The Time is Now

Bon Lemon is now over a year old. Can you believe it? How the time flies.

Over the last year, Bon Lemon has grown and expanded and we have invested and reinvested. Being the lone proprietress at Bon Lemon can be a daunting task at times, even with great support from our team, The Lioness and 6 Par Farmer. Sometimes, I think working for the state or really anyone who would pay for health insurance and give me a paycheck at the end of the month sounds mighty nice. Regardless, of how much I love being the master of my own destiny, there are days when the load seems like too much to carry.

There are days when I wonder if we will ever reach the tipping point. If we will ever get past the "start up" phase. If I will ever start collecting a paycheck, move out of my parent's lake cabin (yes, I am 31), or get rid of my over the hill car. Sometimes, I think I bit off more than I could chew. These moments aren't frequent, but they do occur sometimes. And this week, there was such a moment. (Good thing is was quickly followed by a fabulous champagne tasting at Fat Cork. Yippee for bubbly!)

I am inspired by the success stories of my sister at Spruce Skin and Wax Shoppe who went from having one client, my mom (whose skin is quite lovely these days), to having a bustling shoppe with a waiting list and a full-time employee. I am inspired by my friend Courtney Fullerton of Glacier County Honey whose honey is now available all over Glacier National Park (along with outlets in multiple states) and who was just featured on the front cover of the most prominent bee industry magazine. Woot! Woot! I am inspired by the idea that all businesses had to start somewhere. Without risk there is no reward. And the reward of being on the other side of success, looking back on the road Bon Lemon has come down and smiling, motivates me.

At the beginning, when I had a weak moment and wondered if all of my efforts with Bon Lemon were in vain, I would chant in my head, "If you build it they will come." (Hey, if dead baseball players show up at a cornfield in Iowa, I should be able to sell some jewelry, right?) I truly believe that Bon Lemon is a great platform and what we are building has the potential to be so much bigger.

"If you build it, they will come" was a great motivator. But now I have moved onto thinking, "Mmmm. K. But, when are they going to come?" How much longer are we going to have to wait? We have so many great clients and Lemon Lovers, but when are we are we going to break through to the next level? My new mantra is, "The time is now." We have laid the foundation. We have the right pieces in place. And we are ready. We are ready to be swamped with orders, to have new Independent Shoppe Owners and Spas coming on board to sell our products at a rate we can barely keep up with, and we are ready to continue investing our profits into the community (the best part of our job!). We have built it. They are coming. And I believe: "The time is now." See you on the other side.


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I borrowed the image from a creative Etsy artist. Check out her stuff.