Profile: Design*Sponge

Reader, I am coming home. I’m somewhere in the air right now, winging my way back with tired little family in tow. I will have many things to share with you on Monday! Meanwhile, instead of Friday links, I am really happy to present one more Startup Story to close out the week.

I think Grace Bonney hardly needs an introduction if you are reading this blog, but just in case – Grace started Design*Sponge many years ago to chronicle her love of design and to champion small creative businesses. What you may not remember is that she also ran an online shop for a while, to directly link designers and products with her readers. I thought it would be interesting to have Grace talk about that business here, even though she has moved on to bigger and better things (like writing a book and touring in support of it very soon!) Have a great Labor Day weekend (if you are in the States) and thanks for sharing your story, Grace!

Photo by Lisa Warninger, urbanweedsblog.com

I never intended for Design*Sponge to be a business, so I think I really benefitted from letting it grow organically and never putting too much pressure on it to produce financially. The site was always supposed to be about my love for the design world and all of its makers, so I figured, as the site grew, if I expanded and invested in the site any further it would have to continue to serve the original goal.

Unexpected Challenges

Well, I learned a lot from the D*S Shop. Editorially and sales-wise, it was a great success. I was thrilled that I was able to have some of my favorite designers (a different set every month) create limited-edition handmade work every month that sold out almost right away. I gave 90% of the money to the artists and the other 10% to charity. Sounds nice, right? I was really hell-bent on not making any money myself, I just wanted to provide this platform and not profit off it. That might have been fine had I not forgotten to take sales tax, income tax and customer service into account.

It also taught me that I really hate customer service. Arguing with people about how handmade ceramics are one of a kind and won’t be EXACTLY like the picture really got draining. So I walked away learning what my strengths and weaknesses really were.

Tips for Those Starting Out

I always live by “measure twice, cut once”. Write a business plan, hire an accountant and consult a lawyer before making big decisions. Going over the numbers and details before you take a big leap is always, always worth the time. If I had just been a little bit less hasty and eager to jump into projects feet-first I could have saved myself a lot of time, money and headaches. But sometimes passion kicks in and it’s hard to overcome that desire to just DO IT NOW. These days I force myself to tell at least one person (usually my managing editor, Amy) and see what their response is. If they hesitate, it usually helps me cool my jets and put my business hat back on and think about the reality of an idea.