Stay open or close up shop?

I would like to anon. ask some questions about running businesses inworld.

I opened up shop, bought out a niche group for networking purposes, and put out what I had the talent and time to produce.

Soon, very soon, I got tired of these products, and felt they weren't nearly as good as what I could have done. I began running store related events, and while business was "good", I was not happy.

Back in July, I decided to take all of my wares down with the exception of what I let others vend in my store for free, no rent to them. I even took myself out of Search. However, I kept getting requests to make things and people kept pouring into my store, although the greeter said it was closed and there was obviously not much there to see.

During the month of August I developed new ideas for a new line using sculpts. I was wagering that they would take my designs to a new level...but the results have been disappointing. I have not released them to the public and people often ask me when they are coming out I have several other ventures in SL that have taken me away from it.

Now it's September. The group still exists, the store still gets visitors, but all motivation has left me to complete my vision. I don't have the finances to hire anyone. I wouldn't dream of selling full permissions either. I don't really have the time either.

I have the freedom to leave the half empty store floating around, until or if, I get my mojo working again. I just feel like a paranoid freak wondering who is thinking what about the fact that I poured so much into it to just walk away. I know I shouldn't care who thinks what...It's obvious that i'm burned out..to those around me...I don't even care about making money...it's just not that fun to me anymore.

Would you pack it all up? Am I shooting myself in the foot if I decide to come back? Am I inviting someone to take over my businesses name by doing so? Do I owe anyone an explanation? Do I just walk away, proud of what i've done in the past and leave it at that?
Renting btw, space to others is NOT AN OPTION.

Essentially, it is YOUR business and YOUR decision. You can do whatever you want with it, and whatever you feel like. If you think packing up and going is best for you, then do it. If you think selling it is best for you, then do it. If you think leaving it half finished in case you get back to your former self is best for you, then do that.

Businesses in RL rarely give explanations why they close up a shop or buy up another or move to a different location. So I don't think you owe anyone an explanation, except yourself maybe.

Not in it for the money... can afford to leave the shop "floating around"... and you feel creatively drained. From what you describe, you are in it for "fun", not profit. And possibly as a conduit to creativity. Self satisfaction.

Given what you say, you should let if float around for a couple of months. Just let people know you're on "hiatus", and go do something else. Don't even think about it. After a couple months, re-evaluate. Could it be fun again? Do you feel inspired to try again? If the answer is "yes", then go for it. If it's still "no", then that's a good time to walk away.

As you say, you don't want to regret walking now, at a later date.

My $2L

Love.

Take a break. If you have the means to leave the store as is, do so. Give yourself the time to do what you need to do. If you feel you may come back to it one day, there would be no sense it tearing it all down. Even if you never made another new thing in your life, you can be sure to every new resident that comes and discovers your works, buys them, and enjoys them, that they appreciate what you have done. Constantly creating new things is not a requirement. I know personally that the pressure is always there. Sometimes you have to push that aside and take the time for yourself. The customers will always be there, when and if you find your 'Mojo' has returned. Now if I could only take my own advice...

I wish you well.

From the tone of your post, it sounds like you'd very much like to simply forget about it for a while. If your products do not require continuing support, why not shut down and completely regroup? You could inform your group and other customers in a Notice that you:

-- appreciate their business and interest
-- are burned out
-- may be back someday, so if they have space please retain membership in your group
-- will be closing the shop on such-and-so-date

It is easy to get/rent land again and re-open, so long as you keep everything cleanly sorted in inventory. Just be nice, people will remember you well.

Sounds to me like it isn't worth it to you to continue, and that you already have mostly closed the store. No reason you can't close it now, and some time later, if you get an inspired idea for new products, open a new store that sells different stuff.

