Tips & Talk 107 – The Truth (Illusion) About Growing Your Business

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/picks.

Congratulations. You've started your business maybe last week or perhaps years

ago. You were exhilarated when you made your first sale,

and from there the focus was on getting another sale and

then another one,

and when that happens,

then you start thinking about how you can grow even faster

and bigger.

Always looking at that next level.

The desire to stretch for more and more has been ingrained

in us over the decades.

The thinking that bigger is better.

Bigger meal portions gives you more deliciousness to enjoy in the

moment, but you pay for it with your health and on

the scale.

SUVs are great when you have a lot of kids to

cart around or for your camping and fishing weekends,

but there are a lot more costly to fuel up.

A big home sends the message that you've made it,

and I agree.

It's really nice to have quiet spaces to sneak off to,

but they also come with higher prices,

more upkeep and other pressures,

big, bigger and then even bigger.

We've been told it's what we're supposed to do.

It seems to me these days we're being forced to finally

get it and back up a bit.

Due to the rising costs,

portions are shrinking to keep the price the same.

We're rationing our driving or considering smaller vehicles to take into

count the costs of getting around,

and I'm sure you can think of many more things that

apply to you where you're trimming back.

While it may feel like less initially,

it can actually make us happier and healthier to have less.

An article in life intelligence lists five areas that are improved

when we focus less on more and more on quality.

First, it increases independence,

confidence and comfort in being who we are,

I guess because you're focused on what's right in front of

you without comparing yourself to others.

Second, it increases focus on what you deem to be important

because you've eliminated many of the distractions.

This leads to richer experiences in both your personal and work

activity, and along these lines,

there's a greater appreciation of the little things because you're calm

enough to be more attentive and observant.

This can also help with increased productivity because you're not multitasking

all the time.

Four, eliminating these distractions and the continual jumping from one thing

to another improves your mental space,

a calmer mind,

if you will,

overall adding more minimalistic elements into your life decreases stress and

anxiety, which brings greater happiness and fulfillment.

Late last year after one of my talks,

I had a woman come up to the booth with some

questions. We got into this discussion about growing bigger.

She was feeling forced to do so by those around her

when actually she was perfectly happy just as she was.

Her business is producing a living salary.

She only has a couple of other people assisting her and

it integrates into other things she likes to do outside of

work, like spend time with her grandchildren and play golf,

but she felt like she was failing if she wasn't growing.

Hmm. Wonder where that idea came from.

Given all the outside influences of bigger is better when we

really got down to it.

She just wanted confirmation that staying exactly the size she is

now is okay,

really. She asked,

of course,

I told her,

that's the thing about your own business.

You can control it so that it's right for you.

I saw an immediate release of tension from her shoulders and

her face seemed to lighten up too.

She thanked me over and over again before she left,

all because I gave her permission not to grow.

Now, don't get me wrong,

I'm not saying growing is bad.

If that's what you want.

If you have certain financial goals to achieve so that you

can drop your nine to five,

of course you need to build your business to a certain

level, you may be energized by continual growth year over year.

It's wonderful to have that energy and drive.

It's just not the only way.

Along this line of thinking,

I thought it might be helpful to point out some of

the changes that can occur in your business When you grow.

The purpose is for you to think about how you'll manage

these changes,

so you still love what you created based on your level

of growth.

You don't want to accidentally grow your business into a burden

versus a joy,

and don't underestimate this.

It happens when you first start a business as a maker.

It's because you love the act of making and doing more

of that and seeing others enjoy your products is a beautiful

vision. Reality is slightly different,

however, and by thinking ahead about how you'll manage the changes

or to what level you want your business to evolve can

keep it a business that you love.

Here are six ways your role in your business may change.

First, the amount of production time goes up.

Of course,

as orders increase,

this is one unique facet of handmade.

The more sales,

the more work you've created for yourself in making.

Not to mention the other parts of filling the order,

like invoicing,

packaging, and shipping,

but at some point you'll reach a limit of how much

you can physically make on your own.

There's simply a hard stop to the hours available in a

day. This cuts off additional growth unless you,

and this is my second point,

hire help to take some of the tasks off your plate.

When you hire people,

even if it's only one person,

your role changes into a management position.

They take direction and guidance from you to do their job.

As you continue,

leadership comes into play too.

You set the tone for the business that needs to be

communicated to your employees from the overall vision to how you

communicate with customers online,

in a phone call and in person,

your day-to-day changes because they'll be questions and decisions to be

made and communicated to others for things you used to handle

yourself. Space also starts to become a consideration as you grow.

When orders are consistent,

you need more product on hand to quickly produce and ship.

That means your stored inventory will increase actually with both your

product components and your finished pieces.

Product dependent,

of course,

this can creep into and overcome your personal space if you're

working from home.

This increase in inventory and addition of staff necessitates you put

formal processes in place for tasks like payroll and inventory management.

It's beneficial to get this in place in the beginning so

it can grow with you without it being a huge project

down the road.

Sustaining and continuing to grow will also require new methods.

Email marketing and use of social would be solid options to

put in place.

And as you can see,

bringing all these things into your business takes up more of

your time and gets you farther away from your vision of

making. It's not a bad thing.

You're building up your business.

I personally love the management and leadership role,

but it's not for everybody.

As a spinoff of this fifth point to grow,

you'll want to add in multiple sales channels.

For example,

some people do in-person shows and sell through their website.

Some have multiple websites like Shopify and Etsy,

some sell live inside Facebook and Instagram.

Having multiple sales points gets you visibility to different audiences,

so more potential for sales.

As you can see with all of this,

it becomes more intricate and complicated and amazing.

If it's what you love like I do,

but it's not for everyone,

and that's the message.

Success of your business is defined by you and you alone.

If you need permission,

like the woman I mentioned earlier,

gosh, I wish I could remember her name.

I'm giving you permission now to build your business to great

heights. The peak being what feels best to fulfill you and

bring happiness,

balance, and pleasure to your days because you're doing what you

love. 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.