Rocking a business startup from day 1 (or day 5,000)

1.     Focus on your idea:
What was your initial dream when opening a business? Don’t lose sight of what made you want to do this in the first place. If you love creating custom apparel, focus on designs that sell before branching out to creating the actual apparel by hand. You can easily get lost in the small details and offshoots of your business, then quickly become burnt out. Choosing a niche is an important part of business ownership. This is your ideal customer, your perfect product, or your “Why”. In this same thought, however, be open to new ideas that may come up during your adventure. Maybe your success comes from a place you never thought of initially. This is where your business begins to take on a personality of its own.

2.     Research the competition:
This is HUGE, and very often left out. Check into who you are competing with. Is there someone already doing what you are doing? How can you stand out from them, or better yet, how can you BEFRIEND them? Competition so often has a negative connotation when really this could be an amazing opportunity to partner with a like-minded individual. Not that you must give them all your clients but look to see what they do differently and how you can learn from their business. Don’t feel like you need to reinvent the wheel. This is also where people feel the most pressure from something called “Imposter Syndrome”. They investigate their competition and immediately feel their idea is not worth the time, or it’s already been done. I’m here to tell you, it’s never been done by YOU!  

3.     Simplify your business plan:
Lists are life. Write down you’re A to B plan. How do you get from where you are now to your business success story. Step one through three hundred and two. Then spend every day checking one thing off at a time.

4.     Train your new employees properly:
This includes YOU! Investing in your employees and yourself is an investment into the future of your company. Spending time and money to learn how to successfully do your job can help everything run smoother in the long run. Buy yourself a journal (which you can purchase here) and start writing notes to help you. With every new topic you learn, find a way to integrate and practice for your new business.

5.     Ask your peers feedback:
Always being open to opinions or criticism can seriously help you in the beginning. Learn from your mistakes and genuinely ask how you can make it a better experience next time. In the end, people can be quite harsh sometimes, but it’s best to let the harshness roll off and look into what you can learn instead of thinking of quitting. Keep on keeping on!

Whether you’re just starting your business idea, or have been in business for years, these tips can prove super helpful and can always be improved upon later. I’d like to add one last tip:

Don’t be afraid to hire a professional:
Sometimes new business owners feel in order to succeed they have to do it all themselves. This is simply not true. Delegating is the best way to allow yourself to focus on the parts of business ownership you are good at and leave the other pieces to professionals that are good at those things. Overall if you delegate to a few people who you really trust and do really nice work, you’ll end up looking more professional to new clients than if you do everything just ok.

If you liked this blog make sure to check out my other blogs and follow me @staniferdesigns for more tips, tricks, designs, and the occasional cute animal picture. I’d love to chat with you about how I can best help your business also! Feel free to contact me here for a free consultation.

Continuing the Climb: Keeping your business passion alive

You’ve been in business for a while, you’re posting regularly on social media, marketing consistently, doing ok with sales, but nothing is the success you envisioned when you first started your shiny new business owning journey.

This is the everyday, the groundwork, the nose to the ground stuff no one tells you about. The mountain of business success is not built in one swift step but in a MILLION tiny steps. Does that sound too quote-y for you? Than here’s this, focus on the small steps to success.

When faced with these feelings, a super smart business minded professional once told me. How did you make money today? It’s not about focusing on the amount of money, it’s about the potential sale you may make tomorrow because you spent time today to write an ad. If you didn’t take the time for your ad then how is someone supposed to know about your business? How will they pay you for your amazing work if they don’t know you exist?

My challenge to all of you: Do ONE thing today that may bring you a sale tomorrow. Post on social media, write a blog, contact a designer (hint, hint 😉), start an ad, join a networking group… ANYTHING is better than doing nothing. If one more person hears about your business today, you win.

As always Stanifer Designs is here for you with free consultations on how best to start your entrepreneurial journey.

Striving to uncomplicate the process of marketing and graphic design for entrepreneurs. I love taking on challenges and being a continued source of information for my clients. Creating unique and personally inspiring designs for my clients is my top priority. I would love for this page to be a source of creative inspiration and business marketing knowledge for entrepreneurs looking for a helping hand getting started or growing their business.

