kids like scooters, roller skates or bikes.

HOW TO BUY WITH INTENTION

Here are our tips for managing your consumer behaviour during the sales season, and beyond!

  1. Delete sales emails as soon as they come in.
    Or even better, ignore your inbox for the week leading up to BF/CM. For particularly persistent brands you might consider unsubscribing from their marketing emails completely at this time. It’s not likely that you’re going to miss out on something important, especially if you don’t actually need anything they’re selling right now. (See point 5!)

  2. Get outside into nature!
    Doing something as simple as taking a walk gives you an opportunity to distract yourself from the appeal of something new and remind yourself what’s actually important.

  3. Consider how or where you will store the item you’re considering purchasing.
    As someone who lives in a tiny apartment, this is very important to Emily. If she doesn't have an obvious space for it, it’s not coming in!

  4. For clothing, think about where and how you will actually wear it.
    Emily is often drawn to beautiful dresses, but in reality, in this season of her life she lives in shorts and t-shirts. When she thinks about how many times she would actually wear a beautiful silk dress in a year (maybe 2 or 3 times??) it’s easy to accept that now is not the time for the purchase.

  5. Curate ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ shopping lists.
    Through the year, keep a list of things you ‘want’. Assess the list regularly to determine if something you already own could fill the gap. If an item remains on the list for a significant period of time and your desire to purchase it hasn’t waned, add it to a ‘need’ list. Use the ‘need’ list to dictate what you purchase throughout the year or during sales. For Leanne, who has lots of birthdays that fall around Christmas time, the Black Friday sales are aptly timed, as she can get the bulk of the kids’ presents sorted in one fell swoop. It helps her to stay organised and ultimately save money, but she bases her purchases on a list of items that she would be buying anyway, sale or no sale.

  6. Check your op shop first.
    A bonus tip for point number 5? Xanthe likes to do speedy trips to her local op shops with the ‘needs’ list to see if there’s any amazing finds before buying new. This doesn’t have to be a special trip either - just a quick five to ten minute look when you’re driving past is all you need if you know what you’re looking for! And you’ll be amazed how often you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.

  7. Never shop when…
    You know how they say not to do your grocery shopping when you’re hungry? We think the same is true for when you’re emotional! While we can all attest to how good it feels to #addtocart when you’re feeling crappy, it’s good to consider how you might feel later on when you see your depleted bank balance or maxed out credit card. And if this is you, refer to point number 2!

  8. Consider your carbon footprint.
    If you are going to purchase during the sales season, Leanne tries to purchase everything from one vendor to minimise her shipping costs and carbon footprint. Where possible, add the same things to cart across a number of stores to compare costs. Leave everything sitting in the cart, then go away for a while and do something else. When you come back, reassess everything in the cart to determine if you still think it’s needed, then buy from the store with the best value for money.

  9. Don’t be social.
    Make a concerted effort to stay off social media during this season. You probably don’t need a #amazonhaul, despite what that influencer is trying to tell you, so why not just stop tormenting yourself!

What are your thoughts on the sales seasons? Do you have any tips you can share with us for buying thoughtfully? Drop them in the comments!

WHAT YOU’VE BEEN MAKING…

Linen Marden shirt hanging on a door.

Marden shirt made by Curated member, Katherine.

THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF WORKING REMOTELY IN THE SEWING INDUSTRY

Once upon a time, In the Folds was a business of one - it was just little old me working away at my computer doing all the things.

I remember complaining to my partner at one stage that a pattern release day felt so anticlimactic as I had no one to celebrate with or anyone who really understood how much work went into it. I also had no one pushing or helping me along and it meant that pattern releases were few and far between. I remember doing some freelance work in a cutting room around this time and one of the patternmakers asked me how many patterns I was releasing a week. To which I replied, “I’d be lucky to release one a year at the rate I’m going!”

Things have drastically changed since those early days and I wanted to talk about that in our Behind the Scenes email this week. 

Somewhere around 2018 (the business started in 2015), I realised I needed help. It wasn’t sustainable to do it all myself and I knew it also wasn’t the best use of my time. I needed to stick to the bits I did well (designing and creating thoughtful and engaging sewing patterns) and find people to do the other bits. 

