Explore YOUR Business Archives - Page 10 of 29

Explore YOUR Business

Let’s explore profit

Money. Profit. Pricing.

These are some of the hardest things to talk about in our businesses (and lives!), for a many reasons: because of our culture and its messages, because we might use it as a measure of our self-worth (and thus, it becomes a tool of self-doubt), and because it is so easy to get lost in the Comparison Game.

This is exactly why we should explore it. Not just explore the ideas of profitability or making money – but explore your actual, real-life numbers, no matter what they are.

You see, in my work with creatives I find two things that routinely get in the way of their doing what they want to do:

They don't have a plan, they don't know exactly where they want to go. (Which is why I created this.)
They don't know where they are, they don't know their actual numbers. (Which is why I created this.)

If you want to go somewhere else, you have to know where you are right now.
If you want to make more money, you need to know what your money is doing right now. You need to know your expenses, your profit margin, your minimum break-even point and your most profitable products.
With this knowledge, you can grow, build, and expand. You can spend your time on what works and stop doing what doesn't.

But this doesn't have to be hard or stressful or self-flagellating. We can pull out these numbers, run a little math, and then learn the lessons. We can explore instead of hoping, comparing, or grasping.

If you'd like to join me in this exploration, it's time to learn how to Pay Yourself.

Image by Lacey Atkinson

Instead of comparing, explore

“I'm just not doing enough. I thought it would have already happened. I might be missing *something* because everyone else is doing so much better, faster.”

I hear this all the time, from Captains, clients, friends…and inside my own head.

If you read some blogs, it seems that everyone is always killing it. That they're making a lot, selling a lot, and generally rolling around in piles of money, while working on a beach.

Apparently, everyone in the world is measuring the success of their business in figures. And they're all large. And successful.
{Click to Tweet this!}

Perhaps I'm especially sensitive to this because in the last year of teaching Pay Yourself (a class about calculating profit) to a variety of artists + makers, I had the chance to dig into real numbers from real people.
And in every instance, the things that were not profitable were the things they didn't really want to do. They were only doing them because someone else did. Or someone “successful” said to.

So I've got this unique perspective. I see the loud claims of showy success and I see the real insides of some amazing creatives. I see what really works and what is supposed to work and doesn't.

But when you can't see the insides – when you're just you, working away at making your dream real – all these “success stories” can wear you out, discourage you, or worst of all – kick off a new round of the comparison game, where you start measuring your success by everyone else's.

No matter how many times you tell yourself to ignore it, it can be discouraging. You forget that gross income (or, the money you take in) is not the same as net profit (the money you get to keep after paying all your expenses)…and most people are talking about their gross income. You can think that every month is a big blockbuster month for everyone and that no one else has slim (and fat) months.

(They do, they really do. In a recent Starship chat every single member present spoke up to encourage another and said: Yep, I've been there.)

All of this confusion about what's real + the non-stop comparison game going on in your head is why you won't hear me talking about “how to make six figures.” I'd rather help you explore where your profitability already is. I'd rather you set a doable goal for the next three months and work towards that. I'd rather you explore what you want, so you can pursue it wholeheartedly. I'd rather connect you with other explorers who are real and encouraging and honest.

Because THAT is the real secret to how you get to those huge numbers – you slowly build to them step by step, by expanding on what's working and sustainably growing your capacity and your audience.

That's how you get the small successes that lead to the bigger picture.

It's not a sexy message, I know. But it's real and true and encouraging and full of so much HOPE. Your tomorrow can be different. If can be what you want, but you have to make it so*.

*A Captain Picard nod for my fellow geeks

Tomorrow I open Pay Yourself.

In it, we'll work with your real numbers to determine where the profitability is (and isn't) so you can laser-focus on the aspects of your business that support sustainable growth. It's not sexy, but it's gentle and encouraging and you only have to do math on ONE day. Registration opens tomorrow + it closes in just over a week, on February 21st. This is the last time I'll be holding it live online with a community of fellow explorers.

