#4 – Keep going, even if you want to quit sometimes.
Sidewalk sale outside Albertson's
For the first two years of my business, my parents and I did A LOT of sidewalk sales events trying to get more people to know about my Pencil Bugs. I would ask stores like Wal-Mart and Albertson’s Grocery if I could set up outside their store. Both were really supportive and were glad to hear I was donating some of the money to help kids.
We all did it because, well, they wouldn’t let me be out there alone and I wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. So for many weekends, we’d get a large supply of my products, the display stand that we handmade, the card table, a couple of folding chairs, and sometimes the giant paper mache’ Pencil Bug head that we made and load it all in the trunk. During the summer, we’d usually start at 9am and try to go till about noon. Sometimes when business was slow or people would just walk by, I’d get a little discouraged. But my parents would keep reminding me that it wasn’t necessarily about me. I finally learned that some people are in a hurry, some people are tired, and some people just don’t stop for anyone.
It was hard many times to stand there trying to get people to buy my Pencil Bugs. Lots of times I wanted to quit early or not go at all. In the beginning it was hard to even talk to people. My mom and dad kept telling me to just be friendly and say “hi” or “how’s it going?” and not ask if they wanted to buy anything. That’s when more people would actually stop and then eventually buy.
The more I tried that, the easier it got and I finally realized that selling is really just talking with people. But it was still hard to keep going for two or three hours. Mom would say, “see if you can find that extra 10% in you to go just a little more.” Sure enough, I had it in me and pretty soon, it was time to go.
The good thing was, Mom and Dad always understood and knew when enough was enough. When I thnk about all those times, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed then and I’m really glad they kept me going. Otherwise, I would have missed out on so many opportunities and fun things that I’ve gotten to do with my business.