Finding the right talent for the job

I started by finding someone to grade the patterns. Up until this point I was doing it manually and it was very slow. I trialled working with a few local patternmakers, but for different reasons it never worked out. There were issues with the workflow, or issues with the patterns themselves when they were converted to digital files.

Feeling like it was going to be impossible to find someone who would work on my patterns with the same level of love and care that I did, I started trawling through a freelancing website. And there she was! The perfect fit. A patternmaker with technical illustration skills and a very keen eye for detail. Just what I needed. She may be based in Europe, but this didn’t turn me off since I’d already tried the local route and knew I needed a different approach. With clear briefs of exactly what I needed along with lots of examples, we were on our way… and we’ve been working together ever since, without ever meeting face to face or getting on Zoom!

In 2020, when I was ready to make my first official hire, I decided I needed to find someone local who could work in the studio with me to cut and sew samples and bounce ideas off. And it worked like a dream! But when the whole world shut down due to the pandemic and we were forced to work remotely. I suddenly had to clean up our operations and processes so that it could be done anywhere. And although being in lockdown was a miserable time and a miserable way to work, the silver lining was that I got my business into a state that meant we (me and my assistant at the time, Alys) could work remotely, but also that we were set up enough that we could take on remote workers for future roles or parts of the process we wanted to contract out, like grading and illustrations.

The success of these early hires and our initial jump into working remotely opened my mind to the idea of looking for talent on a much broader scale. What I do, making sewing patterns for home sewists, is quite a niche, which means the skills I need in my team are quite specific. This means that when I hired for our next two positions - a Communications assistant (2022) and a Content Creator (2023), I opened up the positions to anyone from anywhere. 

Although there would be perks to hiring someone from Sydney (more about that later), I knew I could miss out on finding the best person for the role if I was to set my sights too close to home. This led me to hiring our Communications Assistant, Xanthe (based in QLD) and our most recent hire, Leanne, for Content Creation (based in Victoria). 

Now I also work with an Editor based in Canada, a Fit Model for our extended range based in the US and a Patternmaker for the extended range in the US. And Alys, has recently come back on to help with project work… all the way from the UK!

All these things that we set up meant that the business was already designed to be quite flexible when I had my first child at the end of 2022. As a first time mum I had no idea how grateful I’d be for the flexibility as I learned about the reality of juggling a small business with a small child! I can now work from home the majority of the time, and although I do like the change of scenery of my studio, I manage to get more done when I’m at home. I don’t have to worry about getting my daughter to daycare, getting myself ready for work, packing lunch etc. I can just jump straight on the computer and deal with the rest as the day goes on. 

The downsides of remote working

Okay, so this has all sounded quite hunky dory, right? Well it is, most of the time. 

With the help of great project management software (we use Asana), cloud storage (Dropbox) and great collaborative tools such as Google Docs and Zoom, things normally go off without a hitch. Until they don’t!

One of the major downsides of remote working is that there are too many ways to communicate. Although we try to keep in touch in Asana as much as possible, sometimes we end up on different platforms. We might be texting because the matter is urgent, or we’re on the run with our kids and then the conversation moves there. I am often guilty of this because our jobs aren’t at the computer 100% of the time. Leanne is often at her sewing machine or cutting table making content and I’m often patternmaking, so sometimes it’s just easier to pick up the phone and send a text. 

This was brought to light recently when in a long text thread I sent a file to Leanne that she was waiting on. I thought she had what she needed, but she didn’t realise she had it and then she spent a week asking me politely in Asana for the file… while I worked on patterns and forgot to check Asana! It was a good lesson in the importance of keeping everything on the one platform as much as possible, but also a reminder for me to check in with my Asana messages every day. 

I love leaving my team to do their work whenever they can (as long as the job gets done), but I guess due to the nature of remote work sometimes it means I can be a bit too lax! Rather than checking in to see who needs help or support, sometimes I’m just too busy getting on with my own work, assuming everyone is okay. Remote work also means you don’t see each other in passing or knock on each other’s door if you need anything, so messages and responses might not come through exactly when you need what you’re waiting on. It also means you might not see someone struggling or falling behind. It’s not unheard of for me to open my inbox on a day I’m waiting for a piece of work to be handed to me and see an email from one of our contractors requesting more time… because life comes up sometimes, right?

