The Things That Sting Usually Point You Somewhere Better
Business has a funny way of kicking you in the teeth just when you think you've got things figured out.
As I mentioned last week one of our Pink Gorilla Collective members, Lucy, had her Etsy account suspended.
To say she was devastated would be an understatement. She's worked hard building that business, and in a matter of moments it felt like it had all been taken away.
It's the sort of thing that makes you question everything.
But here's the thing I've learnt over the years. The moments that hurt the most often become the moments that change everything.
I'd already planned to run a webinar all about Whatnot live selling app. The idea was to show people another way to sell that didn't rely on standing at markets every weekend. But after hearing what had happened to Lucy, I brought it forward.
Not because Whatnot is some magic fix.
Because I wanted her, and everyone else watching, to see that one platform doesn't get to decide whether your business survives. There is always another route. Sometimes a better one.
Live selling lets you build an audience that comes for you, not just your products. You can sell from your sofa instead of loading the car at 5am for another market. You can create excitement, urgency and genuine connection in a way that a product listing never can.
What started as one person's worst week became a conversation that could change the direction of dozens of businesses.
That's how opportunities often arrive.
Not wrapped in a bow.
Wrapped in absolute chaos.
Looking back, some of the best things I've ever done happened because I'd messed something up. Some of my best selling products only existed because I made a mistake and had to find a way of fixing it. Some of my biggest business decisions came because I was backed into a corner. Some of the happiest periods of my life only happened because something I'd desperately wanted fell apart. At the time, none of it felt like a gift. It just felt hard.
When you're in the middle of it, all you can see is what's gone wrong. You don't see the door that's just opened. You only notice it once you've walked through it. Pressure has a funny way of forcing creativity. It makes you ask better questions. It makes you stop relying on things you shouldn't have been relying on in the first place. It makes you build stronger businesses.
So if you're having one of those weeks where everything feels like it's against you, don't waste too much energy asking, "Why is this happening?" Start asking, "What is this trying to show me?" Because more often than not, the thing that's making you swear today is the story you'll be grateful for in a year's time.
Life has taught me that disasters usually arrive carrying a bloody good idea.
You've just got to survive the sting long enough to spot it.
Same person
New Chapter x