Sheena's Story: Lizzie Lou Shoes

First off, congrats to Lisa, the winner of the free GoCharmz offered as part of our last story! Many thanks to Michelle for participating in our first giveaway.

Today's story comes to us from Sheena, a mom, inventor, designer and entrepreneur based in San Antonio, Texas. Lizzie Lou Shoes have international flair, close family ties, and one-of-a-kind handmade craftsmanship built into each pair. Sheena's experience with her business brought a few financial challenges along the way, but of course not without lessons learned. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Sheena - it's important to recognize the role that risk plays in the development of a start-up.

"The Lizzie Lou Shoes concept was born in July of 2008. After a year of development, the shoes hit the market. I had a fantastic, sought-after product: comfortable, lightweight, hand-stitched flip flops - but I wasn't as prepared to run a business as I should have been. I took quite a few things for granted and have listed some of them here in the hopes of helping other entrepreneurs avoid the same mistakes I made.

Only after many months of planning and execution did I become familiar with how risk would take a part in my new business - how much money, time and total investment I was willing to risk for it. I realized that I had failed to take a number of financial variables into account during the planning process. I hadn't fully appreciated how high my start-up costs would be, or how those expenses would increase over time. We had some huge shipping delays which caused us to lose important sales, and the shipments ended up costing double the quoted price due to a customs intensive exam. This was very stressful and overwhelming for a start up company.

I also hadn't foreseen just how much trial and error would be involved and how many mistakes were inherent to the start-up process. Mistakes mean additional expenses (something else I had not planned for). Finally, I knew going into this venture that, as a full-time mother of three, time was as valuable a commodity as cash. There wasn't an excess of either one just lying around, so I had to move more slowly and cautiously than I would have liked.

It is so important to understand the risk before you start a business, so research and prepare. Estimating how much time and money you'll need to put into your business, then assuming it will take TWICE that, should help you during the start-up process and hopefully help you get through the tough spots. Don't be afraid to scale back some on your initial plans. The most important thing is to understand how much you are willing to risk."

Make sure to visit the Lizzie Lou Shoes website, Facebook, Twitter, and Blogspot to learn more about Sheena's company and get your hands (or feet, rather) on a pair of her unique flip flops!