When the clocks change it gets tricky

Being in three different states, with eight(!!) kids between us, I feel lucky that our three team members manage to catch up for a check-in meeting most weeks. Not only is it a great opportunity to chat about work, but it’s also nice to just catch up about life. When you’re working remotely these small pockets of interaction help a lot! But when the clocks recently changed here in NSW, I realised it meant that it’s now one time for me and Leanne, but a different time for Xanthe in Queensland. Thankfully it's only an hour difference so we manage to make it work.

The time difference with the UK (where Alys is based) is much harder. We were managing a meeting once a week when she would kindly get up at 7.30am and I could talk to her at my 4.30pm before my toddler got home from daycare. Now with the time difference it would mean an impossibly early start for Alys, or me trying to have a meeting with an almost 2 year old clawing at me. So, until the clocks change in the UK in a couple of weeks, we’ll make it work when we can… which for this week means 10pm on a Tuesday my time!

Problems can be hard to solve remotely 

One thing that’s really tricky about working remotely is you can’t be right there to help fix a problem or figure something out. Xanthe and I have quite comical conversations fairly regularly when we’re in the backend of our email marketing platform trying to figure something out together (but apart) and going around and around in circles - often confusing each other more. Sometimes it takes going away and giving it some time or giving it a go independently and then getting back on the phone. If we were in an office we could just sit down together and work it out with it all there in front of us. 

Certain things are really easy to work on collaboratively. Indesign files (how our pattern instructions are made) can be packaged and shared so that Alys and I can work on the same file without losing any of the images or any of the work each of us has done. We can work on emails and content ideas very easily by sharing Google Docs where we can each leave comments with our thoughts. In Asana, we can plan out our days and communicate with the team what we’re working on and when things are complete. We can share digital patterns with our graders over Dropbox and get editing feedback with Adobe Acrobat. 

But when it comes to helping each other with issues that arise when making garments, it’s really difficult. Recently, Leanne discovered an issue with some of the steps in our Sewing linings document as she sewed up a lined Ormond coat. She sent me a photo and I thought I knew what the issue was. I updated the instructions and sent them back to her. Then she followed a couple more steps and got stuck again. She sent me photos, an explanation of what was happening and even videos. I still couldn’t work out what was causing the problem. I had a half scale sample that I unpicked trying to work out what had happened. I had a patternmaker friend look over the photos and videos to see if she could figure it out. We got on FaceTime and I asked Leanne to show me her patterns and how things lined up. Yet, I still couldn’t find the issue. All I wanted was to teleport into her studio so I could pick up the sample and work out what the problem was. The only option I had was to sew up a sample myself and work out the problem, which was time consuming and frustrating. It meant Leanne was at a standstill while I worked it out, but it also meant the work I’d planned for that day had to go on the backburner. 

I think the biggest lesson I have learned from working with and growing a remote team is to remain flexible. The biggest pro of remote work is that you can do it around your other commitments, but it can also be the biggest downside. Kids get sick, files get lost, plans change and tasks get misinterpreted. So, we strive to learn from our mistakes and keep the lines of communication open. This means we can continue working with people who are great at what they do so we can create content and resources for our community! 

We’re always trying to give our community a realistic perspective on the sewing industry, and what goes on behind the curtains. If you’ve got any questions, please leave a comment and we’ll try to answer them!

Happy sewing,

Emily

WHAT YOU’VE BEEN MAKING…

HOW I PREPARED MY SMALL BUSINESS FOR MATERNITY LEAVE

How Emily prepared her small business for maternity leave.

Hi there!

I wanted to share with you a bit about how we prepared our small, independent pattern design business to allow me to take maternity leave.

As I’m sure you can imagine (or perhaps know from hands-on experience) it’s a pretty major thing for a business owner to take a step back from their own business, particularly when it’s for extended periods of time, and even more so when the business has a very small team. I wanted to share my experience with you, in the hope that it helps other small business owners who might also be navigating similar waters.