If you'd like to get real about your money, the downloadable class is available any time, right here!

If you'd like a sneak peek at how we'll talk about budgeting as a tool for earning more inside Pay Yourself, you can read my post here on OhMyHandmade.

The easier way to make a decision: filters

How do you make a decision?
To buy a class, a book, a new accounting software?
To advertise, join a new social site, to price that item?
How do you decide what to blog about, what to tweet about, what photographs to share?

Crafting your own business is full of zillion daily decisions, some so tiny we don't recognize that we're making decisions. In order to deal with it all, we fall into automatic patterns of reacting, responding, even of buying.

And this is good. Studies show that we have a limited amount of willpower, and thus it's more effective to have systems to automatically make decisions and take action. But if you're not happy with the results of your automatic reaction, or want to do something new and different, the answer is not to “try harder” but to craft a new process for making that kind of decision.
(This could be anything – from how you share your work, to what books you read, to what you do with your workday.)

The easy way to craft a new decisions-making system is to create a filter.
A filter keeps out all the stuff you don't want and allows in more of what you do want. (Like panning for gold!)
Creating a filter is easy: You make one decision (not a resolution or a goal, but a commitment) and that produces a filter – every decision is filtered through that decision.

For example, you decide (in map making) that this quarter you really want to finish your book. This is your filter. Everything that comes at you – opportunities, ideas, suggestions – it's all filtered through the question: Does this help me finish my book? This is the power of crafting a plan – it makes all your other decisions (and thus, your whole life!) so much easier, and less reliant on willpower.

Another filter that's easy to forget when we measure success by “followers” or “likes” or blog comments is PROFIT. No, your business isn't just about money…but if you don't have profit, you don't have a business (for the distinction between a hobby + a business, watch this). As a savvy business lady, you filter every product + buying decision through Profit: How does this impact the profit margin? How many units do I need to sell before it's profitable?
(By the way, it's ok if this makes you a little queasy and you don't know your actual numbers. This is why I'm working on a new exploration into profit.)

Other filters you might use: Customer Delight, Sales, Enthusiasm (my favorite!).

What filters do you use?

An Exploration into Self-care

Let's start with some honesty: I have a hate-hate relationship with the phrase “self-care” (or even worse “self-love”). I am completely resistant to it. Not because I think we shouldn't take care of ourselves, but because it sounds so…selfish. And self-centered. And terribly, awfully, horrendously self-indulgent.

And I gotta admit, up until last year, I secretly believed the act of self-care was all those self-involved things too. Oh, and lazy. I thought of my brain (& heart) to be the important thing. I took care of my brain through lots of reading, writing and long deep conversations. I took care of my heart with friends and family and my sweet marriage.

But bodily self-care was just…not something that seemed necessary or important. I didn't really know how to start.

But that changed.

As I shared here, I had a pretty awful moment of truth last January. Something about that experience woke me up and all of a sudden, I was open to paying attention to my physical home, that thing that was carrying around my big brain all these years, my body.

I noticed I never ate when I was hungry, preferring to keep working through the signs. (Not in some desire to be thin, but because I truly didn't pay attention.) I noticed that I felt actually, measurably better when I moved around and pushed myself. I noticed that I loved feeling physically strong.

As an explorer, I paid attention to what I noticed. I used it to shape my decisions, my day, my actions.

And all of this, somehow, led me to actually take care of my self. It's not a big deal and it's not something I label “self-care”…but it's there now – in eating breakfast, in running, in buying clothes that fit, in breathing deep.

The best part: this shift, into paying more attention (instead of ignoring) spreads to other areas: I have an easier job paying attention to what works in my business. I have the energy to write longer. I don't become fried at 2pm everyday (and when I do, I trust myself to take a break.)

By reframing “self-care” into an act of exploration, I shifted my relationship to my body and to my brain (and to food, clothes, other women, my role in relationships, my business, my finances…the list is endless because changing one thing changes everything.)

