rush rush

I seem to be rushing headlong into the wholesale business! Well, it's not as bad as that sounds. Not wholesale toys this time - I'm still quite firmly against that, except in special circumstances. Wholesale patterns this time.

A friend of mine introduced my patterns to a yarn shop owners' list. Now there's all this interest in selling my patterns, and I'm not prepared! I had thought about printing patterns for shops to sell; but when I looked into it, I decided there wasn't enough demand to bother, considering the high cost per pattern.

I am now convinced the scheme might work. But it feels like there's such a rush to get everything organized... for Easter! I need to find a printer that will deliver good quality booklets for a reasonable price (which necessarily involves orders of a few hundred). I need to get enough orders to make it worthwhile. Then I need to get them printed and distributed. And this has to be done by the beginning of March, at the latest!

I am keeping my sanity by making this a trial. If I don't get enough orders to keep the cost per pattern low enough for me to make a little money, that will be it. People will just have to be content buying my patterns online.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that people love my toys and patterns. But it's just me and my husband running this (and he has a full-time, busy job). There's only so much I feel we can take on, while still making a little money to keep it going. It's a hard balance to keep.