In the beginning of a new business, you will go from one thing to the next, as things come up. You may be working on product research, then working on product design, then seeing how it looks in mockups, then trying to figure out marketing, posting on social media, etc. You're a one person business, so you have to do it all.
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. -Newt Gingrich
When you're just starting out, you don't know what you don't know. There is so much work to do. The list feels never ending- because it is. There is always something else that needs to be done. And it feels like each step forward brings new things you need to learn or accomplish.
I was trying to decide the best way to share my workflow inside the membership and it brought up this thought process I thought I'd explain. Your workflow will evolve over time as you become accustomed to the different tasks. It will also look different depending on where you are in your business.
Inside the membership, I give one set of workflow solutions for those that are starting out or in year one of their business. I teach how to do market research, create the product, create the mockup, list the item, market the item, grow your social media, encourage buyers to become loyal to you. It is very much a step-by-step, evaluate & build as you go type workflow. You have to understand the why & the how.
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But as you grow & make progress, it makes a lot more sense to batch produce your work. Like this blog post for example- I'm not always in a good head space to write but when I am I will knock out multiple posts in a day and schedule them out in advance. I have a calendar that tells me the types of content to write based on what's going on in my business but I give myself freedom to pivot as I feel led to, to keep things authentic. I frequently have no idea where my blog posts are going to end up and I'm pleasantly surprised at how helpful they were to me too.
But in year two, you start to get into a groove, where when you're designing, you can create 20 products in a day. And put them into mockups & list all in the same day. You know which keywords and tags are working for your market. You've got repeat customers that share your store with their friends so things start to flow a little easier. During this stage of growth, you start to evaluate your processes, your products, your social media, and you let some things go for the things that are working better. Do more of what works. You will do a lot of batch work in every area. You'll also likely branch out a bit more.
By year three, you've got some systems in place, with things flowing out on a schedule. Sales are happening in the background. This is the perfect time to add additional income streams. Could you expand to wholesale sales? Could you teach a skill inside a course or a inside a membership? Can you license some of your designs? This is where you are working to scale your business. You are still adding new products to your print-on-demand & digital downloads, but if you've only been doing one of those, you may start the other.
Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. -Francis of Assisi
I hear the same "most businesses don't make a profit until year three" repeated over and over but not many explain a bit more. Year one you are flooded with so much work that unless a product goes viral, you are pouring all of your profit back into the business to build more products to help you grow. Year two, even if you are making consistent sales, you want to get your products in front of more people, so you focus more on social media, or ads, or an email list (I recommend starting this year one inside the membership.) By year three, you get to a potential pivot point. You can either settle in because you've built a solid framework or pivot to adding additional income streams.
When I chose the membership launch date (July 1st!), I knew I needed to launch 90 days before Q4 to give the members time to implement the process and build out products to be ready for Q4 sales. This would give them a great boost when starting out. This also helped me focus on which content to deliver first since this all takes time. (I am going through my own "year one" process by building out a membership.)
I hope this helps you with giving yourself some grace cause all of this is a lot of work! But it is really fun & exciting when you build something on your own.
Warmest regards,
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