SoSis' New Season | Sista Sista Feature 5 of 5

Thinking about SoSis' first two years in business makes us think about the different seasons of our brand's life. In the summer of 2014, we were in the season of "new" and every single thing we did was new to us. 

• Planning our first market trip to Vegas - new. 
• Developing our first e-commerce website on our own - new. 
• Creating a marketing calendar that we could stick to - new. 
• You get the idea. 

Then, we completed our season of "new" and celebrated.

We went into our second year of business with more determination to learn from some hard lessons in our first year and make smarter, more profitable decisions. We set some aggressive goals in this next season. 

• Host at least two pop-up shops per month - check (most of the time we hosted four or more). 
• Set (and stick to) a monthly budget for new inventory - check. Selling out of product seems like a great problem to have, right? This year, we've found our sweet spot with inventory management and running a lean business is something we are committed to. 
• Improve our brand by creating good, relatable content for our followers - check (this is why we try to blog and blog often). 
• Know when to separate our business from our relationship - we're still working on this one. :) 

Notice, opening a storefront was not in our original list of two-year goals. This has always been a long-term goal of ours, we just didn't think it would be so soon. But sometimes seasons change early and the weather gets cool faster than you have time to bring your winter clothes down from the attic. When the opportunity to open a storefront in Port Allen, Louisiana - Annie Claire's hometown - unfolded, we were excited to enter back into a season of "new." 

Yep - everything we've faced with our new storefront is new to us, like: 

• Writing and presenting a business plan for expansion
• Cultivating a relationship with our landlord
• Working with an architect (who is a friend) to design our new home 
• Learning that drywall finishers are extremely hard to come by after the 2016 Louisiana flood 
• Using every relationship we have for advice, expertise and encouragement
• Knowing that our family has our back (and will build anything, paint anything and just about give anything to make sure we are successful)  

THANK YOU, Sistas, for making year #2 one we will never forget! We're excited and ready to open the door to year #3 and enter into our first holiday season with a storefront.

Know that you will always be able to shop everything in our store, online. We do hope you come by for a visit, have a mimosa and admire this new season of SoSis with us.

We just can't wait. 

>>> Shop sister looks here <<<

Photos by Lacey Rabalais