Business Breakdown: March 2020
A summary of TERRA's revenue, strategies, and other musings during March
I should’ve started writing monthly reviews from the beginning, mostly to admire the growth of TERRA — but hey, better late than never!
Today ends month 3 of being in business and March has been absolutely unbelievable in all the best ways. I crushed a couple goals I had set for Q1, rebranded, launched a new collection, and approached every opportunity with open arms.
Q1 (Jan - March) Goals
Reach $500 in revenue ✅
Gain 500 followers on Instagram ❌
Gain 175 likes on Facebook ❌
3 custom/bulk orders ✅
These are all vanity metrics, but I’m proud to say that March alone hit one of these out the park by far. For Q1, I incurred $980.18 in revenue! That’s just ONE candle away from the glorious $1k milestone! And if I were to count that one time I exchanged a candle for dinner from my friend Bri… then, I did it 😏
But March made up $667.50 of that total - that leaves me speechless.
I also hit my goal of producing 3 custom/bulk orders. One isn’t reflected in the revenue as it hasn’t processed yet, but since the order came through over the past weekend, I think it should still be included as part of my goal-hitting.
The 1st order was for a woman who owns a photography business. She purchased 12 to give as a gift for clients. The 2nd was for 10 candles and they were given as gifts during a bachelorette weekend. And the final bulk order was a wholesale purchase for cycling studio in New York. They purchased 36 candles to sell as retail!
I’m also currently sitting on some huge news… which is not yet confirmed to happen, but either way, I’ll be happy to share about it once I receive the final answer.
Aside from the sales goals, I unfortunately didn’t hit my social media goals in March. But that’s alright, I got quite close with Instagram being at 428 followers right now. Facebook is behind around the same with 111 likes.
Most of my sales come from Instagram at the moment, so I’m not disappointed whatsoever.
Rebranded
If you’ve followed TERRA’s journey since the beginning, then you would have noticed I rebranded the look of my labels. You must have, because I have not shut up about how much I love them since I did so!
I love a classy and simple look, with a pop of color — and I nailed it. My candles look like they would fit right in at any retail shop and I’m positive the rebranding helped a lot with sales this month.
Along with the rebranding, I also focused on product photography and how my candles are perceived during March. I made sure that every post on Instagram included a CTA and some form of intriguing content. Whether it be providing education on the eco-friendly factor of my candles or an inventory update about what’s currently left in stock.
And finally, I also updated my website to bring everything together. Photos, copy, and pages have been given a little extra love this month to really share TERRA’s mission and values. However, I still want to do a complete redesign of the website eventually, but that’s on the back-burner for now.
New Spring Collection
During January and February, I only carried two scents: Citrus Basil and April Showers. This was my initial launching collection. I am so proud to say that I sold every candle from my inventory and used that revenue to not only release new scents, but also a new product entirely.
I knew from the beginning that I wanted TERRA to expand into more of a home/lifestyle shop than just candles. This is why I chose a name that could be generalized rather than niched down. For example, I catch people saying ‘TERRA Candles’ which is fine! But not the big picture.
Anyways, I released linen sprays, which I thought made the perfect duo with candles. Candles tend to be a luxury purchase, and you definitely don’t want to burn through it within 1 week. So, to extend the scent, linen sprays are perfect to keep the fragrance alive in a more cost-effective way.
So, from keeping an inventory of only 2 scents with 2 size varieties, I scaled all the way to having an inventory of 13 different products!
4 scents of candles
4 scents of minis
4 scents of linen sprays
1 collection sampler
I expect the current Spring Collection to be available until mid-to-end of April, and then I will be releasing a whole round of scents for Summer.
Opportunities
I had a few opportunities arise during March. Some unfortunately had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 (completely understandable) but I am still happy to have been presented with them.
The first was my decision to take part in a vendor event here in St. Louis. It’s an in-person market fair that features local woman-owned businesses. The event doesn’t take place until the first weekend of May, but I sent in my vendor fees and eagerly began planning my booth this month. Sadly, the event soon cancelled — however, I was able to put my fees towards holding my spot for their September event.
After that, I was approached to be included in a pop-up shop event in SoHo, New York during mid-April. This was in the works about a week before shit hit the fan with COVID-19, so with due diligence, the event was cancelled. Again, while I am saddened for my business to be affected by the pandemic, I am still so proud to be able to be acknowledged for these opportunities.
The third event that I was able to be included in was actually born out of COVID-19. It was a virtual shopping mall built by Elliot. Built using only a Google Sheet, this mall was impressively detailed. You can find TERRA on the ‘fancy as fuck bathroom’ floor.
Erin and Marco were the masterminds behind this fun shopping experience and I’m honored to have been included in it. Especially during this period of isolation in the world.
Takeaways
Overall, March was a HUGE month for TERRA. And for myself, I learned a lot. Not only with marketing and everything I’ve mentioned above, but also with day-to-day operations. Such as organization. I have a corner of the living room that is essentially a warehouse right now.
I’ve also learned how to improve packaging after a customer unfortunately received a broken candle in the mail.
Can’t learn if mistakes never happen, right? Thankfully, the customer was extremely understanding of the situation and I was happy to refund them, replace the candle, and send a little extra gift to make up for it all.
Launching in January gave me proof that I can sell candles. March gave me proof that I can grow this business.
I’m open to any questions, suggestions or feedback. Leave a comment below!
xo, Dianna
Congratulations Dianna on an amazing Q1! Very inspiring journey! Also, even glad that you're focussed on the positives despite some of the opportunities getting cancelled due to COVID19. All the very best for Q2 :)