06/15/2023
After 4 great years I have decided to close Hage Upholstery due to health reasons.
I have always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. Thank you to everyone who took a chance on me and supported me, especially my partner and metamour for always being there for me behind the curtains with their skills in the trades. Without you I wouldn't have been able to provide the results that I did. Also, thank you to my best friends, who were always there to remind me that I am doing a good job.
As a parting note I wanted to leave some words of wisdom to future entrepreneurs:
1. Get an education about entrepreneurship, whether it may be formal or informal, before investing in your business. This is crucial.
1.1 In this education you should learn how to determine if your idea is viable.
2. Make decisions about how to reconcile personal values with business decisions in order to be able to go forward with a clear head. These two will sometimes clash.
3. Be prepared to have perspective and grace on success and failure. Remember that failure is part of the entrepreneurship process, and it is often a helpful indication of where you need to make a change as opposed to meeting a dead end.
4. Build solid skills in time and energy management.
5. Learn how to not take things personally, and learn how to be comfortable with confrontation.
6. Always consider the consequences to your actions.
7. Your business will not survive if the process is not sustainable.
8. Consider that most businesses fail, and that you need to make your project a full time job in order to give it a fighting chance.
A parting note for people who support small businesses:
1. Most small businesses are living paycheque to paycheque. Just something most people don't realise.
2. Getting what you asked for is important. It is just as important to treat small business owners like human beings. Although I understand the frustration and the risk, having grace and patience when things don't go as planned increases your chances of being a satisfied client in the end.
I will be completing some final jobs before moving on to something better suited for my health and in alignment with my future plans. I am very happy that I opened this chapter and I am leaving feeling very proud of what I learned and accomplished.
Sarah