Running a small business means riding a constant wave of momentum, doubt, excitement, and fear.
Some days everything clicks — every pin feels like a win, every update flows, and the momentum is loud enough to drown out every insecurity.
And then there are days when one quiet thought sneaks in and makes itself at home:
“Are you even getting anywhere?”
“Is all of this effort actually leading to something?”
“What if none of this works?”
Self-doubt is sneaky like that.
It doesn’t burst in — it tiptoes, sits quietly at the edge of your plans, and waits for you to notice it.
And yesterday… I noticed it.
✨ The Moment It Hit Me
Last night, lying in bed with my thoughts running everywhere except the peaceful places, that familiar whisper showed up again:
“You’re barely making any Shopify sales.”
Not shouted — whispered.
Just loud enough to sting.
I let it sit there for a minute.
Let it poke at me.
Let it do whatever it wanted.
And then I finally asked myself a question I don’t ask nearly enough:
“But am I further now than I was 30 days ago?”
✨ The Receipts I Forgot I Had
Immediately — immediately — all the progress I’d brushed aside came rushing back:
• Faire wasn’t even active 30 days ago → now I’ve had two orders.
• International shipping wasn’t an option → now I’m approved for the UK.
• My Substack didn’t exist → now I’ve already published stories.
• Pinterest was barely alive → now it’s pushing my content out like crazy.
And suddenly I realized:
I wasn’t stuck.
I wasn’t failing.
I wasn’t going backwards.
I was just standing too close to the progress to see it.
✨ Standing Too Close to the Growth
Most people don’t quit because they aren’t growing.
They quit because they’re measuring the wrong things.
We stare at the daily numbers — the quiet days, the tiny stats, the “nothing moved today” moments — and we convince ourselves we’re failing.
But growth rarely looks loud when you’re standing right on top of it.
A plant doesn’t look like it’s growing if you stare every hour.
But check again next month?
Suddenly it’s taller.
Businesses work the same way.
Pinterest impressions rising…
People finding my Substack from unexpected places…
Wholesale orders starting to trickle in…
Doors opening I didn’t even know were there…
Those things matter.
Those things are progress.
Those things count more than the single day where nothing happened.
✨ Quiet Growth Is Still Growth
Self-doubt loves to shine a spotlight on the one thing you haven’t done yet —
not the dozens of things you already have.
But last night, I realized something important:
I wasn’t failing.
I was growing quietly.
And quietly doesn’t mean slowly, or insignificantly, or “not enough.”
It simply means the seeds have been planted,
and the roots are doing their work beneath the surface.
✨ What I’m Choosing Moving Forward
I’m done letting one quiet day undo weeks of effort.
I’m done pretending nothing is happening just because it isn’t loud enough for me to hear it.
Because the truth is:
I am getting somewhere.
My business is moving.
Things are shifting.
I’m choosing to measure my growth in:
• the systems I’ve built
• the platforms I’ve expanded onto
• the traffic that’s starting to roll in
• the consistency I’ve shown
• the skills I’ve learned
• the doors that are opening
• the proof stacking quietly in the background
And most importantly:
I’m choosing to trust the version of me who keeps showing up —
the version building this business one pin, one post, one step at a time.
✨ If You Needed This Too…
If you’ve felt that quiet tug of doubt…
if you’ve wondered whether you’re making progress at all…
if you’ve stared at the numbers and tried to convince yourself it isn’t working…
Zoom out, just for a moment.
Look at your last month.
Look at the small wins you brushed off.
Look at the ways you kept going even when nothing seemed to move.
That’s growth.
That’s progress.
That’s proof you’re not standing still.
You might not be where you want to be yet…
but you’re definitely not where you used to be.
And that matters more than you think.
💛 Thanks for reading
If this resonated with you, I share more stories like this over on my Substack — gentle reminders, cozy reflections, and honest behind-the-scenes moments from my small business journey.
You can join me here:
👉 happythingscorner.substack.com