To start your own exploration: Pay attention, and then work with what's working. That's it. It's not about being luxurious or indulgent or fancy (although you certainly can be), it's about noticing + shifting, in tiny ways, until things feel a little better.

You can use this exploration method to take care of your self, your business, your kids. You can use it to change your life, your business, or your eating habits. (You can learn more about how to be an explorer in my free e-course here.)

This post is part of the Unencumbered Sharing Circle, a gathering of honest first-hand stories about self-loathing, self-love, and the journey between the two. Read more stories, and share your own, right here.

Are you exceptional?

I have a theory* that any one can build a thriving business.
Anyone. Seriously. Even you.

And it's simple (NOT EASY, but simple).

1. Start.
Start big, start little. Start with $100 or $1000 or with someone else's supplies (that's what I did.) You haven't started until you've offered something to a define market. (ie, Dyeing yarn is not a start. Making it available for sale is.)

2. Commit yourself wholly. This doesn't mean you have to commit yourself full-time..but that you are completely and totally dedicated with all of your heart to making this work. You are in love, married for life and hopelessly devoted. Nothing else (no day job, no scheme, no one else's success) can turn your head or shake your focus.

3. Try things. Experiment. Take the specific actions that will get you closer to your own destination (ie, Don't try random, unconnected things. Try things that are on the path to where you want to go.)

4. Ruthlessly review. What's working? What's not?
4a. The thing you tried (from your product to your messaging to your photographs) not working? Try something new.
4b. Whatever part of it is working (and there's always something) KEEP THAT. Build on it. Shift your entire focus to what is working, even if it's far different than what you imagined you'd do.

5. Repeat. For years.

The above answers 98% of all questions I receive.

What should I do first?
START.

I can't figure out what to do next?
Pay attention to what's working, and stop doing what's not.

I don't know what's working?
Have a regular system of review. And do it.

Why aren't I seeing results?
A. How long has it been? Are you being reasonable about your expectations?
B. Are you truly spending your time focusing on the things that will have most impact towards reaching a specific goal? Or are you spinning?
C. Are you measuring by your own definition of success? Or someone else's?

What this means is that while anyone can build a business, not EVERY business idea is a good one. So while you're fully committed to making some business work, you are flexible about how it's going to go down (and build up).

I wrote this all out a few months ago and it's been sitting in Evernote, while I considered if it was missing anything.
But it came up this week while I was having a (friendly) debate with Srini, who has met and talked to hundreds of successful entrepreneurs. Is it true that ANY one can do what we do (Start, Commit, Review, Repeat) and reach their own definition of success (which might be totally different than our own)?
He posits that there's something inherently exceptional about the people that take the action. I argue that anyone is capable is taking the action, some people just won't (because of fear, risk, or the culture they buy into to). There's nothing exceptional about the people that do it except that they do it.
But we both agree: the people who start something + who take action towards it, are exceptional.

So now it's up to you:

Are you going to be exceptional?

PS. Most people will never start. Many will start, fewer commit themselves, and still fewer are dedicated to exploring their business and letting it change, in order to have something sustainable. If you've started and committed and you aren't seeing the results you want (within your own definition of success, not someone else's) – the question is: Are you reviewing and ruthlessly editing? Or are you married to your One Idea?

If you are one of the few who stick with it, you are truly exceptional.

*This theory is informed my experience of working with makers for a year at a time, (1/4 of which I've been with for 3+ years) plus my consulting with retail tech start-ups and the bricks + mortar businesses I've managed.

Dedicate + Release: the balance of map-making

This week we're map-making – breaking down a destination (place we want to get to) into doable to-dos, and I'm sensing the tension between single-minded focus and going-with-the-flow. So let's talk about how to hold the tension, without falling into the what-about-this? swirl.

Once you have a destination + a map:

Commit yourself.
Be dedicated.
Go all in.
Do everything it takes to figure out how, specifically, you could get there.
Be willing to do whatever it takes (with integrity) to get there.

