Growing a Small Business – COVID-19 Edition

I took this photo while I was in a meeting, on a boat for what I thought was my DREAM job. Little did I know that this would quickly come to an end because of coronavirus. When I look at it now, it is a reminder of simpler times and just how much things can change.  

Casual Work Day Video: This was one of my first days playing with Caleb Coffie’s laser. Its crazy to think that THIS IS WHERE IT ALL STARTED. I had never even seen a laser, much less did I know how to use it- I don’t even think at the time I knew it went pew pew. All I knew was, I felt like I had lost my purpose and needed to find it. I had put all of my eggs in this dream job basket which I literally lost within the first week of COVID. I was fragile, lost and now that I think of it- slightly crazy for diving into something I had no idea about. Before even starting The Coffie Cutters I spent months searching and learning. At night, Caleb would stay up teaching me and during the day I would test my patience trying to put my new learned hobby to work. Little by little, I learned Adobe Illustrator, EZCAD, Light Burn, How to Build a Website, SEO, Photography & Editing, and how to use multiple different machines – galvo CO2 laser, gantry CO2 laser, Fiber laser and the list goes on and on. *thanks Caleb

Fast forward to October 2020, when we launched The Coffie Cutters. In our first month we only had 19 orders. I felt so DEFEATED but I wasn’t going to let Etsy win, so I doubled down and just poured more of my heart and soul into it. Everyday I would work on listing new items, taking better photos, creating new designs and just hoping for the best. Then on Black Friday of 2020, we somehow made our way to the front page of Etsy (lol from ads we paid for) and orders poured in. In fact, so many came in that Etsy STOPPED INCLUDING US ON SEARCH RESULTS because they thought we wouldn’t be able to fulfill the orders within our processing time. Little did they know, we had prepared to scale- thanks to my mom, dad, Destiny and Angel for really showing up when we needed you the most