Running a small business sounds so charming, right? Pretty shells, happy customers, sunny days… until the tech gremlins show up.

It started with a lovely email from Postmaster telling me my BigCommerce messages weren’t going through. Three days later — and 3–4 hours a day of trying to fix it — I called BigCommerce. Their answer? “You need a new email.”

Easy enough… ha! Famous last words.

I bought not one, but two new email addresses — support@shellshawaii.com (so you can contact me) and orders@shellshawaii.com (so your order confirmations look fancy).

And just when I thought I was on the home stretch… Microsoft 365 decided to throw me a curveball: “You need to update your DNS.”

DNS? What in the world is DNS? And more importantly — how?
So I sat there trying… and trying… and trying… for 4–5 hours. Nothing worked. In the end, I had to wave the white flag and call my web designer for help.

And then… Microsoft 365 said, “Activate your email.” That sounds simple until you realize it’s code for:

• Download our app.

• Scan a barcode.

• Try logging in 17 different ways.

• Enter the magic code from your phone.

• Watch it fail four times.

• Cheer when it finally works on the fifth try.

Then repeat everything for the second email. Then change all the settings in BigCommerce. Oh, and don’t forget to breathe.

✨But wait — the fun continues!✨

A lovely customer from Japan placed an Etsy order, then asked to cancel so she could order from my website. Great — I hit “Refund” and… nothing happened. Tried again… still nothing.

Then Etsy’s control panel told me:

• Order total: $779.52

• Refunded: $6,236.16 (Um, excuse me?!)

• Adjusted total: $5,456.64

I nearly fell off my chair.

Contact Etsy support? Sure… if you like talking to robots. Finally found a real person who told me to call my credit card company. Turns out all those “attempts” blocked my card completely. Now I’m waiting 5 business days for a new one.

Meanwhile, my Japanese customer’s payment kept getting declined on my website. So, I called the credit card processing company and said, “She’s my long-time customer — make this work!”

So yes… running a business is basically solving one problem at a time, moving on to the next, and laughing so you don’t cry. 

Because there’s always something you didn’t expect — that’s just business life. One minute you’re stringing shells, the next you’re wrestling with emails, refunds, and card processors. The only way forward is to take care of each problem step by step, keep your humor, and maybe pour yourself that extra cup of coffee (or two) while reminding yourself… tomorrow is another adventure. ☕LOL

Janjria!