Although my partner and I had always planned to have a child, the idea seemed quite abstract - mainly because I am self-employed. There were so many questions that needed to be answered. The main one being how we were going to manage a new baby (and everything involved in having a new baby!) while also keeping the business running. So, from the moment I found out I was pregnant, I began thinking about the changes that needed to be made so the business could continue to function while I went on leave. 

The other major difference between taking maternity leave as a business owner was the amount of time I could take off. With such a small team and a monthly project subscription, we decided that I’d probably need to be back at work after 3 months. 

Emily and Alys in the In the Folds studio.

Up until this point, In the Folds was run by myself and Alys. Between the two of us we managed everything from the big picture work like pattern ideation and design, to the more practical business roles, like answering customer enquiries and managing the books. Between the two of us we agreed that with such a small team and a monthly subscription to maintain, I needed to be back at work after 3 months, and we needed to expand the team.

Join Curated by ITF - find your new community!

If you're looking to be supported, motivated and inspired through your sewing journey our Curated by ITF subscription might be just what you're looking for.

As well as a monthly sewing project, you’ll gain access to our private member platform where you can receive feedback and advice from the ITF team and other experienced makers, participate in sew-alongs and make sewing besties all over the world!

Hiring another staff member

So, I advertised for, interviewed and hired a Communications Assistant (the lovely Xanthe - who you will know if you’ve contacted customer service in the last year or are part of our Curated subscription) so that I could begin handing over some of my work. It was important for me to do this early on in my pregnancy so I could train Xanthe and ensure she felt supported.

With Xanthe now in charge of communications, I could step aside from that side of things and really get into product development so we could start working ahead on our Curated by ITF project schedule.

Using project management software

The next thing I could see needed to happen was transitioning us over to more robust project management software. We had been using Trello up until that point, which had always done the job, but with the growth of the team we noticed that it relied too much on my input to make it work. We needed an application that would enable us to take everything out of my head and automate it so that when I was on leave I could completely disconnect because the team wasn’t relying on me to tell them the next step. After much trialling and testing we settled on Asana and began the huge job of setting it up (which I must give Xanthe all credit for!). It was a huge job, but one that made a huge impact almost instantly.

Updating our Operations Manual

I’ve used an Operations Manual since hiring my first employee in 2020, but it became more important to ensure that everything was added before I went on leave. So we set about making sure it was up to date.

I’ve always held a lot of the In the Folds processes in my head and my team are used to being able to come to me with any question they have, but we wanted to make sure everything was in there so they could find what they needed and felt supported while I took a break. This was a great thing to do because it forced me to think about the things we were doing and question whether anything could be streamlined further. It also meant that when I signed off for leave, I knew I would only need to be contacted about urgent matters and nothing related to the day-to-day running of the business. This eased my mind a lot as it was really important to me to be able to spend the early weeks of motherhood solely focusing on my recovery and my new bub.

Working ahead of schedule

When you own a very small business, there isn’t the budget to replace a role as you would in a corporate setting or larger business. My amazing employees, Alys and Xanthe, really stepped up to allow me to have time off by doing more hours or taking over jobs I have previously done myself.

But even with the extra hours, they of course couldn’t cover the number of hours I was doing, which meant we had to get ahead of the project schedule before I went on leave and then dial things back slightly while I was away, so that the work was achievable with the smaller team.

To do this, we followed a fairly strict, and jam-packed schedule, working as far ahead as we could (thanks to the project management software we had changed to). Prior to this, Alys and I worked on projects together, but to get ahead we decided to work independently on separate projects and then handover to each other further down the line for suggestions and updates. 

Alys became the wizard of all things operations during this time, and kept her eye on the project timeline to make sure we were keeping up. We managed to get everything done to a point where I could confidently close my laptop, knowing that everything was in good hands! 

I can’t say that it was an easy thing to do to prepare In the Folds for me to take leave, but it’s something that I am so grateful for, and I think it shows that it is possible for small businesses to do, if you’re prepared to get stuck in and do the hard yards. 

Looking back, I can see that the benefits far outweigh the negatives of what it required. It gave me time to really focus on everything happening in my family once our daughter arrived. To be present and enjoy my new family, without the constant distraction of work, because those early moments are fleeting and work will always be there.

