Business Breakdown: April 2020
A summary of TERRA's revenue, strategies, and other musings during April
I’m a bit behind on providing a recap of April, but for good reason — TERRA’s growth has been absolutely insane the past 6 weeks.
I entered a partnership with Greetabl, fulfilled an order with my first retail shop, had my first $1,000 month of revenue, learned how to manage and organize inventory and production more efficiently, and created a new collection of limited scents! All of this while balancing my day job… what a month.
Greetabl
For those who haven’t heard me screaming through my tweets about how big of a deal this is, well, shit’s about to get real. Greetabl has captivated me with their brand for about 3 years now. It’s funny, because I discovered them as I was searching for a new job a while back — little did I know that I’d partner with them years later.
This was an opportunity I had been waiting on for a couple months before I received a confirmed YES, but then it happened. And it was for an order of 800 candles. I literally cried and could not function for a few hours until it all processed in my head.
But wait! That’s not all…
This was for their Best Mom Ever candle. An original candle of theirs. Their regular supplier was not able to accommodate, and they thought of me to step up to the task. I was beyond flattered.
I never mass-produced candles before, and I had 3 weeks. Next thing I knew, I had a UPS semi-truck pulling up to my boyfriend’s apartment and we were unloading almost 1,000 pounds in candle supplies.
It was a make-or-break experience. Do I truly love candlemaking or will I be frustrated and unwilling by the end of this? Happy to say that I love it — I love it so much and the fact I don’t have an 800 candle order to fulfill this month disheartens me a bit.
However, I currently do have a continued partnership with them and I am forever grateful. This catapulted TERRA.
Retail Stockist
Around the same time of the Greetabl partnership, Katie from Dear Mushka reached out to me about collaborating to create custom candles for her shop. UM, YES, OFC!
Together, we pulled branding from her shop and my labels, to create a perfect blend of both of our businesses. She chose 3 scents and I specially-made 72 candles for her.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I never was able to reach out to local shops about carrying my candles. So, having Katie reach out to do just that, made me realize that I can still grow TERRA’s exposure even if it is only online for the moment.
$1,000 in Revenue
I did it! That first $1k is truly remarkable. And that’s without the Greetabl order. I nearly doubled my revenue from the previous month and I just can’t believe it.
Because while I was busy working with Greetabl for almost the entire month of April, my shop was steadily growing and running itself in the background.
I sold out of my entire Spring Collection, just in time to launch my new summer scents during May.
What a month. Special thank you’s to everyone who has purchased from or supported TERRA in any way possible. I’m looking forward to seeing what May brings — I say this as May is almost over…
xo, Dianna