What it’s really like: The first two & ½ years of a woman-owned small business on Instagram.
Just about three years ago, yup at the height of the C-word stuff, my adult-ish kids were poking some fun at me for not being on social media. At that point, I’d dabbled with Twitter for professional teaching purposes & Pinterest for book club book ideas, for baking recipes, & other randomness. I had never touched Instagram before & didn’t know much about Facebook other than I could creep on some of my old friends from college who I’d lost touch with; don’t judge, I’m sure most of you have too 🙄.
So, getting on IG, I searched what I was interested in at the time, which was home decor & more specifically, handmade Persian rugs. I was amazed by what I found; others, especially women, curating & offering handmade rugs for sale through IG & their websites. Long story short, & a not so short discussion with my very supportive husband, I found myself “opening” a small business.
Leila, curator & owner of Azadi Mercantile, LLC
Why start a small biz?
I’m an elementary school teacher by trade; I’ve been teaching 4th & 5th grade over the last 15 years & really love it. But I have a creative side to me as well, & teaching just wasn’t quite enough. And let's face it, teaching is not an easy occupation & the pay is not great. Curating handmade rugs & offering them for re-sale, other than the fact that I grew up with Persian rugs underfoot, is a natural fit; an opportunity to mix a creative outlet with my heritage & a small business. I also love challenges & often seem to make life kinda more difficult for myself; maybe I’m an overachiever, so I needed another “thing” in my life. I mean, in school I would recreate lessons we’d already done well in previous years & there was the year I wrote a weekly letter to each of my 25 students to show the value of the written word. Admittedly, & good grief, that was something I didn’t do again. A small business is something I could call my own, something new to try, & with our kids nearly out of the house, it felt like it was an undertaking I was ready for.
The start of something new.
For various reasons, opening a bricks-and-mortar shop was not an option at the time. Eager to begin, in February, 2020 I reached out to other rug sellers on IG & asked them for advice. I was naive & a novice, so I didn’t quite get it that you can’t just ask others (read: “the competition”) to willingly help you out. My bad. But I did turn to the internet & the loads of info that’s out there. There’s an abundance of reliable websites & books that offer sound advice. I find that the websites you choose to read for advice are a very personal choice, but take a look & you’ll see how much is out there.
Starting with handmade rugs from Afghanistan.
It was important for me to connect teaching with this new venture. At the time, my 5th grade students were inquiring into child labor issues, specifically hand-made rugs, so I didn't want to be a hypocrite & at the very least not try to find a source who could offer rugs that weren’t touched by child labor. After searching (again, with the internet), I connected with a gentleman from Afghanistan who is a long-time importer & shop owner of handmade rugs here in the US. I called him the old fashioned way, we spoke in Farsi, & made arrangements for my husband & myself to fly out to visit with him.
An expert in the field, my connection (& now, friend) worked with the Kabul Carpet Export Center, where they worked with (a defunct) American aid organization that helped to connect the artistry & trade to buyers in the US. The rugs were backed by an organization that would check in on the working families to ensure as best they could proper working conditions, wages, & keeping kids off the loom. When I asked more about this last bit, I learned that since it's a cottage industry, some kids do end up on the loom, say when their schooling &/or chores are done. And thank goodness, so that it helps the craft going, to some degree. The ball really started to roll at this stage; after seeing the rugs in person we (my husband & myself) were blown away by the beauty & the craftsmanship we saw with our eyes and felt with our hands . We purchased a small starting inventory & headed back to home base.
What’s in a name?
As I started to share my intentions with friends, I was connected with local businesses who could help. (Sidebar, even before my business got going, I have been a long-time believer in supporting local businesses.) A good friend referred me to Nick who is a talented graphic designer. We met several times & he asked me the tough but great questions about what I wanted in a name & logo. After several drafts, Nick beautifully created a visual for my shop logo. The word “azadi” in the Persian language means freedom. There are many reasons why the word resonates with me (long before the biz, I had the word tattooed on my forearm), which aren’t so important here. But because the concept itself is so valid to me, my logo is that much more meaningful. Nick suggested “mercantile” in case I were to offer other home goods in the future; so glad I did since I now offer pillow covers & holiday stockings that have been repurposed from vintage handmade rugs. And so, Azadi Mercantile it is. The color, pomegranate, is a connection to the omnipresent fruit in Iran, the flower is a “chandelier flower” that’s now rare in Iran (pays homage to the craft of hand knotted rugs in Iran as well), & the design is not so dissimilar to many Persian rug medallions.
Getting the word out.