If you know anyone in a similar business stage, please share this post with them. Otherwise, happy sewing!

Emily

WHAT YOU’VE BEEN MAKING…

,

Talking about: Getting Started

,

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how to get a business started. I have a couple of friends who are just starting out on their small business journeys, or are just in the pondering phase, and it has got me thinking about the kind of advice I can offer them. 

I am obviously no business guru. This is all very very new to me, as I myself, have only been officially in business for about six months (I also had a little warm up period three months before I officially launched my business). But I know, there are a few things I am very grateful that I thought to do (or was told to do) at the very beginning, and there are also many things that I have learned in the last six months, which I wish I had thought about in the beginning!

So I thought I'd share a few things with you, just in case you are thinking about taking the plunge too!

 1. Research is key

When I started researching for my business, I didn’t even know that’s what I was doing. Long before starting In the Folds, I had  stumbled upon the online sewing community (which I somehow had remained oblivious to until about three years ago) and was just completely blown away by how many people were sewing. 

I became a blog addict, following every blog I could (thanks to Bloglovin’) and soaking up all the amazing sewing goodness I could find. I hadn’t bought a sewing pattern for years (as I had learned how to draft patterns at university, and didn’t really feel the need to buy patterns), but suddenly indie patterns became very appealing. I wanted to know what all the hype was about. I bought a few patterns and gave them a whirl. I saw the incredible detail that was put into the instructions, the beauty of the packaging and the online support that was available. I suddenly understood the excitement.

And at this point, a seed was planted in my mind. What was stopping me jumping on board and producing patterns too?

This is when I realised how much research I had already done. I had been looking at sewing blogs daily by this point, so I already had a really good understanding of who was making patterns and the types of garments that were already on offer. I started taking note of what designers seemed to be the most popular, and what people liked about their patterns. I read countless blog posts about indie patterns and reviews of garments sewn with particular patterns, getting a good idea of what people expected from their pattern and what they did and didn't like.

I put my hand up to test a pattern, knowing that it would be a good way to learn how to go about testing a pattern, when I eventually got to that point. At this point I had no idea how the process worked, but by getting involved and doing it, I quickly learned the things I liked about pattern testing, as well as the things I didn’t like - and how I could iron out these creases when I was the one getting people to test my pattern. 

When I finally launched my business in October last year, I knew the world I was going into. Oh boy, there was still a tonne to learn, but my research had put me in good stead to know what to expect and to envisage (some of) the obstacles that were likely to come my way. There is an amazing group of women who made the indie pattern scene what it is today, and I think it would be crazy not to listen to them and learn from them. 

When my business started, my research did not stop. I am still constantly researching ways I could do things better, how to be more productive, more efficient and how to create a better product. I set time aside regularly to just sit down and absorb what I can. I continue to read blogs (although a wider range of blogs appeal to me now), search for interesting articles online, and listen to tonnes of podcasts (which is a great way to keep learning while you work on something else), as I think it is just so important to keep my finger on the pulse and always be questioning how things are done, and how things could improve. Once upon a time (albeit very recently) you needed to get a business degree to learn the ins and outs of starting a business, now you can find everything you need online. It is incredible. 

2. Just do it already

This is a piece of advice I have come across a lot (thank you Nike), but it does ring very true to me. After stumbling upon the online sewing community, I was busting to start a blog, but it took me months to finally do it. I didn’t know where to start, what people would think and if there were already too many blogs out there. I questioned whether there was anything new I could contribute to the conversation. I am so thankful that I pushed myself to just get the ball rolling and hit publish on that very first blog post. 

The only way to find out what's going to happen, is to go for it. The cliche of ‘you’ll never know until you try’ is just so true. Just starting a blog gave me a chance to work out how to put a tutorial together and work on my writing style. It gave me a chance to find and develop my voice. It gave me the confidence to realise that I was adding something new to the conversation, and that people were interested. Although I look back on some of my first tutorials and cringe, I know it was so important in the development of my style, and I had to work through that awkward stage, to get to where I am now (which is still continually growing and improving).