If you can't imagine giving it your all, take a break, step back. Locate your enthusiasm. And create a destination around THAT.

(If you can't find any enthusiasm, honey, you need to take a break. Rest, read, sip tea, snuggle…and then when you feel energized come back to this.)

From your whole-hearted dedicated space, remember:

The destination does not define you.
It doesn't indicate your worth.
Reaching it will not (necessarily) make you better, smarter, richer.
Reaching it or not reaching it doesn't matter nearly as much as dedicating yourself to a direction and then moving with intentional action to it, day after day.

It's not about the destination, it's about identifying what you want and how you could get there.*

*Tweet this

As Danielle LaPorte puts it, “Want it with all your heart, but don't be attached to getting it.”

So why bother?
Because you'll never get anywhere without a dedicated, doable plan. It's not that you have to complete the map, exactly as you imagine it. It's that you learn as you go…and a map tells you how to start going.

The power of your own map is twofold:

1. It forces you to prioritize. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest? No,that's no longer the question. The question is: what actions will get you closer to your destination?
2. You learn by doing. Your map provides a list of things for you to try and experiment with.

And that's where all the learning, growing (even making money) happens:

Do something towards the destination.
Pay attention to what works.
Adjust.
Note what doesn't work (or feels bad/exhausting/overwhelming).
Adjust.

Without the destination in mind, you wouldn't know what to try. But if you stay too attached to getting it, you don't learn the lessons that come with adjusting.*

It's true! All that adjusting might result in:

Not reaching your destination.
Deciding you don't want to go to that destination.
Bypassing that destination in pursuit of a new, better-suited-to-you destination.

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
-Bruce Lee

What's your destination for this quarter? What has it taught you about getting there?

*It can be hard to take a break to reassess and adjust. That's why I built it into the Solo Mission – so you don't have to remember it on your own.

How to have your best year ever

I'm not one for resolutions. (Whoa, I wrote that post exactly 6 years ago!)
Instead, I create flexible maps to get me where I want to go.

Having a great year is a combination of having amazing dreams and then having supportive, realistic plans to make them happen.*

*Tweet this!

But where to get started? Take the time to think it through and write it all out (I use Leonie's Workbook + the Chart Your Stars Guide). Take a few days to work through these soul-stirring questions and then…

Pick a word or phrase to guide you. I think of it as a kind of lesson plan for my coming year. My word helps me make decisions, inspires me to explore, and helps me spot the lessons I'm learning.
In order to be effective and inspiring, your word needs to be intimately related to your North Stars (the guiding values of your life). We identify North Stars in both Solo Missions + the Starship, because they will guide everything else you do – the destinations you want to go, the maps you make, all of it!
I haven't quite picked this year's word yet, but I signed up for Ali's One Little Word workshop to help me work with it (and play with it) all year long.
Make it doable. Big dreams and lofty plans are delightful, but stuff gets DONE in the daily work of to-do lists + schedules. Make a map (or several) to break your big destinations down into mile-by-mile driving directions.
Make a PLAN for support. Surround yourself with people who know how to do what you want to do and people who actually DO what they want to do. If you don't know many in real life, you'll have to make a plan for finding the support you need. Don't just wait for it to come to you!
I use the Starship for my support, and I love providing encouragement, accountability, and real-world perspective to the explorers inside.

I had a year FULL of dreams coming true (new partnerships, new opportunities and most of all – having deep conversations with explorers)…and it all taught me the same thing: Things happen when you believe it's possible and then follow through.

(Want a peek at my daily/weekly planning after I have the big destination set? Check it out here.)

What's your plan for the daring adventure of 2014?

PS. The Starship closes to new members TOMORROW. Beam up here!

Do you have a business? Or do you have a hobby?

What does Bar Rescue have to do with your crafty business?

Watch the below video to find out, along with the three things that distinguishes a creative hobby from a creative business.

Can't see the video? Click through to watch it.

