A few years ago I started putting things in place to change my career. My goal was to become a Graphic Designer. I want to live out this passion of mine – designing and being creative really makes me feel alive. I started off by teaching myself about Illustrator through watching youtube tutorial videos. The next steps included some market research into local markets and the products I could potentially make and sell there.

It was quite exciting and scary at the same time to start my own business without any previous business experience, but it was so worth it. I learnt so much about myself and what I am capable of. It is hard work to start your own business, but push through and it will pay off.

I started out by designing products and selling it at local markets. It was a lot of fun to have the freedom to choose which products I wanted to design and how I wanted them to look.

My first bit of inspiration resulted in an A3 colouring desk calendar, which turned out to be a very popular product. The inspiration behind this product was simply people sitting behind desks all day. If you have a desk job, you most likely spend some time on the phone each day. Now you can colour in the mandalas on the calendar, instead of creating lifeless doodles. This will create a working space that will feel more colourful and creative.

Next I wanted to give the good old birthday calendar a modern face. No one, young or old, wants to forget their friends and families’ birthdays. Pictures of a bunch of different voluminous, colourful, gorgeous flowers won me over for this product and I assigned each picture to the month and season it represent most.

I love giving gifts, and making it as special as can be for each person is my main priority. Personalising gifts however takes time. So I spent some time brainstorming on what to create that my customers can give, as part of their gifts, to make it extra special. ‘Personalised’ seemed to be the key word here and I realised how special it would be to give someone a gift in a bag featuring their own name and personalised message. They can also choose a picture of a wreath (there are a few to choose from) to finish off the unique design of their bag. Involving the client in this way makes them feel personally cared for. I gifted some bags myself to friends and their reactions were really great. They were surprised by and loved seeing their own names on their bags, especially accompanied by an appropriate or favourite quote or verse of theirs.

Whilst building up my product repertoire I looked into ways that I could sell them. I ended up becoming a part of the local markets community. The process of applying to and selling at markets can be both fun and exhausting at the same time. I met so many new people while setting up and taking down my stall. This is definitely one of my favourite parts of being a part of the markets. Socialising with other creatives is so good for your soul and it’s great for building up contacts and getting information about other markets that you can potentially apply for. If you’re interested in applying to markets yourself, I would recommend doing some research online about what markets in your area will best suit you and will reach your target market. If you reside in the Western Cape Province of South Africa like I do, Click here for a website that advertises different markets for different times of the year.