So it begins....

 As I sit here writing this, I realize I don't even have anything to show of what I am creating, and the journey that I plan on sharing as I go. I wanted to genuinely start at the beginning and seeing as I have zero product made at this point, it truly is the beginning,..... but of what?

 So as brief as I am capable of being, this is where I am and where I invision Marigold Farms going in the future. Currently, I am about 20 minutes out from purchasing my domain, marigoldfarms.org which is a small but exciting step. I have done my market research and zeroed in on the best place to start. I will be making personalized gift crates, bowls, boxes and pillows for an array of occasions and each crate will feature home crafted gifts such as customised plaques and signs to ornaments and stuffed flower bouquets. Each gift package will be custom made and we will also be offering contactless delivery. I have always enjoyed crafting and making art as well as refinishing furniture and have always wanted to do something with that, that would also full fill my never ending dream of entrepreneurship. So why not do what I love and enjoy; while creating something that people can use to express love and gratitude.... For me personally, this is the ideal plan to reach my ultimate goal of expanding into furniture refinishing and other crafting products and ideally helping my family to reach all our our financial and personal goals.

 Naturally, as I finally take the plunge, there is that hesitation; to go full speed into something that could ultimately fail. I imagine anyone who has done anything significant in their life can relate to this sinking gut feeling, but if we all caved to that feeling, we would never do anything of any true importance. So I am 'dressing for the job I want' if you will, and taking all the big scary steps. So far I have done my market research and analyzed what I need to spend and what I need to make to turn a profit and feel confident that I can make a marketable product that will mean a lot to whoever decides to make a purchase and induce my happy dance! I have also tackled my two sources of anxiety, consistent shipping costs without using flat rate and TAXES 😨..... I can now say I feel very comfortable going forward after researching my states tax laws and requirements and highly suggest that if you are reading this and are also thinking of starting a small business that you take all those fears and tackle them head on, you will feel so much ease once you put those fears behind you. Now I just need to file for a DBA or business application with my town and then I can upload my product photos and descriptions and get to selling.

 So that is where I want to go and where I am now, I hope that anyone reading this hangs around for more updates and insight to how I am getting my small business started and to see where it goes!

Mary Gallinger