I will always remember 2015 as a pivotal year for me professionally. Although I’ve been in business since 2011, owning and designing my kids clothing line cuteheads, this was the year it really took off. In late 2014, I was struggling. I was still trying to balance motherhood with running my business. I was feeling uninspired creatively, and I was mentally exhausted from years small business fatigue. What I was doing wasn’t working and I knew it.
Instead of giving up, I decided to really focus on what I wanted my business to look like, what was important to change, and what was important to let go. I knew I needed to ask myself hard questions and make hard choices. I started reading more. I hired a business coach. I asked questions and didn’t assume I had all the answers. As a small business owner — whether you own a business like mine, a blog, both, or something totally different — you have to make hard decisions every day as to what to devote time to, and I believe that the changes I made had a big impact on the growth of my business. I started to hone in on the small business lessons I had learned, so that I could really grow.
There will always be room for improvement. As my dad says, “continuous improvement applies to yourself as well as your work,” and he’s right about that. But it’s nice to look back on how things have changed in the past year to see where you started and where you’ve ended up. Here are 8 of the major lessons I take away from 2015.
8 Small Business Lessons I Learned the Hard Way in 2015
There’s no substitute for real relationships. If you’re relying solely on social media to grow your blog or business, stop right now and pick up the phone, send a text, or email a friend. Maintaining real relationships — even and especially if they were originally formed online — is critical not only for success, but for sanity. Seeking validation from how many likes you get on a picture is going to lead nowhere. Find validation in love and real friendship.
Social media isn’t the only way to grow. I truly value social media and it really helped me grow this year, but there were other important factors to growth as well. There are going to be endless business coaches and social media gurus telling you that social media is the end-all, be-all of small business and blogging. If you want to know two important things that catapulted my business this year, I’ll tell you: email and SEO. Yes, email, the old-fashioned thing that “experts” say is dying. And SEO, getting people to organically find my home bases, my site and my blog, which are the only things I actually own on the internet. I do not own my Instagram profile, Instagram does. I do not own my Facebook profile, Facebook does. So it started to feel a little risky to me to focus solely on growing those properties that could be taken away in an instant.
Not everyone’s going to like what you do or want you to succeed, and that’s ok. Whatever people’s reasons are for not wanting you to succeed, remember: they have nothing to do with you. Don’t we all have enough self-doubt as it is to let other people doubting us affect our confidence?
Value your alone time and make it count. Alone time is a precious commodity, and none of us get enough of it, or if we do, we don’t appreciate what we have. Is there anything sweeter than a quiet house or coffee shop, where you’re just alone with your computer and Spotify? I treasure those times, because I get to really concentrate and focus, versus trying to multi-task, which I am terrible at.
Collaboration is one of the best ways to grow. I spent a lot of time this year working on collaborations big and small. There are so many reasons why creating collaborative partnerships with other small business owners and bloggers is a good idea, I could write an entire post on it. Maybe I will one day.
No one can do it all. Not even Beyonce. I know people think the “You have as many hours in the day as Beyonce” quote is awesome, and I guess it’s kiiiind of funny, but you know what Beyonce also has? The full-time staff of a small country. You know who does not have that? You and me. So we have to prioritize. I had a lot of success with my Day Designer planner this year. Giving thought to the top 3 items that have to get done each day, then creating a separate list of items that would be nice to accomplish, gave me perspective and helped me manage my stress level. It was a really easy change.
One of the biggest keys to success? Do the work you don’t like to do. What people don’t know about owning and designing a kids clothing company is that 90% of what I do is boring and hard. There are never any easy answers, and I’m constantly scrambling to find solutions to problems that I can’t read 10-step Wikihow articles to solve. At least once a week, I email or talk with someone who wants to start a clothing line of some kind, and although I am always encouraging, I try to impart the reality of what they’re getting themselves into. A business is like a child, and it needs that much attention.
I had NO CLUE how hard and time consuming blogging really is. Back in April of this year, I decided to really focus on my blog as a complement to my small business. I’ve always had a blog, but it was embedded in my Shopify store, and had little to no functionality. I kept reading that it was a great way to humanize a brand and get to know customers. What I didn’t realize was how much I would like it, how much it would grow independently of my business in such a quick amount of time, and how it really is a second business. Now that I have started working with brands, it has doubled my work load, and I’m still trying to sort out how I’m going to do all of this once the new baby comes. I really admire and respect bloggers who have turned their blogs into real businesses, and I hope to learn from them in 2016.
I learned these 8 small business lessons the hard way and I wouldn’t change it for a second. Sometimes we have to experience things to believe them and learn from them. What life lessons will you take away from 2015? I’d love to know.
Social media is pretty important for someone like me who is just a blogger, and not a small business owner. I rely on social media to spread the word about my blog.
It’s important for me too, believe me! 🙂 The point is that there are other ways to grow that are a great complement to social media.
No one can do it all is certainly a lesson for me as well. I’ve stretched myself pretty thin this year.
I also realized that social media was not the only way to grow my blog. I did find a few other ways. Have a Happy New Year!
These are wonderful lessons, social media is definitely not the only way to grow and no one can do it alone indeed. I have learnt that blogging is hard too and been trying to run two blogs on top of my 9-5. Wishing you the best for 2016
Couldn’t agree more, such a great list! At one point, I had to take a step back from some FB groups because they were so overwhelming. Being a small business owner is just a small part of me and last year I let it come before more important things. This year, my family is first and work can be plugged in around them!
Such great advice! I appreciate your comment about maintaining real-life relationships. Also, I hope to learn more about SEO in the coming months. Many bloggers emphasize its importance, and I think it’s time for me to jump on that train!
