To say ‘running a small business is hard’ is an understatement. We put so much of ourselves into making our business the best it can be, and inevitably, we make some mistakes along the way.
They’re usually not as earth-shattering as we think, and even when it feels dire, we learn from those stumbles and figure out how to do better next time.
Still, I’d like to help you avoid a few of those early mistakes, by sharing a few things I wish I’d known during Upswept Creative’s first year of business:
1) Your Small Business is Not For Everyone.
I’ve asked a lot of business owners who they think their offering is for, and they’ll often say, “oh, I think everyone could benefit from this!” They’ll rattle off several audiences or reasons why, and sure, it all sounds reasonable.
And yet, that’s often where new businesses start to lose their way: even if “everyone” could conceivably benefit from what you offer, it’s not really FOR everyone!
Don’t believe me? Consider this: your offer is not for people who aren’t ready to make the change you’ll bring them. (not everyone is!)
It’s not for people who will have you losing sleep, because they don’t respect the boundaries you’ve set around your work.
And it’s definitely not for people who aren’t willing to pay what you’re worth.
If you want to dodge this mistake, start thinking about who’s READY for you. Who has the right mindset? Who has the resources? Who is ready to put their money where their mouth is and invest in your services?
Then, start zooming in on what those folks have in common. You’ll likely find that it’s far easier to sell your work!
2) Don’t Go All-In on Social Media.
This is maybe a funny thing for me to be saying–I literally offer social media services, after all. And don’t get me wrong: social media can be a valuable investment!… as long as you’re ready for it.
What often happens, however, is that a lot of scrappy entrepreneurs start from zero, thinking that social media will be the magic bullet that gets everyone buying.
I was no exception! But then, reality hit me: success through organic social calls for a LOT of consistent effort, put in over time. When I was in that early stage of business, I didn’t really have the time or money to throw at social, so my feeds were inconsistent–and inconsistency is often the thing that kills your visibility on social.
I couldn’t patiently wait for the return on my organic social media efforts, either. Newer businesses usually need a faster return on a smaller investment, and that’s often an investment of time. When you need to book new clients fast, dusting off your Instagram account after several months of ignoring it won’t do the job.
The fact is, as a brand-new business, I’d have been better off focusing on networking, partnerships, or email marketing to build my foundation–and so will you. Then, you can move onto social media to widen that circle once you’re well-established.
3) Only Sell the Work You Want to Do.
In that first year as a solo entrepreneur, I needed to get paid! That led to me taking on a downright unhinged variety of projects:
- I designed posters and flyers.
- I dug into hand-coded HTML web pages. (a more common occurrence 13 years ago than it is nowadays!)
- I worked with all kinds of folks, from tiny budgets to big needs.
- I took product and real estate photos.
Here’s the thing: I knew the online space is where I really shine. I knew I wanted to work in WordPress. I knew that in my heart, but for some reason, I slapped all of those other services up onto my website anyway, because I knew I could get paid for them.
Basically, anything in the design and marketing realm that I thought I could do reasonably well was fair game… but so many of them WEREN’T things I wanted to do all the time! They were merely paychecks.
There are two HUGE reasons why you should only actively sell the work you really want to be doing in your business:
- it’s much easier to market and get really good at two services than 20!
- There will be times when no amount of money is worth doing something you don’t want to do.
Note that this does not mean that you can’t accept other work, if you need to! If you’re feeling the baby business blues and are strapped for cash, it might bring you more peace in the short-term to take those less-than-ideal projects. But, if you don’t enjoy doing those projects, don’t actively sell them.
How did my small business fare in the end?
Well, I’m writing this blog post, so clearly, I made it through the ups and downs. I definitely learned some things the hard way (oops), but now I have a team, and have focused down into websites, social media, and email marketing. It’s 13 years later, and my workdays are much simpler, money comes more easily, and I’m working on projects that I’m actually excited about!
Hopefully, you’re well on your way to a business that lasts 10 years, 20 years, or more! (?!) But if you’re over those early humps and feeling growing pains, jump onto our weekly email series, Social Media Snack Break, to get some help delivered straight to your inbox.