My own stores wax and wane. I've had at least 1 or 2 stores open ever since I first started making t-shirts, way back when I started SL. I've had as many as 7 locations at once, and as few as one. I'm down to two right now, that I've kept open mostly for nostalgia's sake. They were what got me started, and they make enough on average to cover the costs of running them, but that is about it. The time and effort it would take me to create a new line of dresses or furniture I could just as easily spend making textures or doing sim building for clients, and both of the latter pay far better for me than my clothes or furnishings do.

And yet...

Every once in a while I get an itch to make something I could sell in a store. I have a new product I am developing right now, that I expect will sell well. So I'll keep those stores a little longer, and will likely replace a fashion vendor with one selling the new items, to test the waters. If they sell, maybe open new stores that specialize in the new line.

Who knows? Any creative endeavor requires patience to get through the occasional doldroms. No one is 100% inspired all the time.

Take a break, take time to play and find your muse, Then get back into retail when it suits you.

I'm getting a lot out of your replies, they have been refreshingly insightfull and kind

The beauty of my group is that it's not another product release group, it's actually more of a community, so those that are in it tend to stay.

I worry that the people whom I allow free vending there will be disappointed in me if I choose not to return, as that affects their products, but then again, they never visit, they don't pay a cent, and if they make a profit off of it again in the future- it's all "gravy".

I think somehow I painted myself into a corner... I can't just toss out new things that don't jive with my wares, it's a strictly themed shop. What i am considering now is just going to something like on-rez or slex, so that i don't have to impress anyone with a "line" or find customers based solely on theme.

Thanks again for all the advice

Take a break, maybe some time off? Sometimes folks get burned out... you have lots of great ideas but the drive isn't there any more. I've felt that way several times, not just SL but any hobby, interest, endeavor. While you don't 'owe' anyone an explanation or the likes, it would show some goodwill or good intentions to hang a sign (or put a note in your profile) that simply says you're taking some time off. That way if people are wondering where you are, they'll at least know you are having a bit of a rest.

Unfinished projects will still be there when you return (trust me!). I know where you're coming from about not wanting to release something that's incomplete or not up to your level of standards. I've got a folder in my inventory of unfinished projects, and those are the ones that still have hope. I have more half-done inventions stored in a backup prim, those are the ones that are probably hopeless. And finally, I've deleted a handful completely, because I realized that they were simply not feasable -or- I accepted that I'd totally lost interest in them and was ready to move on.

When/if you get the drive again, you can always return and hopefully the fun will be there when you create stuff. After all - if it's not fun, it's work, and from your post, I get the feeling you aren't here to work. I know I'm not!

Good luck, take care, and I hope the magic comes back quickly for you!

-Atashi

Inspiration and innovation do not occur on a schedule.

The more you beat your head against something the less you will accomplish, the less you will enjoy it, and the more likely you are to pursue something, ANYTHING else.

Take a break. If your store is operating at an acceptable loss, let it continue for a little while Go do something radically different and then come back later, refreshed and invigorated to knock out some new things.

If your store is operating at an unacceptable loss and you're stressing about it, then cash out and move on. Hanging on in this case would only continue to stress, worry and annoy you as each month of additional losses piles up.

The problem of course, is determining what is an 'acceptable loss' is to you.

I'm with the "take a break" posts. I had to take 3 months off this summer from creating just because I was so brain dead. I was worried that it would never come back, then I stopped worrying, and had fun PLAYING in SL for a change! And guess what? Last week, I got totally inspired. I enjoy doing it again.

Re: changing your theme; who cares? It's YOUR store and YOUR dream. Mix and match, set up a little side department, whatever. Whoever judges you and thinks you're weird for shifting around just needs to chill out.

Me too =) (though I don't really count kibbutzing on the forums as being in SecondLife.)

Either take a break from creating. Or do what i did; Take a break from 'creating to sell'.
Just create, without trying to make something that is purposefully made to put in a shop.

So go wild, and try stuff you never tried before, make art objects or just build stuff that comes to you from talking to friends. (I often just create simple items -during- socializing, It's an annoying habit where I suddenly move out of the conversation and start making what we were talking about. )
Learn some new skills, try out stuff. Don't worry about being able to sell, fill a portfolio, or mess with sales pictures, boxing and all the stuff that turns the actual creative process into a drag.

