Three Personal Qualities Needed to Thrive During the Start Up of a Small Business

Starting a small business is hard work! 

Starting a small business 120 miles from where you live is even harder work!

Spending everyday doing something you love...worth all of the hard work!

I have identified three personal qualities needed to thrive during the start up of a small business:

• Patience: Extraordinary things take time and hard work, it won't happen over night. I try to be patient and enjoy the little things about starting a business (like designing business cards and organizing inventory). It is important to enjoy every step in the process, sit back, and take a deep breath. 

• Faith in Yourself: You are awesome. You are smart. You have an amazing plan. You can do this. No one is a harsher critic on my work than I am, but this time, the most important person on my team is myself. This is my dream, this is my goal. If I am not believing in myself 100%, it will be hard for others to do the same. 

• Determination: Keep on keeping on. Marketing, social networking, event planning...every little step is one step closer to your goal. It all matters. Just because something did not go as well as you planned doesn't mean it was not a success. Every person who knows about your business matters. Every business card you hand out matters. Every "like" on Facebook matters. Smile. You will be a success. 

I am always looking for small business tips. Do you have any helpful tips or links? I would love to hear from you! 

My Business Adventure: Columbia Upcycle

Sometimes we feel stuck. We have all of these dreams and ideas and never do anything about them. I made a decision to stop complaining and to start doing something about it. For a while I have thought about opening a shop of some sorts. I love thrift stores and craft stores. We have a place in St. Louis called The Upcycle Exchange, which is a crafting materials exchange shop. Ever since my first visit there (over a year ago) I have thought how wonderful it would be to own a shop like that.

I wrote a piece for Missouri.com about eco-friendly shops and featured The Upcycle Exchange (you can read the article here). The more I learned about the business, the more I loved the idea of opening a store. So I took some time and thought about my obstacles and how I could overcome them. Then I contacted the business owner and got started.

Here's how the store works: It is an arts and crafts materials exchange and drop off shop. Customers get store credit for unwanted crafting items, can drop off things that are taking up space and can come in just to purchase items. The store has pay-as-you-wish pricing, with an average amount consumers usually pay per amount of items purchased.

I am starting out small, running the business as a pop-up shop at events. I don't have the money to open up a storefront, yet, but that is the hope within the next year or so. I have learned a lot about the logistics of opening a small business and I have a lot of faith in myself that I can do this. Only time will tell how successful I will be, but I know I am taking a step in the right direction!

Come visit the business website at: www.columbiaupcycle.com, and follow the shop on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!