Don't know what to think :o/

I had a sale last night on the website by cheque/money order, but the person hadn't used the discount coupon. I know that if it was me, I would have been kicking myself but wouldn't want to contact the company or cancel my order (to re-order) because I would have felt that it was my fault.

So - I emailed the person to find out whether they knew about the discount and that if they wanted to take advantage of it, to send a check for the lower amount. I wouldn't send any yarn out until I had cleared funds - which is said on the website - and I repeated this in the email. However - the mail bounced back. We wondered whether it had just been entered wrongly so I phoned this morning - number not recognised.

So now I don't know what to think. I won't be sending the yarn out until I have money in the bank, but it feels very strange that someone would do this. And there is still the possibility that it is still a legitimate order but the person didn't want to be contacted. I don't know - just have to wait and see :o/

Had 1st Sale!!

I had my first sale on the website last night and sent the parcel this morning! It's really nice to get started. Hopefully, this will help other people have confidence in me, so I will get some more customers (fingers crossed!)

My brother wants some yarn from me and I've spoken to other people who are interested, so here's hoping that this is the start of it.

I've been thinking about visiting Donington Sunday market next weekend to find out how much it would be to have a stall there. It would be good to get more local people knowing about me - especially since there are not many yarn shops around here now.

I really want to get some more stock, but until I make some more sales I don't really want to put any more money into stock. It's difficult - the site would look better if I had more of a range, but at the same time, I don't want to take too much of a risk!

New blog created for Create and Knit news

I'm going to start using the Create and Knit News blog for updating the website, so this one can be more about me and my projects, although I'll keep updating this one with general progress on the business etc.

I've looked at other people's blogs from ravelry recently, and it has been interesting seeing what other people do with their blogs.

I've just got a new digital camera and once I have worked out how to put pictures on the computer, I will start posting relevant photos too. Make it look at bit more interesting!

I've got all the yarn that I've ordered now and I've had a lot of traffic to the website - no sales yet though - but it is really encouraging having people visiting!

Site is live!

We're still waiting for a couple of boxes of yarn from America, but they should be here in the next couple of days.

We've moved the shop to the front now so now I need some customers! :o)
There's still a few things to do on it - a few pictures to upload and some tweaking to make it look more attractive. Still - it's live!

Yarn has arrived!

My first load of yarn has arrived, along with some needles and patterns. Hopefully the rest will arrive later today or Monday. I need to get all the photos done now for the site and finish inputting all the details - then we can go live!

Web-site almost ready to go!

We've got paypal working now, and most of the legal stuff on - just a few more bits to write now. And of course, wait for the yarn to arrive so I can do some photos!

I've ordered some yarn from a British company as well as some needles and patterns, so at least I will have a few different brands of yarn to start with. I'm going to re-invest the initial outlay as I make sales and gradually build up my stock.

I had a meeting with a Business Link advisor yesterday to talk through the idea and what I've done so far. He gave me some advice about things to check out and I'm going to go back when I've finished writing my business plan so that they can read it through and tell me areas that need improving etc.

The site should be live next week. I should get some of the yarn this week, and some next, so when it's all photographed and input into the site, I can start selling!

Progress on web-site

We've got the logo up on the web-site now, and a series of pictures as a header - the same as on the holding page.

I've started putting the details of the yarns that I've ordered in as well, although obviously the pictures will have to wait until I receive the yarn.

We've also managed to get the weight to show in grammes instead of pounds, although I don't know if I'll keep the shipping weight of items on there. It will be enough to state the weight of the ball of yarn and have the cost of shipping stated clearly in the checkout.

We've got a few more bits to do - the legal stuff is pretty much written now - just needs uploading. There are a few more bits to write as well - descriptions of yarn etc, and I think I'm going to do an 'about me' page.

Order has been made!

I've placed an order with the American company and it is on its way! :o) It was very scary placing that first order, but hopefully now I've done it once I won't be so difficult next time. It should be here in just over a week and then I can start putting pictures on the website and start selling!

I need to place an order with the British company now as well, so that I have all the stock I need to start.

It's all very exciting. :oD

American supplier

I've been speaking to a rep from an American company about being a UK stockist of their yarns. They are nice looking yarns and there aren't many stockists in the UK that I have found while searching. They have got a review about one of their new yarns going in a UK knitting magazine next month and he has offered to have my site as the named stockist on the article! I've just got to get an order in over the next week or so, so that I have stock when the review is published.

The pressure is on now to get the site up and running and have available stock. It's all very exciting - I just hope that I get customers!