Do you have a business or do you have a hobby?

The difference:

Do you have a bigger vision?
Are you eager and willing to do the work of a business?
Are you in it for the long haul?

If not, that's fine! Enjoy your hobby!

If you're not sure if you want a business, check out this post on Fresh Stitches: Do you really want a business?

But most of the people who write me DO have businesses!
I bet you do, too. As Alex Franzen likes to say, you are not confused. You know what you want, you see your bigger vision.

So why do you doubt it? Why do you question?

Is it that you need accountability to stick with the hard bits (and encouragement that you are not alone)? If so, check out the Starship.
Or is it that you need to make your plan more do-able and less vague?

Or maybe it's a question of confidence (hint: you don't have to wait) or believing it's possible (it is!) or knowing how to spread the word?

So how about you?

Do you have a business? Or do you have a hobby?

Beam aboard for 2014

The Starship is now boarding!

You can read all about it here, but I wanted to fill you in on what I'm excited about!

The Starship only opens once a quarter*, in order to make sure everyone gets started from the same place (and to ensure that I have time to get to know everyone and their business).

*To keep it small + personal (other Captains connect, collaborate and befriend each other) only 12 new Captains will beam up this quarter (to join the 40 who are already aboard). After that, boarding closes until March!

You see, the Starship is a place for weekly accountability, monthly review and anytime-you-want-it question-asking…but I've learned over the last 3 years (!) that it's not enough to have resources, you have to know where and how you want to use them. Unless you start with a plan and intention, all the resources can overwhelm you. So I've built in plan-making, intention-setting rituals + resources, so that you will use what you bought.

Here's how you'll make that plan:

1. Get oriented in the Starship.

With a quick email series, you'll learn how to navigate the resources available to you. You'll also learn how to make a Clear Ask, so that you get the help you need (I use this in all my communication!)

2. Get oriented in your own business.

It's vital to know where your business is, right now. (Not just where you want it to be, or where you think it “should” be). We'll do this by starting the Chart Your Stars Guide, on December 27th. And to make sure you get the most out of it, you'll get a brand new e-course (with 6-7 lessons) to help you find your North Star, make your own Star Map for navigating your dreams, and setting Destinations that actually matter to you.

3. Make each dream do-able.

On January 6th we'll start Map Making. With a 6 day e-course and a dedicated forums, you'll identify your next Destination (for the next 3 months) and break it down into do-able To Dos. This is where everything you dream about doing because practical.

4. Learn how you best work.

After you've got your do-able To Dos…you actually have to do them. Through forum posts and weekly check-ins and monthly reviews you'll identify how you best get work done, and we'll help un-stick you when you get stuck.

5. Stay on track.

Every month you look back and review your Adventure so far in a super-quick Reassesment Log. You can see where you swerved and what you learned. We're there to cheer on every mile marker you reach!

After 3 months, every quarter, we start again with Map Making and review – so that you're always moving forward, always identifying the next Destination and going after it with the freshest information on your very own business. (This way we avoid the I forgot about my New Year's Resolutions! problem.)

Along with this cycle of review + doing, we also have one live class a quarter (you have immediate access to over a dozen downloadable classes.) In a live class, everyone (who wants to) takes the same class in the same week, completes homework and gets their questions answered.

The classes this year are:

Pay Yourself: 6 brand-new video lessons + apply-it-now worksheets on finding the profit in your current business and paying yourself (finally).
Craft Your Customer Path: Identify and create the path your customer will take to buying your goods. We'll talk about effective email newsletters, social media, and systematizing it all, while building relationships and loyalty.
Explore You: Figure out how to apply what IS working in your business to what IS NOT.
Holiday Sanity! In Q4, we focus all our energy on making a great holiday season, in our business and in our lives

You don't need another thing to remember.

Have you ever bought an online class and then didn't know what to do or how to navigate the space or what happened when? I hate that! So I've built the entire process to come to you easily + simply.