I think this quote from Ira Glass really sums this stage up very well:

Ira_Glass_quote.gif

In short, your work may (is likely to be) a little bit crap at first. But you won’t know that till you try, and you won’t be able to get it looking better if you don’t just put it out there and start ironing out the creases, developing your style, working on your process, and getting feedback from those around you. It can be scary at first, you wonder what people will say, what people will think, but all you can do is be brave and put it out there. Just do it. 

I recently watched this TED talk by Reshma Saujani about the importance of women being brave instead of being perfect, and it really struck a chord with me. And this blog post by Heather Lou form Closet Case Files, is also another great read about just biting the bullet and doing it (just in case you need a little more of a shove).

3. Practice makes perfect

No-one goes into business knowing how to do everything. No matter what they tell you. I went into my business with a lot of knowledge and skills related to my business - I have a degree in Fashion and Textiles, I knew how to create a website, I knew how to put a tutorial together, I knew I could write well. 

But that was far from the skills and knowledge I needed - I didn’t have a clue about marketing and advertising (and still don’t know much), I had no idea about book keeping for a business, and I also didn’t know all the ins and outs of drafting and grading a pattern digitally. But I didn’t let these things turn me off.

There is always going to be things we don’t know how to do (I still hit these obstacles daily), but the internet is an insane resource. We are so lucky to live at a time when finding the answer to a question is as simple as typing it into a Google search, or reaching out to a friend on Facebook or Instagram. 

One thing I found really liberating was to accept that there were things I did not know how to do, but I also knew I didn't need them right away. So I decided to file them away in a corner of my brain, labelled as 'work it out later.' By compartmentalising the tasks at hand, I could focus on what needed to be done, and learned, in the present, with the understanding that I could cope with the other things in the future. For example, when I decided to start my business, I had no idea how to grade a pattern digitally. Although I knew it was an important thing for me to learn how to do (and was crucial to me being able to launch my first product), I also knew I didn’t need that skill on the first day I started my business. There was still A LOT I had to do before I got to the point that I would need to digitise my pattern (I had to design the pattern, make up countless samples until it was just right, scan in the paper patter and build a website to house said pattern) and there was no point wasting mental real estate on it. 

When it was finally time to grade the pattern, that’s when I faced it. I started experimenting. I read everything I possibly could get my hands on on the topic. I knew how to use Adobe Illustrator, but had never tried to draft a pattern with it. I was learning from scratch. I practiced, I tried out different techniques, and I made mistakes. Lots of them. I trawled the internet for information and took snippets from many different sources, until I found a process that worked for me. My process wasn’t perfect, but nor did it need to be. It did the trick, and I knew that the next time I did it, I would be faster and more efficient.

3. Find your people

Finding your people is so important to the success of your business. I did a short small business course before I started In the Folds, and there was a lot of talk about our ‘ideal customer.’ At the time it seemed like a very abstract concept to me. I didn’t know what my ideal customer liked, didn’t like, what she did for work, what she did in her spare time (apart from sew, obviously!). None of it. I didn’t even know how I could find this information. 

Then I found Instagram. [This is not to say that Instagram will work for everyone. Your ideal customer may hangout elsewhere, they may not even be present online (although I think that is doubtful if you are taking the time to read this post), but this is just an example of working out where your ideal customers spends their time.]

Unfortunately, this was a lesson that took me a while to work out. And this is one of those lessons I wish I learned before starting my business. 

There was a three month period between my official first day of business and the day I launched my website and my first pattern (the Rushcutter). I had my head down designing my first pattern, putting it through testing, and getting my website up and running, and I had very little contact with the outside world (particularly with the outside online world). A girlfriend kindly offered to help me get some social media up and running (see point number 5 for the importance of calling on favours), as it was something I had been neglecting, and for some reason just couldn’t seem to face. She suggested I get on Instagram, as it would be a great place for me to be in touch with people who may be interested in my website or even my products. I told her it was fine, I already had an Instagram account from my previous blog (with a whole 34 posts and 226 followers) and I could just carry on with that. 