Setting up a workspace that works FOR you

When beginning a new entrepreneurial journey, or getting a new refreshing start to a continuing journey, one absolutely has to start with a workspace. In order to ensure success or at least getting tasks done regularly, you need to address where you feel most focused, and how to let your workspace work FOR you and not against you.

WHO:
Start by thinking first of your biggest distractions. Do you have kids? Dogs? A rather needy cat that demands attention? A loud breathing husband? These are the things that will most likely draw you off task.

WHEN:
After finding out what distracts you, when are those things most likely not going to be around? Is there a nap time for your child every day? Can you feed the cat at a certain time of the day so they will go somewhere else for a while? Does your husband work, or can you take yourself out of the same space for a while?
These few moments/hours become your new business hours. This is a set amount of time each day/week that you devote to your business. Also, most jobs don’t allow you to work seven days a week, neither should you! Do not let your business become an “All the time” job. You need a break in order to be a better business owner.

WHERE:
What are your goals for your business? Do you make physical products? Or are you a digital based business owner?
These questions determine the amount of space you’ll need to find for your workspace. For myself, I need a space for my laptop, coffee cup and planner. Or if you’re a product creator you may need an entire room to yourself. Side note, remember, as a business owner a home office is a tax deductible expense. Check in with your accountant or google dimensions of a home office you need to deduct this!

HOW:
You’ve figured out what your distractions are, when to avoid those distractions, and where you’ll conduct your business. Now HOW do you get focused? How do you bring yourself to get to work when scrolling on your phone is so tempting? My favorites are getting a fresh cup of coffee, actually taking a second to brush my hair/get dressed in a comfy yet professional outfit, listen to music or drown out distractions by using headphones. Getting in a new groove will set up a new rhythm in your brain telling yourself it’s time to work. Do those things every time you go into your workspace and you’ll notice your new supercharged work drive start to emerge.

WHY:
What is your WHY? Why do you want to work for yourself. It doesn’t have to be a huge life changing reason. Maybe you just like the freedom of working from anywhere, or you love creating this one product. Write your why down, paint it on the wall, proclaim it from the rooftops. This is what you’ll look to when the going gets tough, when you start looking for other jobs because being a business owner is too hard. This is what will drive your success.

Now all that’s left to do is get into your new workspace and headspace and make your entrepreneurial dreams happen. Consistently showing up for yourself will encourage success in your business and will continue to work in your favor day by day. Everytime I show up for my business, I ALWAYS have something come from my hard work. Not saying that success will come from every move you make, but you may learn something new, a better way to proceed, or possibly a new business connection to help you further your business.

Have questions about building your entrepreneurial journey? Contact me for a consultation today!

3 Tips for Starting Your Business with Success: From a Graphic Designer

When starting a business it’s best to start with your best foot forward. Looking professional from the start will engage your potential clients and show how serious you are about gaining their business.

Hiring a graphic designer is the best option to make your new entrepreneurial journey as successful as possible. However, when you have limited funds and are trying to start a company, it can be frustrating if you work with someone who doesn’t seem to “get” your vision. Avoid spending too much money and not getting anything to show for it by reading through these tips to find and work with a graphic designer successfully.

#1: Ask for references:

Asking a designer for references from previous clients is the best way to ensure your money and time is being well spent with them. If the designer gets offended or does not provide them, that is a clear red flag. Designers should have a slew of happy customers behind us that can attest to our products and the way in which we conduct ourselves professionally.

#2: Be transparent:

Be totally upfront with your designer. Tell them your favorite color, style of drawing you enjoy looking at, any pertinent information you want incorporated in your design, EVERYTHING. No detail is too small. When designing, I take into account all these details so that I can fully understand the business story and personality of the owner.

#3: Pencil yourself in:

This is YOUR business. No one is going to care more about it than you. As a designer I can only be as excited about a brand as its owner is. Setting aside time to go through your design options, content creating for your website, and posting on social media is crucial to your success in the beginning and long term. If you’d like this business to be your only job one day, you need to treat it like that and schedule time for it so it will grow.

I hope these tips help your business startup succeed and if you have any questions feel free to contact me. I’m passionate about starting businesses and would love to help your new chapter begin.