With a small budget & the need to start letting the public know about my shop, I reached out to a friend who is a local photographer & website designer. We talked about my vision ~ to offer handmade rugs (new, antique, & vintage from various countries) ~ & to share my passion for heritage & culture. I decided to outsource setting up the shop on a website because I just didn’t have enough time to research & do it myself, though there are plenty of resources available on the how-to. For me, it was money well-invested. With Carlos’ help, we started with the basics on Squarespace including securing my domain. It worked great for me as a newbie; I’ve since upgraded to Advanced Commerce, which has helped immensely with more advanced options, such as analytics. Carlos also took some initial photographs of some of our own rugs & some headshots to have as a visual reference for social media & my website.
Azadi Mercantile on Instagram.
It’s one thing to let yourself get lost in the abyss that’s often IG, but it’s a totally other thing to intentionally be on IG as a small business owner. We are all aware, I’m sure, of the seemingly constant changes with the platform, & trying to keep up especially as a business owner, is kind of rough. Not understanding what I’d signed up for, I did reach out for help in this area as well. Jana-Marie helped me to have a better vision for what the platform can help me with. Y’all, I was as raw as raw can be when it came to IG; a total unnatural, I still struggle with being authentically me on the platform. It’s a work in progress. I relied on JM for a short time to help build some knowledge & confidence. Again, for me, it was money well-invested.
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I play the comparison game on IG from time to time, though I’ve definitely gotten better about not doing it. Having dove in without a ton of forethought, I didn’t realize how many others are actually in the same business as I’m in. There are many who curate & offer new, vintage, & antique rugs, & in my opinion, some who do it better than others. There are also a few businesses who have blocked me from IG; that’s their prerogative & par for the course. Regardless, there’s an abundance of handmade rugs to go around & there are enough varying perspectives to allow us all to be in business.
Also, there’s a plethora of “the competition” who are willing to help; I have made some fantastic connections on IG, because they are, after all, real people behind the accounts. I’m super happy to be able to call Molly, Annabell, & others, among my friends. The community is collaborative & helpful, so don’t be afraid to reach out; there are real people who are genuinely happy & willing to help to some degree.
Advertising.
One of my favorite ways of reaching out to people is in person. And what better way to show what you have to offer than in person where you can see & feel the rugs? Wanting to really get the word out in my local community, I’ve been a vendor at several local & local-ish markets. To be honest, the money is not great for the amount of effort I put into these markets, but it did allow me to get the word out about who I am & what I do. Being able to talk about the rugs made a difference; that passion is there & it shows. The local market has not always been a financial success; there were a few times that I didn’t sell anything, even the low priced (under $200) rugs sat the whole day. It’s disheartening, but I realized that I wasn’t gearing the “right” audience. I applied to other (larger) markets & was turned away that first year. But with time, comes knowledge & some successes, so I was able to participate in a much larger Austin market this past November. The key to real success from that market will be if the buyers will refer me to their friends as well as circle back to me & not be a “one-and-done” deal. I also advertised in a local publication, though that did not prove to be beneficial in my case. I had met with a salesperson from the publication, we talked at length about what I needed to see from the advertising & I just didn’t see the results. So, the local market was worth it, the local advertising, not so much.
The next step will be to try my hand at bigger advertising avenues, but I will be doing the appropriate research on it before I dive in.
Failures.
With any new biz, there’s going to be disappointment & flat-out failures. Like the times I showed up to talk with great vim & vigor about the rugs but no-one else seemed to care. And the advertising money that didn’t work. And the hard work you put into finding the perfect rug but the client ghosts you. And the rugs you curate that were a big flop in person. And the “showing up” you do on IG that doesn’t seem to make a lick of a difference. Also, much of what I’ve earned, I’ve put back into this business; technically not a failure, but it’s been a bumpy road.
What I have to offer & what the future holds.
With so many, admittedly, other shops similar to mine out there, what do I have to offer that’s unique? Even with all of us small rug businesses touting the uniqueness of each rug, there are definitely similarities in the product. But the difference is who’s behind the bigger picture. I bring my own perspective into it; a genuine interest in the art form, a teacher’s point of view, & a connection to the culture & heritage; it is, after all, in my blood. I don’t know everything there is to know about the craft, but I’ve dedicated time & effort into learning. I don’t know the perspective of the weavers. We tend to romanticize the hard work that goes into the craft, but are/were the (predominantly) women who made the rugs happy to do so? There is so much still to learn about the craft, the history, & even the culture.
It’s taken some time, reflection, changes in mind-set, & quite a bit of an “I don’t give a f*&^” attitude to keep at this. Trust me, there have been multiple times where the imposter syndrome has been real; when I’ve wanted to drop kick Azadi Mercantile into another dimension. Alas, there's just something that keeps pulling me back & to not give up. And I’ll keep putting the earnings back into curating & learning more about the craft. I’m not certain of what the future holds for my wee business, but so long as you’re showing up, so will I.