Taking the Small Business Plunge | Day 7

This is day 7 of 31 days of blogging during the month of October.

Let’s take a break from all the money talk, shall we?

I wanted to talk a little bit about keeping your business simple – like real simple. And not feeling pressured to do things you don’t want to do just because it may make you some extra cash.

When I first started my design business last year, I thought it would be a fun idea to open an Etsy shop for my prints. I liked making prints for fun and thought that would be a relatively easy thing to make, print, sell, and ship without a committing a whole lot of time to it.

What a learned, was that designing prints wasn’t my favorite, it took a huge amount of creative energy for me, and that printing these things actually costs more money than I thought. Add in shipping supplies, trips to the post office and the like…and you’ve got yourself a whole 'nother side business.

I put lots of time and effort into marketing these things and trying to get them out the door. And you know what? I sold a few. It seemed like the biggest deal in the world to get a new Etsy notification that someone had made a purchase. However, in the long run, it so wasn’t worth what I was putting into it. If you’re curious enough or nice enough to see what’s left on hospice, check out the shop remains here.

My point is, do what you really love and what you can really do well…and then forget the rest. Your business doesn’t have to offer ALL the things. Offer a few products that you really love making, or a few services that you can do really well and are excited to see through. You will save so much time, energy, frustration, and money if you focus on those few things and worry about expanding later.