We recently connected with Victoria Pillman and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
The idea for a product for myself is what started the journey to opening Victoria P Design Shop. I was looking for a personalized cutting board to commemorate my new marriage and new house. And I thought if this idea had been placed on my heart for my own family, maybe other young couples like us would be interested as well! And just like that, the idea for a personalized gift shop was born.
The first step after figuring out what I wanted my business to be was to discover untapped potential in the market through extensive research. I audited existing sellers on platforms like Etsy, meticulously examining their products, pricing strategies, and sales trends. I narrowed my search down to two methods for personalization: vinyl and laser engraving. After careful consideration, I decided to pursue laser engraving. Although the startup costs would be lower for vinyl personalization, the market was saturated and I would have better luck finding a unique niche in laser engraving that would set me apart from the competition and fill a gap in the market.
The next step was to secure startup funds. Turning my dreams into reality required financial support. I used all the money I had available to me; cashing in savings bonds, college graduation checks, and dipping into my personal savings. It was a risky decision because if my business failed, then I would have to start fresh to rebuild my personal savings. But I took the leap of faith to invest in my vision, recognizing the value of my aspirations and the potential rewards that awaited me.
Equipped with a burning passion and the necessary funds, I diligently researched the best laser engraver that fit my budget while maintaining high quality. The first laser engraver I purchased was an Ortur brand hobby laser, it cost $300 and it was one of the most expensive purchases I had ever made. I was shaking all the way through the checkout process. Next, I sourced blank products from Amazon for both practice and future sales, ensuring that every piece offered would meet my impeccable standards without breaking the bank. After all of the equipment arrived, I began to practice using the laser engraving software, Lightburn. Learning the intricacies of Lightburn became a challenging but essential part of the journey. It took a few weeks, but by August 2021 I finally had a few sample products for my online store.
As a marketing major in college, I understood that a strong online presence and effective marketing were crucial for the success of my business. After settling on Shopify as my e-commerce platform, I purchased a domain name and embarked on building my brand’s website and social media profiles. Captivating product pictures and engaging descriptions were meticulously crafted to captivate potential customers. But the best thing I did before opening was to devise a pre-order campaign. It was a soft opening promotion one week before the official launch date to generate brand awareness, jumpstart store sales, and create a buzz in the market. At the end of October 2021, I discovered that the most sales in that first month came from the pre-order promotion. It was a successful launch into business.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Victoria Pillman, a social entrepreneur, military wife, and rescue dog mom. My journey into entrepreneurship started in March 2021. This was such a busy and exciting time in my life, all my dreams were coming true! I had just gotten married, moved into a new house, adopted a dog, and was preparing to graduate college in two months. It was a whirlwind of milestone moments all in a matter of months. As a sentimental person, I wanted to find a meaningful way to remember this special time in my life. I was looking for something tangible but practical to commemorate all of the milestones I had just experienced. Something that I could keep in my home to remind me many years into the future of the excitement I felt in this moment. That’s when I came up with the idea of a personalized cutting board adorned with my new last name and wedding date. It was practical enough to use in my new kitchen every day and the personalized details made me feel warm and hopeful whenever I cooked for my family and dreamed about our future.
The idea for a product for myself is what started the journey to opening Victoria P Design Shop. I had cherished the idea of becoming a small business owner since college, I just didn’t know what exactly my business would be or when I would have the opportunity to start. The traditional career path that a college student prepares for is to enter a 9-5 corporate job right after graduation. But during the end of junior year in 2020, the job market didn’t look promising for new graduates. At the same time, I had just gotten engaged to my husband, an active duty service member in the Army. And if I thought that getting hired into the corporate world would be difficult during the pandemic, imagine trying to stay there while balancing a military family lifestyle. Enter, entrepreneurship!
Victoria P Design Shop officially opened in October 2021, specializing in custom engraved cutting boards, coaster sets, wooden spoons and ornaments. I built this business based on four main values: passion, intentionality, commitment to customers, and quality.
Victoria P Design Shop exists to help you commemorate meaningful milestones with personalized engravings, which later turn into heirlooms.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I sell through my Shopify store and Spouse-ly, an online marketplace for military and first responder families. Spouse-ly is similar to Etsy, except it hosts both product and service based businesses and all sellers have to be affiliated with the military or first responders.
Here is why I love each platform:
Shopify is very user friendly and I can easily customize my website and product listings. Also, the POS system is convenient for making sales at events. I was familiar with Shopify from a previous job, so it was one less thing I needed to learn for my business.
Spouse-ly is a wonderful community as a military spouse and entrepreneur. I get to know more like-minded people in the seller community and I’m connected with customers who want to work with military owned businesses specifically. The vacation mode is helpful during a big move to the next duty station because it let’s people know I’m away temporarily and disables sales. And the CEO is also a military spouse so I know that the commission from sales in my Spouse-ly store directly supports military families.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
My first big wholesale order in September 2022 couldn’t have come at a worse time. A military nonprofit organization reached out to me about making 300 small custom logo cutting boards for their holiday gift baskets. I was so excited! Working in wholesale was a big goal and this order was worth over $3,000. Sounds perfect, right? Well, right after I put in a $1,000 supply order for the cutting boards, I found out that my brother died. The cutting boards were arriving soon and the order needed to ship by the first week of November. I told my mom what was going on and she was incredibly understanding and happy for me. Even though I wanted to fly home and be with her to sort out the funeral details, she encouraged me to stay and work on the order because it was a huge milestone for my business. I managed to get half of the cutting boards engraved and packed before the funeral while helping to coordinate with my parents remotely. Even though I was exhausted after coming back from the funeral, I pushed myself to finish the other half of the cutting boards. All 300 boards shipped on Halloween and my clients were extremely pleased with the cutting boards. The lesson: some of the biggest accomplishments in business and in life come during our lowest moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.victoriapdesignshop.com
- Instagram: @victoriapdesignshop
- Facebook: @victoriapdesignshop
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
@WeAreWildPhotography @HannahHuntPhotography