20k Sales: From the Beginning

There’s no accomplishment that’s too big or small, as long as it makes you happy be sure to celebrate!  You may have saw on Instagram that I reached 20,000 Etsy sales yesterday!  I still have to pinch myself thinking about where I started and what Oh How Charming has become today.

I always wanted to own my own business for as long as I can remember.  I discovered the tassel garland trend on Pinterest in 2014.  I tried so many tutorials. I made a tassel garland every chance I could (for fun, my husband’s military homecoming, our wedding).  It definitely took time to get the technique down that worked for me best.  I decided it was time to take action and opened Oh How Charming in 2015.  My first item ever listed (and sale) was a peach, mint and gold chevron…yes chevron lol.. tassel garland.  I had no idea about taking good photos, how important good lighting was, etc.  All I knew was that I wanted to become the tassel girl!  I spent 12+ hours each day making new products to get on as much as I could.  I added tassel garland high chair banners with a gold glitter card stock “one”, cupcake toppers, paper straws with cute glitter embellishments, confetti and gold glitter banners.

Oh How Charming quickly became my full time job.  About a year later, I started to realize balloons were popping up in just about every party.  Tissue paper was already my main supply and I decided to give tissue confetti balloons a try.  I only added two to start, rainbow and peach & mint, which were my two most popular color schemes at the time.  I also added plain latex balloon bouquets such as pink and gold, pink and blue, etc.  I was so happy that I finally became the “tassel girl”, that I didn’t realize how much time all of my paper products took to make.  I was at a 7-14 business day production time.  I had to turn people away constantly, and was getting to the point where I didn’t know how I would keep up with everything on my own.

The first thing I did was decided to no longer sell any paper products.  Although I loved making them and how cute each product was, it was not feasible due to the time and many steps it took to make each product.  At this point, I was only selling tassels and balloons, and was able to change my tassel production time to 7 business days.  My tassel business kept growing and I was beginning to feel out of control again.

After a many days of thinking, making pros and cons lists, and number crunching, I came to the decision in August 2017 that I was no longer going to be selling tassel garlands.  This was really, really hard for me because I loved my tassel garlands so much! I even re-activated a few of my best sellers every week because I didn’t want to let this part of my journey go. I was so focused on my tassel orders (and how large they were) I didn’t realize that I was really selling more balloons.

I knew I needed to make up for the money I would not longer be making from tassel orders.  I spent days blowing up balloons, making confetti balloons, creating color pallets, and photographing each bouquet.  I was quickly able to grow my balloon business and filled the void of my tassels being gone.

Oh How Charming is now a full online balloon boutique offering mylar confetti balloon bouquets, tissue confetti bouquets, regular latex bouquets, DIY balloon garlands and more fun balloons.  I love creating color combos, but realize it is impossible to have something for everyone’s exact color scheme.  One of my favorite things about my shop is the customization.  I have always offered color customization, but have made it easier than ever with my color charts.  Colors can be customized for balloon garlands, tissue confetti balloons and latex bouquets.  I also have an individual latex balloon section which is perfect to test out colors or mix and match!

To everyone who has shopped with me, THANK YOU! Without your support, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my journey and the growth of Oh How Charming!

xxo,

Lauren