Haychley at stellabox - my journey as a sole trader so far

Hello everyone, I’m Haychley and my small art business is stellabox.

I’m based in Norwich, Norfolk and I’ve been running stellabox since May 2019. My dream is to be able to run stellabox full time one day, but in the meantime I have a day job to help support me financially.

I have a website (here) that has a gallery of my creations on, as well as links to my Etsy shop and my printmaking blog where I hope to inspire other people to start lino printing. You can sign up to my mailing list to follow along too. I am primarily on Instagram /stellaboxdesigns but I also have a Pinterest and a Facebook account, also /stellaboxdesigns.

I love all things weird and wonderful and I want my art/creations at stellabox to be things that I would want to have in my home or give to friends. Anything to do with magic or folklore and I’m there!

I primarily make lino prints. You can follow this link here to see a step-by-step guide for how I made one particular lino print called ‘The Crow’. Lino printing is a form of printmaking that essentially involves carving a design into a linoleum block, inking it up and then either running it through a press or printing by hand using a baren or spoon. There are so many different tools and methods in lino printing and you can carve whatever you like! If you can dream it, you can carve it – the only limit is your imagination. I also have a range of digital prints and greeting cards that I’ve designed myself too. My main form of selling is via my shop on Etsy but I also participate in creative markets around Norfolk when they're available.

The Crow - a lino print by stellabox

I’m a sole trader and I’m the only person involved in stellabox (apart from support from my lovely friends and family). If I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done! Stellabox takes up pretty much all of my free time because I’m lucky enough that it’s also my hobby as well. I absolutely love what I create at stellabox, it gives me such a thrill and I wake up every morning excited to work on my business. Even when I’m walking along daydreaming, I’m thinking about stellabox and what I can create next and how to help grow my business.

Of course, there are behind the scenes things as well that aren’t so glamorous. Who knew being an artist could mean so much maths! You have to keep very detailed records as a sole trader and know everything about your finances and your product. There are times when you’ve been doing ‘admin’ for hours and you feel a bit drained but I try to remember that the highs wouldn’t feel quite so good without the lows. Maths is not my strongest subject so it’s definitely something I have to be disciplined about with myself.

I decided to start stellabox because I had lots of ideas for prints and greeting cards and other creations and I wanted to bring them to life. I have always loved art and design but spent most of my twenties working for other people in jobs that weren’t really leading anywhere and didn’t have anything to do with art. They paid the bills okay but I knew I wanted more, I wanted to create something for myself and work my socks off to achieve my goals. Who knows if I’ll ever achieve my dream of working for myself but if I don’t try, then I’ll never know how far I can take stellabox.

I don’t have any formal art qualifications and everything I learned about running my own business and printmaking and design I’ve learned from Google. I spent many hours watching other creators on Instagram and learning how they made prints and lots of time researching how to run my own business on YouTube and Google. My previous jobs working in administration have certainly helped me to keep track of my finances and stay organised for stellabox. If you want something badly enough, I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a piece of paper to tell you that you are qualified in something if you have the tenacity to seek out those skills and teach yourself.

I’ve made mistakes of course over this last year. My biggest mistake business wise would be buying stock that I later decided not to sell. I think everyone in a creative business goes through a period of figuring out who they are and what their brand is. It wasn’t massively detrimental to my business but it did effectively waste money that could’ve been spent better elsewhere.

Greeting cards by stellabox

One of my biggest keys to success in my business so far would have to be the amazing community of makers that I’ve found on Instagram. People from all over the world who become your champions and you theirs. I’m quite introvert but I’ve found pushing myself to interact with people online and having a stall at creative markets has only brought positive things to my business. I would definitely advise anyone just starting out to ‘find their people’ online or in real life and connect with them. It’s not just about sales, every like and comment and feedback you get from people helps guide and shape your business.

If I could offer you two pieces of advice for running your own business it would be these. Firstly, customer is king. I try and treat all my customers and anyone who interacts with me in a way that I’d want to be treated myself. It’s the little things and personal touches that customers notice so try and go above and beyond whenever you can. Secondly, to know your craft. Whatever sector you decide to start your business in, learn and work hard until you know your field inside out. You’ll likely never stop learning new things about running your own business but that fire in your belly to learn all you can will serve you so well. Best of luck!