Building a Food-Themed Sticker Business
Turning a Birthday Gift into a Business Dream
I started CuteNomz in November, not the best time to start a business but it was my birthday gift to myself because I had always wanted to start my own business.
I had thought long and hard about CuteNomz Shop. I’m often a person who picks up a hobby and drops it two months later so when I thought about creating my own sticker store in July I sat on the idea for at least 4 months. I wanted to make sure it was something I wanted and something I would stick to, especially if I was going to begin investing money into it.
The Etsy Experiment
I began what was formerly known as PaperPigPress on Etsy. A huge mistake. My goal was to always have my own website but I didn’t want to go through all the trouble of finding a domain name if it wasn’t something I stuck to.
I started PaperPigPress as a means to have something to be proud of. I was at a point in my life where I was about to turn 25 and felt like I had nothing to show for it. (Pre-mid life crisis?) When I would speak to my cousins and friends I felt like they had accomplished so much for their age.
As I officially launched my Etsy store I struggled to find a niche, yes I was a sticker shop but what kind of stickers? My first stickers were all text stickers. “Not Today Heffa” & “Mornings Are For Coffee” two stickers that had no business being together. I also didn’t understand branding and marketing. I did not do my research and I deeply regret it even until this day. I had no grand opening, I had no sticker launch, I didn’t even have social media for PaperPigPress at the time! I was under the impression that Etsy would do all the work for me (another problem I have with Etsy).
After about a month I had about twelve stickers, all different shapes and sizes, some with text, some without. I outsourced all my stickers and it was really expensive as a beginner business
The Unforeseen Challenges of a Personal Website
In January I moved from Etsy to Shopify. I also bought my own domain as well. My domain was cheap, I got it from Google and it was $6 a year. I also got my own business email. Moving to Shopify was amazing! I finally had my own website with its own domain! I couldn’t have been happier. I started making my own business cards and hauled out new stickers in honor of my move. I didn’t take into consideration that having my own website meant I have to push every single customer to my website. I was not prepared for that. That meant posting everyday, drawing in customers, coming up with new ideas and content to post, having collections to sell and so much more that goes into running an online business and your own website.
In April Shopify raised their prices and I couldn’t justify paying $39. for my website to be getting zero to five views a week. So I made the decision to move PaperPigPress.
Embracing a Cute and Whimsical Brand Identity
At that moment I have no clue where I’m moving my website and at this point I’m feeling like giving up. So I decided to go back to the beginning. I still didn’t have a niche and I had no clue what I was doing moving forward. So I did what any other self-proclaimed artist would do. I drew. I drew and drew and drew until my Apple Pencil died and I literally could not draw anymore. Wanna know what I was drawing? Food! Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Cupcakes, Pizza Slices, Blueberry Pie Slices, not only was it food but it was cute! So my passion for drawing food was created and PaperPigPress and kawaii food stickers did not mix.
Introducing CuteNomz! I quickly created colors (that did not go together) then created a logo (again not learning from my past mistakes). I did it! I created CuteNomz! So why wasn’t I hearing angels singing? I didn’t know and I didn’t really care. I continued to work on all my socials and rebrand all my things. I found a website I liked (BigCartel) , did my research on it and started setting out to make my own website…again.
Creating my own website for CuteNomz was different mainly because I didn’t take into consideration the things that I was looking for in a website and things I took for granted with Shopify, mainly their add-ons. A lot of add ons for BigCartel are one time purchase add ons. For me the add-ons were not necessary, although I did want them very much. I wasn’t 100% happy, again no angels singing, but I was content. So If you’re still continued on BigCartel for a couple of months until I lost my job. For me my job was a back up and funding for CuteNomz. At first I thought I would be ok because my boyfriend was working and he was more than willing to fund my website. Then about a month into my job search I realized, yet again, that I was just wasting money. Now, granted the BigCartel fee was only $10 a month but that was $10 we could be putting towards something else. I decided yet again to move platforms.
Defining CuteNomz Shop: An Emojified Brand Identity
During this move I did my research, I didn’t hop on the first platform I saw that had a shiny name or that TikTok recommended. I. Did. My. Research. As I was doing my research there was a post going around on Twitter asking small businesses to describe their brand in five emojis. I was so excited to see everyone’s emojis and how they all fit so well with their brand that they created. I was so ready to share mine, but I paused, because I couldn’t. Yes my brand CuteNomz was food but does that mean I should just do five food emojis? And if I did then what separated me from a restaurant? Now I know you may be thinking that I’m just being overly dramatic and over thinking some stupid emojis but these five emojis changed my business forever
Reigniting Passion: Running on Sugar and Unicorn Dust
Two weeks later I found my five emojis and found a platform to host CuteNomz and yes I heard angels singing. It was like everything was coming into place there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I had found and discovered CuteNomz Shop. Running on sugar and unicorn dust.
Sharing My Journey: Support CuteNomz Shop
If you enjoyed my journey to CuteNomz please consider tipping or buying an item from CuteNomz it means the world to me!
Please also consider sharing my journey with your friends, who knows you may encourage someone to start their own business!
