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Last year, Joshua Lucas began to worry about losing everything he had worked so hard to earn.
After speculation about a TikTok ban began to escalate following CEO Shou Zi Chew’s appearance in Congress, millennials went up on the platform He credits the success of his business to sharing his fears with his more than 50,000 followers.
In March 2023, he said, “I’m being serious. I’m kind of scared of losing everyone, of losing my community.”
Lucas said he worked full time as the owner. crystal pacifica, a near-exclusive online seller of various types of gemstones, crystals, and minerals. He and his wife started the business in 2019, but Lucas told Business Insider it didn’t take off until he joined TikTok in the spring of 2021. Since then, his earnings have grown from less than $30,000 in 2020 to more than $700,000 in 2020. 2022, according to documents seen by BI. Lucas said pre-tax profits, after operating expenses and labor costs, were between $80,000 and $100,000.
The website’s sales soared in the month he joined TikTok, according to graphs seen by BI. The Oregon native estimates that more than 90% of his customers found his business. tick tock Because he didn’t spend “a penny” on marketing elsewhere.He said the majority of sales occurred on weekly live sales shows. On TikTok. He said he usually works “from 10 a.m. until about 2 or 3 a.m.” and that he worked that day with “moderate breaks,” but the long hours were worth it.
“None of us would be where we are today without TikTok,” he said, noting that his wife and three of her employees quit their jobs to work on the business and are helping out part-time. .
but, Possibility of an impending banall of this can fall apart.
On March 13, the House passed a bill that could effectively ban TikTok if passed by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden. The law does not completely ban the app in the United States. Instead, it will give companies owned by “foreign adversaries” 180 days to sell to continue operating or sell to a U.S.-based company, BI’s Madison said.・Mr. Hall reported.
Lawmakers say TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance will give the Chinese government access to U.S. user data and pressure TikTok to show or restrict certain content to U.S. users for its own benefit. They have expressed concern that this may be the case. A forced sale or spin-off would help separate the company from Chinese government interests and alleviate national security concerns, but the app and its users could continue with business as usual. A complete ban would be bad news for TikTok’s more than 100 million U.S. users. millions of businessmany of them small storethe company says it will use the platform to reach customers.
Mr Lucas said last year that if the ban were triggered it would be “very scary” for the company.
“I’m scared of losing my team, my dreams, and the financial security I’ve built doing what I love,” he said.
His biggest concern was not knowing where to focus and reach his customers. For example, it did not have a large following on other social media platforms such as Instagram. 5,000 followers.
Lucas said he believes small businesses need to “pay to be successful” on these platforms, even if some of their customers follow them on Facebook and Instagram. That means you may have to spend a lot of money on advertising to increase sales. Last year, Meta started offering paid verification subscriptions that allow users to grow their audience.
Lucas said TikTok is the best platform “for small businesses to thrive,” but it feels Other business owners will share as well — Many entrepreneurs have also found success through Facebook and Instagram, so it’s unclear how much of an advantage it actually provides.
“This has been a dream of ours for many years.”
Joshua Lucas attends jewelry show in Tucson, Arizona
joshua lucas
Before the business took off, Lucas worked as a full-time wedding photographer for several years. But when the wedding industry plummeted in 2020 due to the pandemic, he said he began actively considering leaving the profession due to “financial instability.” He says joining TikTok in 2021 was a “pivotal moment” that allowed him to officially “retire” from photography last summer.
Lucas was initially hesitant to download TikTok because he thought it was just a bunch of kids dancing, but it took just two months for him to realize it was a great decision. That’s what it means. Multiple videos of him mining.”rock hound,” and “rolling stone“It has racked up hundreds of thousands of views, including one Over 1 million.
After gaining over 15,000 followers on TikTok in just three weeks, she decided to set up a camera light and two tables in her kitchen and give live selling a try. We started that in May 2021.
“From 1 p.m. until midnight and sometimes even later, we stayed up laughing, talking, selling and educating customers about all kinds of stones,” he said. “It has always been our dream to run a business with passion and make people happy.”
Lucas said he hopes members of Congress understand how important TikTok is to so many people.
“Our representatives have no qualms about giving up everything in our lives,” he said last year. “I don’t feel represented and neither do anyone in our community, especially those whose livelihoods are at risk. I’m really worried about the future of my team, who rely on full benefits.”
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in April 2023.
Are you a business owner worried about a TikTok ban and want to share your story? If so, contact this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.