Bye bye!
It sounds cheesy, but it really is; the year has flown by really bizarrely! I wrote my previous blog at the fresh start of spring 2019, so now I am sitting with a blanket on the sofa with a cup of tea and a pack of leftover Ikea Christmas cookies next to me. My planning to regularly write a new blog post did not work out completely unfortunately.
Paper influencers
With 2020 so close now, I am also closing my first Cotton Candies decade. A brief review of the past 10 years cannot be ignored, of course. I remember yesterday when I sent out my first press releases in large pink envelopes in January 2010 to introduce the magazines to Cotton Candies. In a time when we had never heard of Instagram or Pinterest, magazines were the influencers of today. So to see yourself in those same popular magazines a few weeks later was really an honor and so unreal!
10K
In 2010 only about 10,000 Dutch web stores were active, I felt like a kind of pioneer to be part of that. I now feel like an old hand, who has seen many web shops come and go. Although social media was not very big yet, I actually had the feeling that I was close to my customers and I didn't have to make a lot of effort to be visible than I have now. Because 10 years later, as web entrepreneurs, we can communicate and show ourselves through many different social media channels, but the number of web shops has now also increased almost tenfold.gd.
From E- to M-Commerce
Looking back, Cotton Candies has seen quite a few different corporate identities and logos in the past 10 years.. Most logos were own design and change with my personal taste and the requirements and wishes that a modern webshop layout had to meet. At the time, who could have imagined that most online purchases are now made on a mobile device, instead of behind a desktop computer. My first webshop was a free Wordpress page where you could only order by mail. In 2019 world I am the proud owner of a mobile compatible web store with a brand new and externally designed corporate identity and logo. logo.
Best Seller
The item with which CC suddenly went through sound 9 years ago was the customizable text bracelet. Then I had to gamble all my material and tools from America, none of this was for sale in the Netherlands yet. And what started as a kind of trial and error meant that in 2013 I could completely quit my office job. Thousands of text bracelets and years later, they are still regularly ordered by you. They will always hold a special place in my heart.
Full time
These were hectic years, most weekends were filled with participation in markets and fairs. I struggled with decorations and displays for my market stalls, complete sweet shops it seemed. I traveled all over the Randstad for home shopping parties and workshops. And I met so many nice, dear customers and inspiring fellow entrepreneurs. It took years to enjoy my success quietly, but the energy I got from everything seemed inexhaustible! 60-hour working weeks were no exception, it never felt like working, not as it feels when you work for an employer anyway..
Privately
Besides CC, all kinds of things happened in my private life, of course. I lost my sweet French Bulldog Charley, the greatest loss I have ever experienced. My Facebook status changed from Married to Single and from Single to Relationship with. And my LinkedIn status went from self-employed to self-employed with an office side job. I exchanged my owner-occupied home in a suburb in The Hague for a mini apartment right in the center. I thoroughly enjoyed the free life in the city and the nightlife and privileges of having a relationship with Fabian who is a Producer / DJ. And what once seemed so far away and very much; the transition from 30s to 40s this year was painless and silent. I am no longer afraid to make choices and follow my feelings. And now I am much more aware of who I am and what I do and do not want.t wil.
Whislist
For the next decade I have of course a number of things on my wishlist, including at least 1 dog: In addition, I naturally hope that it will be another 10 years of enjoyment, love, inspiration, growth, special discoveries and new creations. And of course I wish you all the best that I wish myself!!
I'm excited; bring it on !!
Love, Melina