My First Business Plan

MY "SUCCESS" IN LIFE HAS BEEN STACKED UPON FAILURES.

At the age of 21, I wrote my first business plan to open a "buffalo exchange" concept clothing boutique with a friend of mine from high school. I DAYDREAMED about what it would be like to be a business owner, MY OWN BOSS, in charge of MY schedule and My finances. We made it to the end of the business plan when she backed out and I was too scared to go out on my own.

Disappointed I turned my attention to my hobby, FauxyFurr. I applied for my business license and focused on buying, making & selling my upcycled handbags. FauxyFurr was my first "business" and yet a total failure financially, but it opened the door to clothing design school.

During school, I spent my summers interning at an alteration shop. Before I graduated I started my second business, SEW FINE. I spent several years taking in custom sewing work from a local alteration shop, dry cleaners, and friend referrals for bridal & prom alterations. I was constantly fitting & sewing, my body hurt because I was always sitting & looking down. It wasn't for me. I closed my doors and moved on. FAIL again.

Next, I apprenticed for 3 years at a car upholstery shop. The owner was a sexist pig who created some of the worst working conditions I had ever been subjected to. Once I knew enough about upholstery I quit and started my own shop, CUT & SEW INDUSTRIES. I spent the next 6 years fabricating full interiors. It looked cool from the outside, but I was terrible at bidding out the jobs and obsessed with perfection in my finished work. I made less money than your local Walmart greeter. I delivered my last upholstery job in March of 2019 and stopped answering all calls. - NOT FOR HIRE!

Every one of these businesses was a "failure" financially, but every one of these businesses facilitated my growth as an entrepreneur, and FauxyFurr Vintage + Handmade is a manifestation of all three of those businesses because we buy, sell, sew, style, design, upholster & make.