1. When things weren't going so well, what was the one thing that gave your business a boost?

We had a couple of crisis periods and I was even thinking that that was the end, but thankfully, we “swam ashore”. We started making bookmarks for the wholesale orders and corporate gifts and somehow this idea saved us from drowning.

2. How did you know it was time to hire someone and what was the first thing you outsourced?

MyBookmark was established in 2011, my sales grew and I realized that I desperately need more hands, to sculpt, to pack, to send parcels via post and to carry out many other necessary duties. So now, our team consists of 12 people – accountant, marketer, wholesale managers, artists…and we all work in an integrated manner.

3. What steps did you take that really helped your business take off? What helped your business grow?

I was constantly trying to find new designs, new trends, tried to explore the market. After some time, new bestsellers appeared (like the Wicked Witch, Magician, and Alice). I had to follow trends and continuously improve my bookmarks. Of course, after I opened a US Amazon shop, my sales started growing rapidly.

4. How do you grab people's attention and get them to buy?

We do e-mail marketing, Instagram stories and everyday posts, we share with our customers our sales and interesting facts about the process, we try to engage the audience. Also, we cooperate with bloggers. I was surprised when Buzz Feed, Bored Panda, Mentalfloss and many other bloggers made posts about us just for free because they were just amazed with our original one of a kind product.

5. How did you get consistent sales? What other income streams do you have?

The sales will never be consistent. You always have good and bad seasons. Christmas time, for example, is the best time, summer is a vacation season, so the sales fall down. We prepare for the winter and produce 3 times more bookmarks than usual. Also, we have a wholesale option and do corporate gifts, this helps us to feel stable. I don’t have any other income. I’m the mother of two and hardly have time for any other business.

6. How long did it take you to make a living wage and what resources helped you make it through the beginning years?

In a year after establishing my company and after creating the Amazon shop the business took off. I also had an Etsy shop with my handmade jewelry, and that shop worked fine too.

About Olena

Born in Ukraine, Olena Mysnyk is the creator and maker behind MyBookmark handmade gift shop. Olena started her shop as just a hobby inspired by children's games, dolls, and her love of reading. Nine thousand orders later and it has turned into her passion and profitable business. She is happy to share this love with the world and help inspire readers everywhere.

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When things weren't going so well, what was the one thing that gave your business a boost?

“Faith” Flower Face Print

It seems like it takes a slow period, the kind that makes you second guess every decision you’ve made, to really force you to think outside the box and tap into all your resources.

I don’t know if there is one special back-pocket maneuver that is guaranteed to boost business drastically when things aren’t going well, but there are a few things that we’ve found can help reignite the energy around the business again.

For us, I think It’s posting and engaging way more on social media. It just gets people thinking about you again, even if it doesn’t directly correlate with sales.

Sometimes it’s doing something as simple as a short sale or an exciting blog post.

It seems like when you start doing everything you can, while thinking super positively about what you have to offer, things tend to pick up and you can feel the energy around your business start to buzz again!

How did you know it was time to hire someone and what was the first thing you outsourced?

Vicki and I ran our physical shop for its first wildly busy season completely on our own, with help from only family and friends when there was just no way we could physically do it alone. After that first season, we knew we would need to hire help for our second.

We hired two wonderful employees to help on the sales floor during the busy season and also help pack our increasing amount of online orders.

What steps did you take that really helped your business take off? What helped your business grow?

[Read more…]

When things weren't going so well, what was the one thing that gave your business a boost?

When someone with a lot of presence in social media shared my work on Instagram or Facebook, that was really helpful.

How did you know it was time to hire someone and what was the first thing you outsourced?

With the exception of manufacturing, such as printing, I have never outsourced anything. From the beginning I was in charge of everything, from my website, photography, social media, etc. I have experience in design and brand management and now that I do it for myself I love it!

Now is probably the time to start thinking about getting help, but to be honest I enjoy the whole process too much. If I ever decide to hire someone it will be someone to manage the administrative part of the business such as answering emails or processing orders.

Now is probably the time to start thinking about getting help, but to be honest I enjoy the whole process too much. If I ever decide to hire someone it will be someone to manage the administrative part of the business such as answering emails or processing orders.

What steps did you take that really helped your business take off? What helped your business grow?

[Read more…]

When things weren't going so well, what was the one thing that gave your business a boost?

I started my business in 2010, so this has happened many times along the way! It has always been a bit of a roller coaster ride, which I think is important to remember is normal in this business.

My general rule of thumb now after going through this a few times is to shake things up. Customers get bored too – even the most loyal ones.

My best bet is to come up with some new ideas during these times to get them interested again (and to attract some new ones as well)!

If you don't have new design ideas, a fun giveaway that forces them to interact with your business is helpful too.

How did you know it was time to hire someone and what was the first thing you outsourced?

This is one thing I still haven't done and may never do. I have always done everything on my own which is both a good and a bad thing.

The nice thing about owning a business is being able to do things your way, whether that means hiring out or not!

What steps did you take that really helped your business take off? What helped your business grow?

[Read more…]

When things weren't going so well, what was the one thing that gave your business a boost?

It seems an odd thing to list as it’s not really something in my control, but often when I’ve found myself in a slump my work will get featured by a large website or magazine and it reinvigorates interest in my work.

You can submit to a lot of publications, be it on or offline, and it can make a significant difference to the size of your audience.

How did you know it was time to hire someone and what was the first thing you outsourced?

I’ve never really outsourced, unless you count things like selling licences to other companies to produce products such as greetings cards, as it then takes me out of the production/purchase/delivery equation.

It’s not something I’d rule out for the future, but at the moment my online shop is (more or less) manageable enough for me to do alone, and it turns out I quite enjoy packing and posting everything so I’m not looking to outsource that work for now.

What steps did you take that really helped your business take off? What helped your business grow?

[Read more…]