I GOT A MINI-GRANT!

6.1.2020 | Back in March, as I was faced with the reality that my ability to market my products to retail buyers would be greatly diminished due to the shut down, it became obvious that I’d need to infuse some adrenaline into my direct-to-consumer sales. But how to do that when every week I was receiving notices of cancellations of craft fairs and other artisan events and opportunities to sell my products to consumers?

I’ve had an Etsy Shop for several years, but for quite awhile, the idea of adding an e-commerce platform to my PrettyFlours.com website has been relegated to the back burner. My back burner is a far-off hot bed of projects (mostly involving accounting and/or technology, my least favorite areas of focus) that tend only to get my attention if a crisis occurs, a deadline is imminent, or, more likely, an overdue notice arrives in the mail. A global pandemic leading to a shut down of brick and mortar stores qualified as my crisis – a call to action.

It was time to revamp my website and build in an e-commerce platform and I have the good fortune to know just the person to get the job done. Anca Gooje is a web developer and a fellow member of the Rosemont Artists Guild. She not only signed on to tackle my project, she told me about a mini-grant being offered through New Ventures Maine, an organization that helps entrepreneurial Mainers like me venture in new directions. They offer free programs for career, business, and financial education. (Check them out.) I applied for a $500 grant to help offset the costs involved in building my new website and was one of two Maine entrepreneurs selected to receive the funding to promote my business through a targeted marketing project. So exciting!

From back burner to front burner, the website you are currently on is the direct result of the mini-grant. Thank you Anca Gooje Web Development and New Ventures Maine!