I started a photography business in 2014, and so many of these apply to my experiences so far! I think this is a great list and is going to help a lot of people!
Thanks!
Yes, I love all 8 of these lessons, especially “Not everyone’s going to like what you do or want you to succeed, and that’s ok” because that was lifechanging when I embraced it. Sharing this post because it’s so inspiring!
There are so many important points you have made and many that I have never thought of! I look forward to that collaboration post since this is one area I have really been considering for 2016 with my own business!
Wow you are right instagram and facebook definitely controls what’s visible. You are absolutely right, blogging is way more consuming than what I thought when I decided to dive in. Social media promoting is so time consuming as well, so I hope to figure out collaborations and how to go about it in this upcoming year. Happy New Year
Maya from http://www.healthymominabusyworld.com
These tips are perfect for almost any small business! I totally agree that social media isn’t the be all and end all, even though that’s what we’ve been lead to believe.
I totally agree that nobody can do it all- all the time! It can be tempting to try to tackle everything on one’s list, but I’ve also learned to delegate more and divide up my tasks!
This is a great read. I’m not sure what 2016 holds for my blog, I’ve put a lot of work into it and even rebranding myself and I’ve done it at the sacrifice of spending time with my kids. Now I don’t know it’s future, but we’ll see if I have the motivation to continue in 2016 or do something else with my time.
So agree with you on the owning your own real estate AKA blogging vs social media. This was a huge lesson for me. I don’t think people realize how valuable that is- when they do they never leave 🙂 Happy New Year!
These sound like super important lessons for any small business. It’s awesome that you’re sharing what you’ve learned so others can succeed too!
It’s not easy but totally worth it to do what you love!
These are all great lessons.
I definitely learned some of these the hard way as well.
xoxo, Jenny
These are all so helpful! I’m trying not to rely on social media to spread the word about my new business too, even though it’s kind of hard to find new ways. Best wishes for the new year!! 🙂
Steffikjewelry.com
Blogging definitely takes a lot of time. My daughter used to coplain that I am always in front of the computer so now I only blog when I have extra time.
What a fantastic things you have learned in 2015 and THANK YOU (sorry for shouting!) for sharing it with everyone. I love these lessons. I may still be a corporate slave for a little bit longer but I know one day I want to have my own business.
Happy New Year!
I absolutely love this post. You are so wise! All of these are spot on – I think too many people form shallow relationships just to get likes/comments when quality is always better than quantity. Oh and blogging – SO much time and effort! I’ve tried coaching a couple of people this year interested in blogging and none take me seriously when I try to tell them how much time and work it will be! I love it though!
These are all so true. I’ve been getting my kids involved in my work, and they hate the boring side. But I remind them that everyone has boring work to do sometimes. It’s not all fun.
I agree that social media is not the only way to grow. It can help us generate leads but its the personal touch that brings in the business.
You’re so right, nothing can replace that personal aspect when it comes to business. I don’t think anyone understand how much effort blogging is either, it’s a job in itself!
I’ve learned this year that home is everything. We moved to take care of a sick family member and gave up our beautiful home. We have been treated terribly and are in the process of buying a new home. I have learned never let go of your sanctuary.
This is an amazing article thank you so much for sharing this! I think it is great when bloggers can come together and discuss what has worked, what has not and where they are looking to focus in the future. Your blog is fantastic!
Thanks for the great tips! I checked out your children’s clothing line, and I absolutely adore it! Following you on Instagram now. How did you start a kids’ clothing line? What a neat past you have.
These are wonderful lessons, thank you for sharing!
Yes about the Beyonce quote! I think that to myself every time someone says that! And SEO is something I’ve been working on as well. Good luck to you and your endeavors in 2016!
Love, love, love this post! The first paragraph pretty much sums up the journey I’ve been on over the last year. I know what it’s like to feel burned out and pulled in conflicting directions (work vs. motherhood). I too have been feeling creatively challenged. Thanks for sharing these tips and lessons learned. Lots of great takeaways here.
I couldn’t agree more about collaborations! You can never go wrong with that.
I couldn’t have read this at a better time. I started blogging for fun and am turning it into a business. It’s fun hard work. This really encouraged me in some areas of blog life that I’m experiencing now. I loved your advice about taking relationships beyond social media.
You have such good points. This really resonates.
I too have learned that nothing is more powerful than face-to-face. A tweet goes farther than a handshake, but it’s not more valuable.
I also learned how time consuming blogging is. And there is so I’ve learned and so much more I have to learn. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world…
“One of the biggest keys to success? Do the work you don’t like to do.” Great lesson! You don’t often read that on lists like this. It’s a very valuable tip!
These are all very real lessons that every small business owner learns at some point. Too much to do in not enough time. Prioritize what you need to do and always remember your reasons for doing it.
Love this, Esther! I’m so glad you touched on the social media part–that’s been my take on it lately, too. There are so many “gurus” out there trying to push the social media strategy stuff as if it’s THE way to grow your biz (which, in my opinion, promotes a spammy practice on social media).
I’ve seen my business grow for all of the same reasons you listed above. Great post!
Those are all lessons that I have learned as well. I have found that word of mouth has been one of the best things for my business throughout the years and making real connections with people. Look forward to seeing you grow throughout the year.
I agree whole heartedly with what you are saying! I am new to blogging and have so much to learn. I am using social media to market my blog; however, I am looking for like minded people to bond with about this experience as well. My husband doesn’t really listen to all I have to say about blogging, so it’s nice to have some blogging buddies to chat with about my thoughts.