If I had to start my business over today, I would do things a little differently.
I would plan a little more, by writing down what I want to achieve and having specific goals. I would also have a plan for growing my business and a way to track my success. Over the last 3 1/2 years I have grown my business, and now have goals and plans in place, but sometimes I think of where I could be if I had started my business a little more organized.
What about you, If you had to start your business over what would you do differently?
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I did plan ahead, but one thing I couldn't plan for were the ever changing laws applied to small businesses over here! What a headache ;-)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure how I was going to implement my online business(es) while working full-time. Almost all the plans I made when beginning have been changed, edit, revised. . . but I think evolution is the spark that keeps the creative juices flowing.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what I would have done differently. My business started as a hobby so there were no goals in mind. It has certainly been a learning process with constant tweaking, but a whole lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea. I have no idea what I'm doing to be honest. I'm not a business person, I'm a crafter. I don't want to be bothered with the minutiae of business plans, goals, marketing, shows, advertising. I just wanna be left alone to make stuff and have someone else do all the other stuff for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm 5 years into this and I am still figuring out what I was meant to do. I love variety, so sticking to one style of craft has never been easy for me... That said, I do wish I had more plans in place early on, but I didn't. Since I love doing all kinds of things, I just keep expermenting with new ideas when I have the time, and am always working on evolving my brand in my shop. I've always been open to making a big change or being flexible about 'what I do' so that part, it's hard to make plans for... I suppose I might always fly by the seat of my pants in some respect, but it is good to have plans and an idea of what you are trying to accomplish over the course of each year. Definitely lots of learning and growing and evolving going on here. I like to think of it as a process in the making. ♥
ReplyDeleteIf I had it to do over again, I would listen less to others and go more with what my heart tolds me to do. When you have passion and believe in yourself don't waste time listening to the nay sayers, they just drag you down.
ReplyDeleteMe? I don't know if I would have done it differently--the only reason I learned to focus and learned what it is I truly want to do with my time (and am still learning) is because I've tried a lot of random art jobs first. But one thing I would do differently, is to intern more and keep in touch better with my art-contacts. Wish I had done a more of those. It's never too late to go back to an intern position, though. ;)
ReplyDeleteAh, it's so much easier said than done!
ReplyDeleteMy answer is both yes and no. I'd like to say that I would have bought my laser engraver LONG ago had I known it would make all the difference in my business. But I really think timing is everything and it happened just when it needed to :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing everyone!
ReplyDeleteAs I haven't narrowed down to one thing, I would say "starting sooner" would have been a good idea and to listen to my gut, it's usually a good screener of advice and trial. Great post and comments!
ReplyDeleteHindsight is always 20/20 and crystal clear ... foresight however is myopic and foggy at best. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a number of things I would have, or should have done differently ... like setting up my etsy shop ... I'm not sure I would have given my shop my old business name of Almost Precious, as it seems a little antiquated now and passé. But that's only one on my long list of things I'd like a "go back" button for. :D