I have gotten overwhelmed with paper, trying to go digital as much as I can!
I need to digitize all my kids’ paperwork (especially my daughter’s stuff) but that’s a whole different project. SO MUCH PAPER. lol UGH!
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Yeah, me too. Kids generate an absurd amount of paperwork. But I won’t give up my notebook. 
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There is so much to learn about running a business! It might take a year or two to find your sweet spot, but the journey to that is how you learn what you like to make and what you can sell well. I would highly suggest the podcast Creative Pep Talk to learn about focus and marketing your creations.
I tried out lots of different designs in jewelry, signs, etc and slowly realized if people can’t see them, they can’t find and buy them. Part of making your work easier to find is by taping into a market stream where you can make a niche of your own. For example, I stumbled on wooden puzzles with funky pieces around November 2018. Found out there is quite a bit of history there, and not a ton of competition, like making jewelry has. My niche so far is that my puzzles are hand-dyed mirror acrylics that I came up with, and I also make custom watercolor painted puzzles because I don’t have the means or interest of printing/glueing photos on wood. For you, the market stream might be childhood cancer awareness, and your niche designs might be something like a key fob that you can personalize or wholesale to agencies that sell to that community. In that case, it would be important to make connections with organizations and people in that community (like using hashtags on Instagram or Facebook groups, or even local community bulletin boards).
I chose to dive in deeply to puzzle making, and have searched out conventions and groups that are puzzle fanatics and puzzle cutters. Through making relationships with people that have been in the market for dozens of years, I have been offered a speaker spot at the next Puzzle Parley convention to share about how I use my laser to create puzzles of the acrylic and wood kind. This is one step to my seasonal quest of becoming a recognized name in the non-cardboard funky puzzle shape industry ;p
I also enjoy enabling other makers to make awesome stuff so I provide local small batch design/cutting services. As in, I meet several fellow creatives through Instagram, and have created custom name tags for a local paint-your-own business, batch acrylic ornaments to be painted/personalized, and engraved cutting boards made from local reclaimed storm downed trees.
Nearly every sale that I have had, online or face-to-face is with people that I have spoken to IRL or their friends that have been referred to me. Thus the importance of meeting people and making connections in your passion arena. Be ready to learn all of the things, because you can’t buy yourself a shortcut to learning, and lots of the online classes available can be helpful but also vague.
One tip that I recently learned is that Square offers a free online shop, not to mention the ability to send invoices that can be paid online, and a really well done app for in-person sales with a credit card phone reader that doesn’t have to have an online connection to use it (like the PayPal card reader does 
). I do have a referral code for Square, if you are interested message me:wink:
If you have any other business questions, shoot’em to me, I’m happy to share my experiences and business methods.
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