For everyone who thinks running a small business isn’t a “real job”, here is just a fraction of what goes into doing what we do...

(Thread)

I wanted to make this because I see so many artists being told they should get a real job, being told they price their work too high, being told their job is easy and anyone could do it, and more. Artists, your work is valid, and I see the time and effort you put in!

First let’s just talk about the fact that you have no time off. I am my brand, and since I’m the only one running my brand, I have to put forward my online presence 24/7. That means spending 5+ hours a day going through notifications, creating posts, and answering messages.

I have to create content for twitter, tik tok, and Instagram as well as Instagram stories. If I don’t post enough new content each day, my engagement will go down. If I post too much, I’ll lose followers. Finding that balance is hard.

Let’s talk about taking product pics. First I have to choose a crystal or jewelry piece. Then I need to set up my lighting equipment, background, and spend about ten min photographing the item. After getting pics, I need to decide which is best, and how to crop it best.

Each product photo takes about 10 min, not including getting everything together and putting everything away. But again, this is only online work so far.

I get around 75 orders a week. That means I have to package 75 orders each week. I first have to manually go through every label to make sure I can combine orders and to ensure that weights and addresses look correct. After printing them, I need to organize them -

- by weight so I know which labels to put on which size packages. Then I alphabatize the labeled packages by first name so that later finding each corresponding order will be easier.

Then, I have to sit down and set aside each individual order. This takes hours, and involves me reading each order and picking out / bagging all the items each individual ordered. Once this is done, I can finally begin the actual packaging.

I find what orders go with which packages and spend lots of time bubble wrapping each item with the level of care it needs before sealing the packages and placing them aside. Depending on how big some of the items are, this can easily take me 6-8 hours.

This of course, is only weekly orders. It does not even being in to account any customs I may have taken on, or giveaways that need to go out (which I do multiple of every week). I have to manually generate those orders, finish their creation, and package them as well.

Each week I make one trip to the post office to drop off all the packages, and that’s probably the easiest part of the whole process.

Each day, I also purchase stock for my shop. I am constantly purchasing wire supplies, cabochons, crystals, and jewelry findings. I also have to purchase tape, packages of all sizes, bubble wrap, etc.

Since I like to select my crystals carefully, I do calls with my suppliers. This means I often have to schedule calls between the hours of one and four in the morning my time because I have sellers all over the world.

To keep a business running you need to move a lot of money back into your biz, & that means being good with money & knowing how to keep track of it & budget for everything you’ll need. On top of that, as a biz you need to pay monthly sales taxes & make sure that’s all good to go.

Then, of course, there are the little things. Like unboxing hundreds of pounds of products, inspecting each one, pricing each one, cleaning each one, organizing all the stock, and cleaning up/ responsibly disposing of all the extra packaging

Remember, on top of this, I have to create. I always have customs going on, usually 3-7 a week, that no one knows about that I’m putting time into. Each custom takes at least one hour, but up to 3 or even 4 hours.

I also make pendants and earrings for each update. Each item takes 30min (earrings) to 8+ hours for my more intricate wraps.

And let’s not forget that I now do TWO updates a week - crystals and necklaces/ earrings on Friday, and rings on sundays. I make about ten rings each week, and it probably takes me 20 hours to do so. It’s a tedious (and expensive) craft.

When I update, I also have to edit my shop and make sure I have correct listings for everything. Friday updates are the hardest, and I spend about 5 hours making product listings.

I could honestly continue forever and ever, but hopefully people get the idea. On top of this, Im supposed to take care of my scoliosis, exercise, eat well, care for my mental health, socialize, sleep, and keep my home from becoming a total mess.

I take 0 breaks, and work 10+ hours each day. But to me? It’s worth it. Please please appreciate how much time and effort artists put into running a small biz, and think about this before questioning the legitimacy of their practice or the level of their prices