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Taking the Small Business Plunge | Day 10

Friday, October 10, 2014


As I mentioned a few posts back, it’s okay to not do ALL the things. For some, it may take some time to figure out what you are excited about doing and what you’re really wanting to ditch. Honestly, you don’t know until you try.

Here’s a little reflection for your Friday. It’s okay to try out or offer lots of things at the beginning. Some projects may really excite you or be more popular with others that you thought. If it’s something you’re not sure about, maybe offer a “guinea pig” discount to the first person that takes you up on that service or item. One of the best ways to gain a loyal customer base is to get people to like and trust you. If they feel like you’re being honest with them about what you’re offering, that’s a great way to start.

Once you’ve had a chance to try things on for size, it’s a good idea to decide which services or goods you want to continue with in your business and which ones you either want to ditch or set aside for later. Keeping it simple really is key and you’ll hear almost everyone agree with the statement, “quality over quantity” when it comes to this stuff. Offer a few things and do them really well instead of a thousand that are just so-so. As your business grows and you have more experience, that’s when it may be time to add on. For now, save yourself the overwhelming feelings and defeated efforts to keep up an unrealistic pace.

When I first started advertising my business I offered anything people would pay me for that I could do. Newsletters? Yes. Business cards? Yes. Christmas cards? Of course. Book covers? Sure. Print shop, social media management, packages of this that and the other. Whew! Do you know what it’s like trying to build a website that supports all that? It’s nuts. Don’t do it. As I’ve had a chance to actually do some of those projects and have those experiences, I’ve really cut my services down to a couple things I really love – small business and personal branding, and social media partnership programs. For everything else, I have an hourly rate and the projects I take on depend on availability. Now THAT…that I can get excited about. See what I mean?


I’d love to hear, what are your favorite things to do in your business? If you don’t know yet, what will you start offering to find out?

2 comments:

  1. I think I might be in the "offer everything" stage. I sew, but I do so on multiple mediums. Leather handbags are my big item, and I should probably shrink down to just that, but then I have all of these quilt and baby-item ideas... I suppose I could always have 2 websites, one for each... ? Thoughts on that?

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    1. If you really love doing both, I would keep both and keep them on the same website (make it easier on yourself! :) ) Maybe if you prefer doing less of the quilt and baby item stuff, raise your prices a little and advertise heavier on the leather handbags. Just remember, you are your own boss and can take on whatever you want and leave what you don't :)

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