What I know for sure: we movin

Today I got to see a 3D rendering of The Carefree Comb, and…y’all. I don’t even know what to say. I don’t think this post will be very long because I only exist as logic of butterflies, nerves, and near-tears.

It’s not yet time to share the 3D prototype with the world , but I can’t wait to do so. It almost doesn’t feel real…

2023 is starting off with a theme that I can already tell will carry me throughout the rest of this year: GO!

Where everything is now, I’m setting up a foundation to manage chaos early and create systems that make structure easy and obvious (shout out to my lil business bullet journal).

Bullet journal:

But on the other hand I value the freedom of a certain kind of chaos. I need to be able to scribble and draw and allows my thoughts to wander while inhabiting the 4 walls of an organized system. So I’ve dedicated a regularly rotation of chaos pages where I get to make disorder a part of the order of things. I think that’ll give me space to wander while being able to guide me back on the course of my personal bullet journal structure.

Systems:

As we approach launch, there are things that I know that I won’t want to bother thinking about a year from now of even 6 months from now. So I’m currently creating standing operating procedures for everything. Everything: how to identify a picture that’s a potential post candidate for the social pages; how to categorize the inbox (Inbox 0, is that you, sis??); how to label and prioritize projects, etc etc. Someone told me recently that I won’t want to teach someone how to do these things when I bring a team on board, nor will I want to expend energy trying to remember how I did something in the past. And she was absolutely right. Even the thought of these is exhausting. Since things are ramping up, but not yet fast, it makes so much sense to get all this out the way now. Future Mi is already thankful.

Financial Goals:

I did some financial projections and one thing that I plan to keep solidly near my heart is that none of this is “about” the money. What this endeavor is means to me is that I can create a good living creating products that benefit and bring joy to my community. I read and listen to a lot of media about the entrepreneurial journey, and after listening to other people’s experiences, it seems like it can be easy to get caught up in numbers and forget that the best businesses are about service. Not only that, but money itself is a tool, not a purpose. And the act of making money should be a reflection of a purpose that’s well-lived out. I have my goals; I want to make money, but I ultimately understand that Shukrah’s purpose is not to serve the dollar, but instead to be in service to my community . Like my dad says, “if you take care of your business, your business will take care of you.”

What I know for sure: It’s been a warm winter. We might be slow, but we movin.