If you could start your business again, what would you do differently? 🤔

[isabelle]

Hey there! 💕Excited to share that one of our Super Sellers, @VanKalkerFarms helped us come up with this question:

If you start your business again, what would you do differently? 🤔

We look forward to reading your replies! 👀

[ExtensionQueen]

Great question!

First of all, what I wish I had read the book Total Money Makeover! 

I would of simply made smarter choices with some of my choices, but what's great is being able to learn from mistakes. 

Other than that, I truly have enjoyed owning my own business since 1999.  

I hope to help others with my online marketing abilities, to date.    

https://www.annmariewalts.com 

Ann Marie Walts - Rank On Google & YouTube - YouTube

[JUYBoutique20]

Loved that book and Profit First...

[helus7]

Hello there….So I am flipping brand spanking new! Not real sure on what to do or how to do it. First, I need my domain, I think & then create a website - but how? Do I need all the different square apps? I am selling hand made rustic framed word signs. Mainly online BUT plan to rent a booth at events, etc. I just need someone to hold my hand through all the setting up process. 

[BofBArtStudio]

Definitely agree with reading that book before starting business.  Also, get involved with EntreLeadership!

[TerriW]

I love this question, I think of this often.  I feel like thinking about these things helps with smarter decisions in the future.  

First of all, I own a bakery/cafe in a small town.  I love it, but it has its challenges, and those challenges are things that we never expected.  The top thing I would do differently would have to do with choosing a location.  We were smart enough to pay attention to things like the customers ease of access, and display/seating space needed.  What we failed at was kitchen size and area our location.  We were so excited to open our storefront that we didn't find the space that was perfect, we rented the space that was available.  This led to us having to move across town after our initial opening, confusing customers and forcing us to divert advertising dollars from products to announcing the move.  

The other thing I would do differently concerns advertising, when we launched our advertising we did the old school thing and jumped onto radio ads.  Which everyone says are "proven", however, we were never able to directly link them to sales.  I would re-route those funds in to Facebook/Instagram Ads, when we run Ads on social media platforms we can see a spike in Sales, unlike radio ads.  

These are just two things I would do differently, I hope this helps. 

[VanKalkerFarms]

Overall I'm happy with my business and its profit and product variation and being about 50% wholesale and 50% retail giving me lots of options to sell my products.

What I would change is our retail garden center structure.  We have a bit over an acre of indoor shopping area for customers but as we have grown so has the retail area and it is literally like 4 different structures all bolted together.  It gets the job done but I see it as a huge eyesore, which I'll admit most customers think is wonderful, but It could be so much better using modern structures and layouts I know are much better than what I have now.

It can be done, I could tear it all down and repurpose the current structures elsewhere on the property and build a new $1,250,000 modern structure exactly how I want.  But would there be increased sales over the next 5 years to offset this large investment?  personally, I say yes but that is a hard pill to swallow.  So instead I keep band-aiding the connections and floor plan to fit it.

[llcallaboard]

I say put the money on the back burner for now and once the economy does a slow down make the move and let it ramp. up.  I guess it really comes down to "Ikea" I just looked at your website and did see the pic of your building. Looks like people can get lost inside I would have people walking around mobile to take payment this way people that want to get lost in the store can, however, people that want to pay and go can and then get guided to an exit. This way everyone is happy. I am not sure if this is already done however ill toss it out.

Have a good one

[icn]

Have more up-front liquid capital from the investor. 

[JUYBoutique20]

Great question, If I could start my business again I would start as a full women's boutique (clothing, shoes, etc.) instead of just jewelry, handbags, and accessories.  My business has grown so much since I expanded.

[grovetealounge]

We are a tea-forward cafe and food has become the primary driver of our sales.  We originally thought of ourselves (and actively positioned ourselves) as a coffee shop that also served breakfast, lunch and pastries.  We are almost 3 years old and it's very clear that we're certainly more of a cafe that has an extensive list of high quality and creative coffee- and tea-based drinks.

Had we seen and positioned ourselves like this from the start, I think we could have initially sold our food/drinks at a higher price point (like we are doing now) because of the perceived value and quality it would have projected.  I also would have doubled the size of our kitchen.  We have been getting very creative with the space we have but I think we will outgrow our existing kitchen within the next 1-2 years.  Easier to adjust on the fly and add more labor to run the kitchen around the clock then to sink a bunch of money upfront in equipment and space and be locked into that - so I guess pros and cons to both.

[Doran]

I would research more salons and start at one that offered education.  In California, beauty school is pretty weak, I had no clue what I was doing when I first started.  A salon that offered a mentor (like I found at my second salon) would have saved me thousands of tears and dollars.  

[promila]

I will cut my expenses, not buying expensive machines. I will take help from free resources and social media to advertise my business. 

[Minion]

Great Question this week. There are many things I think I would do differently, but then again, there are many life choices that fall into that same category 😂

The biggest one for me though, would have been saving up and having more money put aside before I up and quit my "9 to 5" to start my business.  It was a struggle for some time, but live and learn. 

[Tarra32]

Do a better job of vetting and hiring a bookkeeper/accountant.

[skinremedy]

take a **bleep** class or two lol

[28_20CW]

Great question! well first off I would use printful.com for clothing when I first started. As well as contacted more people to try and get the word out faster! Also would have most likely invested in books on how to write better blog post. However since we just started in May of 2021 I think things are going fairly well!

James Price

Owner of 28:20CW

creativewriting2820@outlook.com

https://creativewriting282.wixsite.com/2820home

[jlaratta66]

Open up in a different location, all business isn't good business. It's ok to fire customers, and NO the customer isn't always right.

[BofBArtStudio]

Starting without debt would have been better.  I think that was our biggest mistake and it took years to get clear of it, and we are 15 months away from Debt Free.   Hooray!! 

Also, we started with a very solid business plan, but didn't realize until into year two that this should be an ever-evolving business plan with adjustments along the way.  Now we are close to celebrating our eighth birthday and we visit that business plan at least twice per year to keep that plan current and relevant.  

[TingalingMoon]

I started out with a blog and had no idea how important or valuable just starting with a business plan in mind would be. It was fun and passion for me years ago on Weebly. So I learned the great insights from my first vlogs and blogs on that topic/category and did some experimenting on. With that information, I started another blog and vlog recently purely for business with a more global category/topic and doing everything correctly to reach a positive result fast. So far, I am ahead of my schedule and I am happy with that! For me, I have to love what I do. If it becomes a chore, I will hate it and not give my best to my clients. So my passion is where I truly have fun and for my second blog, it is moderately fun but it is mainly meant to be a source of income and to one day sell it about 12 to 72 months from now. 

This whole process is super transformational and I love that feeling. I know most entrepreneurs are not or don't show their emotions about their side gig, but I can't help it 😃

[Fetacm17]

I love this and will implement this into my business plan now