When the Cricut Hits the Fan: The Not-So-Glossy Side of Small Biz Life

Sometimes being a small business owner isn't all rainbows and butterflies, especially when your Cricut decides to go completely rogue. This week? A total write-off. Everything that could go wrong, did.

It started with a brand-new roll of vinyl getting completely wasted thanks to a dodgy cut setting. Then came the failed designs, hours of tweaking, testing, and tweaking again, only for the end result to look nothing like what I had in mind. By day three, I’d binned more product than I care to admit and seriously questioned whether my transfer tape was cursed.

People see the cute stickers, personalised labels, and carefully packaged parcels, but they don’t always see the behind-the-scenes chaos. The wasted vinyl, the misaligned cuts, the piles of scrap that used to be promising designs. It’s not always pretty, but it is part of the process.

Still, despite the mess and frustration, I keep going. Because when it works, when a design comes out just right, it reminds me why I started this in the first place.

So if you're out there, covered in weeding scraps, glaring at your machine, and wondering if it's all worth it, you’re not alone. Take a breath, re-stick your mat, and try again tomorrow. You've got this.