Last week, I had a phone conversation with my mom, and she asked what I’ve been up to recently. I mentioned I was working with scrap fabrics, planning to create small items like scrunchies, earrings, pouches, and bags to sell and support myself, especially since my clothing label hadn’t done well.
She hesitated, then quietly suggested, “Why not buy viral products to resell? It might save you from the hard work of making things that might not sell well, leaving you with unsold items at home.”
Optimistically, I quickly reassured her, ‘They’ll definitely sell, don’t worry!’ (Well, she was right. They didn’t sell.) After we hung up, I sighed, wondering what I was really doing.
Lately, I’ve been contemplating quite a bit. To be honest, taking the easier route does seem tempting. For example, I could spend some money, hire someone to draft, sew, and batch-make the products. I could just focus solely on the marketing. But instead, I’ve ended up spending countless months experimenting. However, dedicating time and effort to experimentation doesn’t always guarantee the outcome. At times, it’s quite disheartening.
I can’t help but wonder, am I overly focused on doing things the way I want without considering the market? Is this about persistence or just simply stubbornness?
It’s been over a year, and things haven’t seemed to align with the path I envisioned. I can only reassure myself:
“It’s just another middle-aged gap year.”
上週和我媽通了電話，她問最近在忙些什麼。
我提到我的『碎布計劃』——利用剪裁中剩餘的布料製作一些小物品，像是髮圈、耳環和包包。
特別是當我的服裝品牌表現不佳時，更需要其他辦法支撐起自己。
她稍微猶豫了一下，然後悄聲建議：
“這不一定能賣出去。為什麼不買一些熱門產品來轉售呢？”
我樂觀地安慰她：
“肯定會賣的，別擔心！”
（嗯，她是對的。它們沒有賣出去。）
掛斷電話後，我歎了口氣。
我到底在幹什麼呢？
最近，我一直在思考。
老實說，採取更輕鬆簡單的路線似乎很有吸引力。
明明可以花錢讓人來打版、縫製和小批量製作。
我只需專注營銷。
但相反地，我卻花了很多時間來進行實驗。
然而，投入的時間和精力不一定保證同等的結果。
有時候難免沮喪。
我是不是過於專注於按照自己的方式做事，而不考慮市場和現實？
這到底是在堅持還是純粹固執？
來台已經一年多了，事情似乎還沒有按照所預期的發展。
而我也只能安慰自己：
“就當作是中年版的Gap Year吧！”