Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Charlotte Trebilcock, Owner of HMLLOYD MERCANTILE LLC, located in Spokane Valley, WA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My business is an extension of my personality and my hobbies. I make small batches of handspun yarn, bar soaps, and linoleum print artwork, and as my passions grow, so do my product offerings. My customers are typically art lovers, crafters, and everyday people who find my products appealing - so everyone, I guess.
Tell us about yourself
My story is perhaps not typical. My mother passed away in 2021, and as a way to survive grief and keep aspects of my mother alive, I started this business with a focus being art. Then it slowly evolved into doing more products I enjoy outside my mother's influence. I'm motivated to keep producing various products because, in addition to my mother's passing, I was diagnosed with Autism and find traditional work settings incredibly difficult like so many Autistic and disabled individuals. So this gives me a personal and financial outlet that I can (mostly) handle.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Right now, my biggest accomplishment, besides making that first sale, is paying business bills with business funds - instead of using my personal money. It's very refreshing to know that, at the moment, my business can sustain itself.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Everything. Having a disability makes things more difficult, and sometimes everything becomes too much, but personally, I would say that initial push for any given task and to ask for help. It's difficult to know that you are struggling in some aspect of your business and find the courage to ask for help to manage or find information to help sort out that problem that is weighing you down.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
First, find out if you have a local Small Business Association or similar entity to assist you with things like websites, taxes, etc., for free.
Second, start small. Ideally, with things you already have in your home or something that doesn't take much startup, you can develop your brand and style of doing things without too much upfront cost.
Third, never feel bad for needing help or scaling back when you need to. How you approach things will be different from other business owners, and it's ok if you get overwhelmed; just take a minute and see if anyone can give you some assistance.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HMLLOYDMERCANTILELLC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hmlloydmercantile
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hmlloydmercantilellc/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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