i've been mulling lately. mulling, planning, wondering... i have vague plans to grow my little business over the next couple of years, get out in the public eye more and generally get it to a point where i can make a reasonable part-time income while raising our kid(s). i'm looking out for markets i can do around melbourne late this year, taking out ad space in mixtape around the same time and hoping to work on a wholesale offering available early next year. these are the first baby steps, i want sewing to continue to be fun. i want time to work on new designs and not get bogged down making the same thing over and over (which is what happened with my wholesale/retail handmade journal business in canada). so, while this is quite possibly a foolhardy plan to entertain while i await the arrival of my first child, it is being mulled. what's causing the most amount of thought is one tiny detail involved with where i want this to go in the future. which, in a perfect world, involves shane and i both working on handmade designs, he out of beautiful timbers and me out of fabrics, but with a similar feel and design ideals. it's been discussed. a renovated farm cottage, some land, a big, open workshop where we can work together yet separately... ideal. and what's the tiny detail causing me the most amount of pondering? my name. my business name. onegirl designwrks - been with me since 1999, "a small celebration of all the things i am able to do, alone, by myself, just one girl". i still like it and at the same time, am not quite satisfied that it's the best fit for me anymore. i'm not so much a "girl" and will, of course, be getting less so as the years go by. and, this may be totally overthinking it, but i'd like something less gender specific if i'm going to continue and expand my toy making endeavours. and the clincher: if shane does get into handcrafting a range of children's furniture and toys once the house renovations are done, i'd love to have a business name that we could both use and work together under one banner.
so what.
what to do?
part of me says that the next couple of months are the ideal time to make a change. to relaunch a couple of months after the baby is born with a new name, start doing markets under this new name, put out my advertisements under this new name. it all makes so much sense and at the same time, seems so scary somehow. like onegirl is a bit of myself i'll have to let go of, along with any bit of recognition it has in this here blog/craft world. i'll lose all of my lovely etsy feedback by starting a new shop, miss out on all the links that send people here... plus coming up with a new name is hard.
thoughts?
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perhaps you could add to "one girl" and become "more than onegirl" "not just one girl" - you get what I mean.
ReplyDeleteThen again maybe something completely new ???
i'm with jodie. i like "onegirl" but could it become something like "onegirl plus", "onegirl +", "onegirl together", etc.
ReplyDeleteand already having that recognition with your current brand name works if you can add to it?
good luck. :)
Hmmmm be careful now mulling those thoughts over with the preggas hormones!
ReplyDeleteYou know I never thought of the 'girl' thing with your name. Dunno if that's helpful?!
I love the sound of you and hubby doing your creative things together in your renovated farm cottage. Sweet.
How about one2?
ReplyDeleteI don't see "onegirl" as age specific. It's seems to be more a description of the heart.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with the others, don't make any quick, hormone induced decisions. ;-)
Sorry to wax philosophical first thing in the morning. But. I found that in the months leading up to J's birth, I had so many preconceived notions f what I would do, how I would feel, how things would be. The he was born and so few of those notions had any bearing on my new reality. The shifts were often very subtle but there were so many that I sometimes find it hard to believe that I am the same person.
ReplyDeleteSo, I guess what i am saying is that I would make some notes of what I think and feel on the topic now and then file them away and let it all brew in my subconcious until some time after my baby moon. Then pull out your notes and see if they have any bearing on your new reality.
Just my two (or three) cents. :D
No matter what your decision, people will seek you out, onegirl or onegirl and oneboy, people will find you.
ReplyDeletemmmm... what dani said is what i would say if i could say things that well. and, alexandra hit it too. people will find you (both).
ReplyDeleteI think "one girl" is great, the part I don't like is design wrks how it's misspelled. It's confusing. People will always be spelling it right, with the missing 'o'. It reminds me of those crazy places like Kathy's Klip and Kurl, where they misspell things on purpose. Makes me a little nuts. ;o)
ReplyDeletesorry to make you a "little nuts", anonymous (which by the way, i think is hilarious. any remotely negative comment i ever get is from "anonymous" who looooves to get their opinion out there but doesn't want to take credit for it ; )
ReplyDeletethe designwrks part came about because when i was designing the original logo, way back in 1999, the works part wouldn't fit in the space i wanted it to so i took out an o, plus it reminded me of some bauhaus style germanic name that way so i went with it. simple as that.
Don't be afraid to re-brand. You can re-direct people and they will follow. Me and Kerri have gone to me and Pete. Maketbaby to Twiglet. Waiting til you have had your bubs is kind of a good idea because it's true - things may not be how you think they'll be. I know when you are thinking of doing the markets, though and you probably want to change the name for then? 2 year old Ava luuuurved her fleur by the way! x
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is okay re-brand and re-invent. It is hard to let go of things you have already started, but in the end regrowth is a wonderful thing
ReplyDeleteHow about "onegrp designwrks"? ...unlike anonymous, I like the mis-spelling.
ReplyDeleteI like One2 too!
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say my overwhelming feeling on reading your post is : What?! She's planning to do all this with a newborn in tow?!! I don't want to dampen your ambitions (for they are fabulous ambitions and ideas), but I suggest not trying to commit yourself to too much too soon- there'll be so many things going on in life that are beyond your control in those first few months.
Sorry, I don't know how not to be anonymous, I have a wordpress.com account that shows my name when I comment on blogs over there. My name is Heather, and I wasn't hiding behind my negative comment, just speaking up on a topic you asked for opinions on. Sorry if it was offensive. :o/
ReplyDeletechange is as good as a holiday...who am i kidding?? beaches and cocktails are much better. I say go with something fresh!
ReplyDeletewhat about one girl and a bloke design wrks?? no I'm just joking.
ReplyDeletedon't change the name now. wait a little after you become a mum. your lives are about to change in a big way. Mull a little longer.
I guess what I am saying is, concentrate on the other aspects of making the business and products work. you could just keep both of your work under the umbrella of 'design wrks, and still have one girl on your things, and maybe one boy on his.