Behind the Business: A New Series

Guys! I’m so excited because today is the first official day of my Behind The Business Series! I shared this on Instagram recently, but I’m going to be tackling some of the most frequently and commonly asked questions that I receive about starting and running a successful business. Even if you’re not looking to start a business, I hope you find this series interesting and maybe even a little inspiring!

Before I get to answering the questions, I thought it best to tell you about what I do and about my business, in general. In conjunction with creating content for this blog (and associated Instagram account), I run an online jewelry and small goods boutique, Elisabeth Ashlie. I have two very part-time assistants that help with some of the tasks, but I’m in charge of and run 90% of the business on my own! From creating products to designing the website to fulfilling orders, it all falls under my umbrella of “work responsibilities”. I’m completely self-taught and, honestly, sort of fell into the whole thing. There have been plenty of challenges, growing pains, and hard times, but I go to sleep every night feeling deeply grateful to have what I would consider a dream job.

I’ll also take a moment here to say two things: 1. I am not an expert. Yes, I have experience and have learned a lot along the way, but I’m sure there are plenty of things I could be doing to improve, simplify, and streamline things. 2. My story is a bit unique in that I didn’t set out to start my own business. It wasn’t something I ever dreamed of or intended on doing. But, over time, my little hobby, side gig turned into something much more and I love it! I say that my story is a little different because I didn’t go through the same growing pains of working a traditional 9-5 job with a yearning to do something else and a great idea. I didn’t have the scary leap from a consistent salary to no income, hoping that I would make money off of my idea. There are a lot of things that business owners have experienced that I never have, since I started at a young age and had the weight of an established following behind it. (I’ll get into all of this in upcoming posts in this series, I promise!). I say this all to remind you that everyone’s story is different and what worked for me, may not be right for you, and vice versa. I’m simply sharing my story and my experience, in the hopes that it will either encourage you to start your own thing or to try something different!

As for this series, I’ll be breaking it down into categories of related topics and questions.

Launching Elisabeth Ashlie – from how I got started to where the business name comes from to start-up costs, and more!

Jewelry Business Logistics – from what equipment I use to how I price things to what I make vs. what I curate

Advertising/Social Media – all things how I’ve structured social media for the biz, and how I do it all!

Working From Home – I’ve only ever worked from home, so I’ll share my experience and how I balance it

The Nitty Gritty – taxes, insurance, and setting up a website

General Stuff – from how I plan for vacation time to how I knew it was time to hire help

I’ve got a list of questions for each category that I’ll be answering, as well as adding in any information that I think will be helpful or beneficial to read. If you have a question that you’d like answered, feel free to leave it below or shoot me an email!