Thankfully, my dear friend knew far more than I did about the power of social media. She created an account and said she’d just have a play around with the kinds of posts she thought would work for my brand. I quickly realised the power of Instagram, as well as what all that fuss was about… Apparently sewists love Instagram (myself included). Due to the generosity of my friend, I quickly learned the kinds of posts I should be publishing, how hashtags worked, and how to use Instagram to chat to like-minded people. I quickly connected with hundreds of amazing women (and maybe a few men) who loved sewing as much as me, and wanted to see photos of all the things I was working on. Suddenly I felt part of a community. A community that is incredibly supportive and inspiring - which is worth its weight in gold, when you are knee deep in a business that you run on your own. 

Although I have now found my people, I do think it would have made launching my business and my first product much easier if I already had an online presence back then. Not only because I think I would have had customers from the get go, but also because of the huge amount of support and encouragement I get from my online friends (and some have even become offline friends now too). So, if I was going to go back and do it all over again (which I obviously can’t do, but I am writing this in the hope that it helps someone like you), I would have opened an Instagram account the moment I knew I was starting a business, and built some hype (and some friendships) in the months before my launch.

4. Plans are much better than lists

This is another one that took me a little while to learn. If you asked me a year ago which camp I was in - To-do lists or plans - I would have proudly said that I was a to-do list addict. Fortunately, in time, I learned that to-do lists just don’t cut it. I find a to-do list a really good place to start, if my mind is overflowing with information, but it really is just the first step.

I use a to-do list as a way to just clear my mind and get everything down on paper, but then I use a schedule to allocate time for each thing on that to do list. It has made me become much more realistic about what I should get (and can get) done in a day, and also allowed me to overcome that disappointing feeling at the end of the day when I haven't managed to cross off the 332 (and possibly 82 hours of work) off my To-do list, because now I don't have those crazy lists that were setting me up for disaster before I even began. If you’d like to know more about how I manage my time, take a look at this post where I go into a bit more detail.

5. Ask for help

I am notoriously bad at asking for help. I always worry that people are too busy doing their own things, and asking for help will be too big of an ask.

What I learned when I started In the Folds, was that people really do want to help. People are inspired by those who are going out on their own, and even if they don’t want to, or can’t do it themselves, often they will still want to be part of that journey.

When I told my friends and family that I was starting a business, I was surprised and heartened by the number of people who came forward to offer their time and expertise. One beautiful friend offered to get started on my branding, while another (who I mentioned earlier) got on with my social media. Help in these two areas (which were two areas I had very little confidence in my ability to do well) was just what I needed. I quickly learned that with a bit of a push and some encouragement, I did know what I wanted, and I also did have the skill to handle it, once they had got the ball rolling for me. 

So this is the moment when I say, TAKE THE HELP! Be gracious, be humble, be very very thankful, but just take the help. Who knows when you will be able to return the favour, but you can always find a way. And don’t be surprised by the people who come forward to say they’d like to help. You can find wisdom in weird and wonderful places. A friend of mine who is a computer coder offered to look over my pattern digitisation process, to see if he could streamline it at all. He showed me a shortcut that literally saved me hours! 

6. Start book keeping from the very beginning

This one is a boring one, but a very important one! Book keeping is something I neglected until about six weeks ago. Yep, seriously. It was something I just kept putting off. And putting off. And putting off. There always seemed to be something more important to be doing. But when I finally decided to bite the bullet, after a friend told me about the success she was having getting her taxes sorted on Freshbooks. I quickly realised it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Yes, I have spent far more money than I have made, but at least now I know exactly how much. And I also know where my money is going. And now I have a process.

I would suggest working out a book keeping system as soon as you can - particularly when you are right at the beginning. As this is something that can grow with you if its done right, and you will spend less time rummaging through your handbag looking for receipts!

7. Be authentically you 

Being authentically me is something I find so important in my business journey, and something I am always thinking about and continuously working on. In my offline life, I am outgoing and positive (well at least I try to be) and this is something that I wanted to shine through in my business. I know some people have their online persona, which is intentionally quite different from their offline self - and I think this can work very well. But for me, I wanted to be as much myself online as I am offline. Starting my first blog gave me a chance to develop my voice and see how it was received. The chatty way I write online, is just the way I speak offline, and people seem to respond very well to it. 

