Redheaded Jill

Ok… So I have written about how my avenues for sales are slowly slipping away and I need to restart or find something else to do with myself.

The other night I was picking up milk at the farm. (Where I still sell cinnamon rolls, but they stopped selling my bread.)

I had asked the owner if I could sell some of my handmade cosmetics and things and she at first hinted at yes, then decided they didn’t have room. Which I understood. She also said I could have a small sign or poster with a QR code for people to buy from me online, which is kind of her.

Well… Wednesday I stopped in for my milk pick up and they have a new shelf. Full of products. That are identical to what I sell on etsy. Along with bread.

A friend of theirs who helps with farm chores is now selling exactly what I sell in their shop. I’m not gonna lie. It felt like a punch in the gut.

I think the thing that hurts most is that I first felt, “Oh great… here’s one more person I considered a friend who doesn’t care about me as much as I care about them.” THEN I felt rejected as a business. I also think that while I would have been disappointed had they told me to my face, I also would have felt a lot better about it. Like, you know something bad is coming when people start avoiding you, ya know?

Anyway… they can do what they want with their business. I logically know it doesn’t mean I’m a failure or that my food and creations are bad or gross just because someone doesn’t let me sell at their shop. There are probably a ton of factors that I am unaware of.

So… I’m not sure what to do. Should I say something? Should I go about my business and “quiet quit” by stopping my own sales and getting milk elsewhere? Should I ask for more opportunities to sell or make different things for them?

They have the customer base I need access to. I really like the owners of the farm as people. And their milk is delicious. Am I being a fake person if I still use their services even when I’m unhappy? Am I blowing things way out of proportion? Could this not be a burnt toast scenario where God is saving me from a bad situation or opening up bigger doors by slowing down my business at this location? I just don’t know…

That is kind of the cost of being a freelancer or trying to run your own business. I don’t like being at the mercy of someone else so I set my own hours and my own rules and my own products… but that means I also deal with situations that I otherwise might not have to if there were a boss to handle the business and I could just handle the work assigned to me. This is also the cost of doing things based on a handshake and friendship rather than contracts and corporate rules.

These have been my thoughts this week.