Tips & Talk 110 – 32 Questions

Hi there,

it's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk

Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions

and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small

business. If you'd like to submit a topic,

DM e over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped.

We've covered so many facets of a handmade product business over

the course of the years,

and today is no exception.

We've talked about how to start and grow your business stories

from many of you who have done just that.

How to choose and use social media sites,

build your website.

Oh my gosh,

there is just so much information here for you,

but not necessarily at your fingertips.

So I've made a tool for you that categorizes by topic

the episodes of this podcast,

but only the ones that stay relevant over time because yes,

let's face it,

there are past shows that just don't work anymore for us

today. The world is changing so fast,

right? You can use this tool to zero in on whatever

topic you need at the moment.

Do you wanna hear from others in your specific industry?

How about details on Pinterest or setting up an email strategy?

You can now easily find the right episodes and create your

priority listening roster.

Consider this your Gift Biz resource center at a glance.

It's a Google Sheet best viewable on your computer versus your

phone. Make sure to look on the bottom where there are

five separate sections for easy topic reference,

kind of like chapters of a book.

It makes finding the shows to help you with what you're

working on right now.

So much easier.

To access this free resource,

go to gift biz unwrapped.com/topics

X. I've heard it said that the answers you seek in

life are only as good as the questions you ask because

so much goes on in our heads.

Sometimes our thoughts are trying to answer the wrong questions,

or you get in a brain spin and ideas go round

and round randomly without even attempting to answer a specific question

to make some sense of this random thought behavior.

I decided to put together sets of questions to ask that

will help reflect on your handmade product business journey.

Some won't apply to you at all,

some you've easily got covered and some may poke at you

and perhaps make you uneasy.

Each year I pick a focus word to help guide my

actions for the next 12 months.

You may have heard this strategy before.

I've personally found it very useful in the past.

Some of my words have been growth,

personal development,

and visibility.

This year,

my word is reflection.

It's what led me to this question list,

and I've already run through this exercise of answering these questions

for myself too.

It's a way to keep my life in alignment with what

I want to see,

where there are areas that could use revisions or changes,

and it definitely underscored my word of the year reflection,

so I thought I'd share it with you.

The best way to work through this is to listen to

the entire podcast first.

Then go back and write down the questions that resonate with

you the most,

or the ones that you know deserve some time to ponder.

Believe me,

the answers don't always come easy.

I've broken this into six different sections.

These questions aren't meant to get to the nitty gritty of

running your business.

We've been doing that in every single one of these podcast

episodes. Some of the questions are meant for you to look

at overriding feelings and thinking that are going on for you

right now.

It's meant to identify things that are worth considering to help

you move forward or enlighten you on what's holding you back.

These six sections include overall business,

product creation and development growth,

the day-to-day personal enrichment,

and the future.

All I'm gonna do here is read these questions without adding

in my own 2 cents,

because I want you to extrapolate from each question the angle

that's relevant for you.

I've also left it in the first person just as I

had created them for me,

so they feel personal as if you're asking them to yourself.

Ready? Here we go.

Section one,

overall business.

What exactly is my dream and has it changed over time?

How does my business fit into my life overall?

Am I committed to the real work required to realize this

dream? What am I afraid of?

Why haven't I done this yet?

Section two,

product creation and development.

Who is my product for?

What does my product offer a customer?

Does this result matter deep down?

Am I proud of my creations and what they provide?

Section three growth.

What is the one thing I should be focusing on now?

Am I showing up consistently where it matters?

Do I present my authentic self or do I show up

how I think others want to see me?

How do I know if it's working?

Is growing bigger worth it?

Section four,

the day-to-day.

Do I get excited most days to work on and in

the business?

Is my workspace comfortable,

organized and motivating?

Do I need to get some help?

Do I have an organized method for prioritizing all the tasks?

Am I often trying to save a buck versus finding a

smoother and faster way?

Are there things I can stop doing to save time?

Am I documenting how I do repetitive tasks so I don't

need to reinvent the wheel each time?

Section five,

personal enrichment.

What do I do to get away and refresh?

Am I celebrating the small wins?

What am I doing for continual learning and improvement?

What one thing can I add to my routine to keep

me healthy?

Sleep, drinking more water,

meditate. Do I check in with myself regularly to make sure

all is well and six,

the future?

Is my product still relevant in today's world?

Do I still get joy and satisfaction from what I've built?

Do I stay at it because I've invested so much already?

How can I switch things up to make it fresh and

exciting again?

Has this journey run its course?

What new things await me if I let this go?

Okay, your turn.

Now, if the time is right or block out specific time

in your calendar to do this,

make yourself comfortable.

Pour your favorite beverage and settle in for 30 minutes or

so. Even better.

Get out of your regular environment and go to the local

coffee shop.

I often find putting myself in a different place helps generate

free flow thinking with pen and paper in hand.

Re-listen to these questions and write down the ones that apply

to you.

Once you've got your list of questions,

think about and answer them.

Take your time,

be honest with yourself and journal your answers if that works

for you.

When you've finished answering the questions,

you're not done.

If you've found that there are actions to take,

you wanna make sure it happens.

Designate space in your calendar to create a plan and then

follow through with it.

Remember, intentions are great,

but actions bring results.

And finally,

there may be some questions that require more time.

I know that happened for me.

A few of the deeper questions may take days or months

to ponder.

That's okay.

It can be really difficult to get out of a routine

that you've been doing for years that no longer serves you.

The point with this entire exercise is to make sure you're

on track with the path you wanna take,

not just in business,

but in your life.

That's a wrap.

I'm a get to the point kind of girl,

and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

sessions. Now it's your turn.

Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.

Share your handmade products with us.

We want them and they bring us both.