That's why Starship Captains don't have to remember ANY of this. Everything I mentioned just comes to you. You don't have to remember to check a website, or log in, or anything. Every Wednesday I send an email with a mini-lesson, reminders about what we're doing (the Map Making, the classes), and an invitation to the weekly chat. So if you take a week (or month!) away, you have a chance to jump back in, every week.

Any questions?

PS. Every class, workbook, and Guide I've mentioned comes FREE with your Starship membership. You'll get access to absolutely everything I do (including exclusive access to one-on-one sessions) without having to buy a thing.

Image is from this article on different colored stars. Fascinating!

6 Thoughts on Before Happiness

This month I've been reading Shawn Achor‘s second book, Before Happiness, and HOLY COW. I can not get over how very applicable it all is to what we do here, in exploring and crafting a business (and life) we actually love. I took copious notes all through reading it and wanted to share just a few with you. (I highly recommend reading the book for yourself!)

Love this book! Talking about it tomorrow on the blog. #holidaysanity

Here are a few of my thoughts as I read:

1. This book isn't so much about Happiness, as it is about having the life (and business) you really want, by paying attention to how you perceive the world around you. As a positive psychologist researcher (“positive psychology” is the branch of psychology that studies successful people as opposed to other areas of psychology which study the ways we can be unwell), Anchor is reporting on experiments (both his own and others') on how perception shapes reality.

2. When we talk about perception vs. reality it sounds a little woo-woo (but the science shows it's a measurable fact!), so you can think of it like this: In the middle of winter, after days and days of sub-freezing weather, a sunny day in the mid-50s causes you to exclaim that it is SUCH a nice, warm day! But a sunny in the mid-50s during the heat of the summer, will having you commenting on how cold it is. This is an example of how your perception changes the reality. The same temperature warms you up or has you shivering. The temperature (reality) is the same, but the perception of the temperature changes.

This same perception/reality thing comes into play in your business: Is a month with a $1000 in sales a “good” month or a “slow” month? Neither answer is objectively right or wrong, it depends on your situation.

So this book is about that, and about whether you are choosing a positive (and true) reality or a negative reality (which might also be true, but closes you to finding more opportunities and paths to success).

3. I love reading about studies about this, because it reflects exactly what I hear from YOU. Many of you have amazingly brilliant ideas and you did have lots of enthusiasm…until you started to focus on the competition, on all the hard work, and how very many things could go wrong. The enthusiasm and energy drains out of you, until you can't see any of the opportunities in front of you, and you can't spot any path that would lead you to success.

I was delighted to read that it's not just you, it's how our brains our wired (watch out for danger, in order to stay alive!). But I'm even more delighted to have learned ways of getting around the Inner Eyeore, to help you find the light + enthusiasm again.

4. As I suspected based on experience, celebrating successes (and being reminded of them) really is a proven path to success. Yay!

5. Your map needs to be centered around your very own meaning markers (Yep, Shawn uses the same language I've used in the Map Making Guide). It's not enough to just set goals or have dreams – they need to be centered on what really matters to you, and how you are going to most enjoy getting there. I talk more about this in this video+ I'm editing the Chart The Stars guide (available only to Starship + Solo Mission captains) to not just discover what matters to you, but to remember it over and over during your normal everyday planning.

6. I could very easily list every point in the book that lines up perfectly to what we already do inside the Starship + Solo Missions. (In fact, I started a big list for myself.) But I think it's sufficient to point out that all this science and knowledge is useless unless you apply it to your business – not just once when you read it, but again and again as you reassess and reorient as you move forward (which, by the way, is one of the best ways to make sure you end up where you want to be).

In order to make it truly useful, I've baked the book's “success accelerants” right into the experience of being on a Solo Mission or in the Starship. You don't just learn about them, you'll act on them, simply by opening the emails and filling out the worksheets.

My goal is to make your success, towards your very own dreams, completely unavoidable.

For more thoughts on books, check out the discussion around the New Domesticity.

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