Here is a brief excerpt from an article I came across this morning:

"According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20 percent of small businesses fail within their first year. By the end of their fifth year, roughly 50 percent of small businesses fail. After 10 years, the survival rate drops to approximately 35 percent." (From "Small Business Failure Rate" by Tom Sumrak on Lendingtree.com website, October 3, 2018)

Well, with those odds it's a wonder that so many people try!  When I was presented with the opportunity to start my own business just over three years ago, my decision to go forward with it basically boiled down to one fact:  The products I would be producing and selling are "tried and true", meaning that they have an excellent reputation for quality and are sought after throughout the world.  It didn't matter to me that the Seeley's products were developed for the porcelain dollmaking market, which is not exactly growing at this time.  It was also encouraging that we had started to add other customers, including "industrial" ones and individual ceramics artists who have tried many different brands and formulas of porcelain slip and concluded that they prefer working with ours.  So I told myself that if I didn't jump on the opportunity that I would probably kick myself later on down the road.  (Instead, I often tell people only half-jokingly, I'm kicking myself now for having committed to this!)

So here we are now, more than 30 months since launching our shopping website, and we are still producing fresh batches of the finest porcelain slip and china paints available and selling them all over the world.  In fact, up to this point, we have mixed more than 7,500 gallons of slip and shipped it to artists all over the USA and at least 12 other countries!  According to the statistics, there was only about a 60-40 chance that we would have made it this long!  Add to those usual statistics the fact that we are an exporter and a manufacturing company in the USA, and it would seem the odds are really stacked against us.

I must admit there have been a few moments when I've seriously wondered whether we could continue on.  But I have stayed committed to this, working hard despite challenges and setbacks, and I've drawn strength from my faith in God.  And along the way there have been some good signs for a solid future, including material support from an "investment angel," more and more repeat business as well as a steady stream of new customers, and a recent uptick in large porcelain slip orders shipping outside of the USA (to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Germany and Norway).

Excellent products, hard work, and more good breaks than bad ones have made this enterprise a positive experience overall.  But the biggest cause for celebration now and always is YOU, our customers -- you who have either stuck closely with us or come back to us.  Many of you have told us how excited you are that the products you love to use for your creative work are still available.  (By the way, it was our pleasure as usual to see many of you, as well as the beautiful creations you make with our products, face to face a couple of weeks ago at the Doll Artisan Guild convention in Annapolis, Maryland -- see some photos from the salesroom below.)  

So I want to sincerely thank all of our customers, whether you make dolls or other works of art, and regardless of which nation or continent you inhabit.  We know that it is because of you that we are celebrating today and looking towards the future with hope for many more years of business.