As well as being genuine and authentic, I think being as open and honest as possible is a really good thing in business. When I think about the blogs I love reading the most, they are definitely the ones where I get a realisitic idea of the life the blogger or maker lives. I love when people acknowledge that their business journey has been hard, and that their lives are not always as shiny as their Instagram feeds. It makes me feel normal, and that I may too be on the right track. 

I am not here to say it is easy being open on the internet. It is definitely not. And this is also an area I have not explored as much as I would like, but I know it is the way forward for me and my business. I have learned so much from others who have opened their lives and their businesses for me to see, and I want to be a part of the movement for more transparency in business (if you would like to know more about why I think it is important to be transparent then have a look here). 

8. Reach out

Reaching out is possibly the thing I have found the most difficult in these first months in business. I find it very hard to compose an email to a complete stranger, but I am learning that it is so crucial to success. I am also learning that people are generally nice, and will reply to you. As I said earlier, just like friends and family wanting to get involved in the amazing journey of going off on your own, even strangers get inspired to come along for the ride too!

Inspired by someone in your industry? Write them an email and tell them! They just might get back to you and say that they love what you are doing too.

I studied fashion design in an environment that I felt was was very cliquey. People kept their ideas to themselves. What I love most about the online sewing community is that it is the complete opposite to that. Designers are not competing with each other. We are working together to make our community better and greater. Because in the end, this is the most beneficial to all of us right? 

For example, I contacted Beth from Sew DIY late last year, asking if she’d be interested in reviewing the Rushcutter for me. She suggested a pattern swap. We sewed each others patterns and then blogged about it. Not only was it fun, but we both broadened our audiences, and sold some patterns too! And I made a new friend through the process. 

9. Save some money

Exactly one year ago, I moved back to my home in Sydney after spending almost three years in the UK. While I was living in London, I had really started thinking about the possibility of starting my own business in Australia, but it always seemed like quite a far fetched idea. When I moved back to Australia though, I realised it was the perfect time to do it. I didn’t have a job, and no strong desire to go and work in the mainstream fashion industry.

I was lucky enough to be in a position that I didn't need to pay rent, and I had the opportunity to apply for a government funded program to help get new enterprises get off the ground. I also had a bit of money in the bank. Not a lot, by any stretch, but enough that I could invest in a few things I needed to get me going.

Although I knew I was going to have to do all the work required to get my business off the ground, as I didn’t have the money to employ anyone, I was relieved to have enough money in the bank to get some professional help when I needed it. After days of playing with my Squarespace theme, I just could not get it to do what I wanted it to. Having some money in the bank meant that I could contact a freelancer who could do it for me. Although it was pricey, it did save me from days and days searching through Squarespace forums, for an answer that may have not even been there.

This is the moment where I say that if you are thinking about starting a business, save some money! Having the ability to get professional help when you need it, is priceless. Although I have learned so much by trying to do everything on my own, it would have really relieved some of the stress, if I could have outsourced more of the work. If you are thinking about quitting that job to get started on your own business, try and hold on and save some money first. It will really make your life easier in the long run if you have some money behind you. I listened to a great podcast recently, which happened to be an interview with a very good friend of mine, where she says exactly the same thing. If you are thinking of taking the journey, have a listen, Caitlin has some great tips!

10. Diversify

If like me, you are not really in a position to hold onto a job and save some money before taking the plunge, there are still lots of options. Diversify. Accept (and even celebrate) that you can make many from many different places. Get a part-time job - I work one day a week as a nanny, so that I know I will be able to afford to at least eat each week. It also forces me to get out of the studio every Friday and get some fresh air and to focus on something that isn't my business (try thinking about work when you are chasing a three year old around the park). I am always surprised by how many great ideas I come up with when I finally leave my desk and focus on something totally different.

You could also consider getting some freelance work.  As you know, I am a pattern maker. Although I love most to make patterns for myself, and all of you lovely people, sometimes I take on a freelance pattern making job. It is a great way to bring in some bucks, as well as develop my skills. Win win I say!

There is probably another million things I could have included in this post, but these are the things that I have found to be the most important at this early stage of starting a business.

Other resources

There are tonnes of resources out there, to get you started on your small business journey, but here are a few of my favourites:

Are you on a similar journey to me? Is there a piece of advice you have about going into business?