Don't worry about the shop being a shop either. Just see it as a place to 'put stuff out'. Either yours, others or etc. Maybe put something fun out there while you're 'taking a break from business'. (I for instance put out a bumper car track & arena in a part of my sim, just for the fun of it.)

Most importantly. SL often becomes a drag, because it simply IS a drag. The endless focus on sales, selling, packaging, permissions, customer service, products, advertising etc. will drag anybody down after a while. So stop doing the drag thing for a while, and do the fun thing instead.

Oh, one more thing. As you haven't figured it out from the other posts yet. There's not a single creator/seller i know in SL who -hasn't- gone through the thing you're going through. It's apparently some kind of phase everybody has to go through once in a while. I think i've been through if over half a dozen times already since I started SL.

Highly creative and sensitive people go through this all the time. One thing you might try is to create a non human alt and just wander around SL for awhile anonymously. Be a dragon, a robot, a furry or a Tiny. Or even a Siren (now that's beautiful Avatar).

Before you go, slump to the ground before the people you are being so generous towards and get them to help you! Tell them you are burnt out and they can help you get what you need..
And then go play...we get so focused on what we are building, we forget to see what other people are doing..

The Registron by Max Case is great for this. It is a hud and it takes you on random jumps throughout the grid. Its free!

And if you become a dragon, go hang out with the new folk..they love seeing dragons..maybe you can help some poor soul get the box off their head.

Good luck and don't give up your store or projects until after you've taken a break, burnt out people need to get unburnt out before making decisions.

Hmmm.. It must be summer that does that too. I did the exact same thing. My business is not the most exciting there is anyway. I create doors, and around June all inspiration just faded away.

I kept the store going and worked on ideas and played with other products that I had done months before. I tried clothes, buildings, artwork, and even have a partly built spaceship in the workshop now. Then suddenly while watching an old black and white move I saw a door that inspired me to atempt to duplicate it and now I am back to releasing one or two items a week.

I would say keep the shop running. Work on other ideas in parallel, and eventually the muse will get back from vacation. I now have over 1,300 doors in my shop, and added a line of yard ligts and cabinetry that I had toyed with while 'on vacation'.

So many inspired and honest replies here, i have nothing to add.. they say it all, its great to be connected to such folks..

I'm also suffering from "designer's block" right now. Happens on a regular basis. I'm creative for a week or 2, sometimes for a month in a row, and then I badly need a time-out. Not for a lack of ideas, I simply lack the energy to do more than customer support during those uncreative phases.

Often the reason is that things don't turn out as expected. Sculpties set me back too. Some turned out pretty nice, especially my first tries. Needs a bit of luck I guess; hard to predict the outcome with sculpties. My last sculpt prim project looked crappy, days of work for nothing; perhaps that's why I temporarily lost the will to work.

Well, trust me, someday you'll have a new idea, get into a working frenzy and create something you're completely satisfied with. I noticed that it only happens when I'm really excited about a new project. Keep your store until then, or you'll kick yourself when you get your mojo back.

I'm just recently back from 3-4 months "away from myself"

And SL is more fun than ever!

There's enough re-learning after this much time away that minor UI changes are more easily adopted, instead of frustrating inconveniences.

All the projects that I was stuck on are wide open with possibilities again... (I've already upgraded about 1/3rd of The Particle Laboratory with snifty new exhibits and demos, with more on the way!)...

The only depressing part about returning is discovering that the word 'Community' is a synonym for: "Endless Poisonous Drama" ... so much like the RL drama that I come here to get away from. (perhaps next year's burning life will go more smoothly, if the problems this year don't end the tradition)

Anyway, aside from that, it's all good. Voice if fun, though I rarely use it. Particle fixes have clearly been applied in my absense that have made a very noticible improvement in quantity, (and introduced two new particle bugs - oh well, nothing is free )