If you could time travel... What are 3 things you would do differently when starting your business?

[Lovewell]

🏃⏰😅 We learn so much on the fly as business owners! Most of us thought it was one way and life always likes to surprise us! Thought this would be a great question to answer especially if newer businesses see this and maybe we can help someone not repeat the same "mistake" we did or we can just all laugh together! haha

There's the big picture of maybe we wouldn't change a thing because everything is a lesson and makes our story what it is but we have some things on the list that maybe we would have avoided! 

1)Read profit first BEFORE we started the shop. This would have given us such a good foundation. 

2) Start off knowing what lane you're in and that your race is YOUR race. Not getting caught up. in comparison. 

3) Started immediately with square loyalty and online ordering! That was a game changer for us and we are so glad we decided to dive all in with that. 

So if you had the power of time travel.. what 3 things would you do differently in your business when starting up? 

Can't wait to read your insights and all the stories

[maxpete]

This is such a fun question @Lovewell!

Really curious to hear from @Stacelyn24, @PFS36, and @VanKalkerFarms 

[isabelle]

THIS IS JUICY. 

@Twiggy @Bronze_Palms @Sheli @homeprogreen @anucrown @artizansty curious to see your replies! 

[homeprogreen]

Honestly I wouldn’t do much of anything differently. I started out really small and kept expanding as I built up cash flow. For the first 2 1/2 years every penny of profit was invested directly back into the business. 1 thing that I would probably do differently would be to draw up a solid business plan instead of just winging it. That probably would’ve helped me to get to the point of paying myself every week a lot sooner 

[Lovewell]

Business plan or a vision is so key! 

We have to look to it often to make sure we are staying on track. 

[anucrown]

If we could time travel and start Anu'Crown over again, here are three key things we would do differently:

1. **Outline the Trademark Process Early**: From the beginning, we would prioritize securing our brand's trademark to protect our intellectual property. This would have helped safeguard the Anu'Crown name and logo from the start, ensuring we could confidently build our brand without concerns over potential legal issues. Establishing a solid legal foundation earlier would have been a significant advantage.

2. **Identify Accounting Software and Best Practices**: We would have implemented a robust accounting system right from the beginning, focusing on integrating technology to manage our finances efficiently. Having proper software to track expenses, sales, taxes, and profits would have streamlined our operations and saved time. Additionally, adopting best accounting practices from day one would have allowed us to maintain better control over our cash flow and make informed decisions for growth.

3. **Gain a Mentor and Explore Wholesale Options Earlier**: Finding a mentor within the hat industry would have been invaluable, providing us with guidance, industry insights, and business advice from someone who had already succeeded. Additionally, we would have explored the wholesale option much earlier in the process, allowing us to reach a broader audience and form partnerships with retailers who could carry our brand.

[Lovewell]

@anucrown Your number 1! 

We just went to a class about trademarking. We are on the road to get all of our ducks in a row there. Would definitely add that point to our list too! 

[CareyJo]

After being self-employed for over 35 years, the most important thing I know now is that you don't know what you don't know.  Ask questions before you do ANYTHING.  Every city and state has their own laws for business.  Find out what you're required to do before you open, to prevent a problem.

We've had the luxury of previously owning an HVAC business before we opened this one, so we learned from that experience what we would do differently when we started this one.

1.  Know your demographics before you open.  Make sure the clientele you're seeking are the ones who will keep your business running.

2.  I was lucky that I innately knew that we needed to brand ourselves from the beginning.  Read Worth Every Penny first, so that you know what you need to do to brand yourself.  It will teach you how to do that!

3.  Go full boar with the socials from day one!  No matter the industry you're in, that's where everyone is!

[Lovewell]

@CareyJo 

Straight to the point! 

Love this. 

[CareyJo]

Thank you! 😍

[TheRealChipA]

Hmmm.  Where to begin?  I’m going to comply @Lovewell and only list three.  But I’m betting I’m going to have to make hard choices about WHICH three! LOL

First — focus.  After 12 years of Piper’s existence (actually this weekend is our 12th anniversary!), I’d resist the urges to be everything to everyone, to try to do everything better than everyone, etc.  The first concept for Piper’s was ice cream.  I unwisely decided I wanted to add food with a focus on local sourcing and house-made everything (including butter, ketchup, mayo, etc).  It was too much.  Now we only do frozen treats, having exited the insane food business right after the pandemic lockdowns.  Our sales are much better than they were when we had the food component, and the profits are amazing.  These days when anyone asks “you know what you should do,” I reply with “that’s a great idea that sounds like something you should start an ice cream shop and do.”  Be who you are, and do that better than anyone else.  Period.

Second — I wouldn’t let my business be so darned all-consuming.  It’s a lesson I’m learning from my Gen Z employees.  Work is good.  But there should be so much more to life.  If I could go back, I’d hire good, strong managers to help me, knowing that in the end that cost would yield benefits beyond my business right into my personal life.  I wish I’d known twelve years ago that I didn’t need to do everything and be everything to Piper’s, and that it still would have been as successful as it is today, if not more so.  I wish I had erected boundaries and honored them.

Third — Be realistic and go into this wide-eyed.  If you can’t accept failure and learn from it, don’t start a business.  If you can’t walk away from it when it is no longer fun or profitable, don’t start a business.  If you can’t afford to hemorrhage money — especially for the first few years, if not longer — don’t start a business.  When you think you have a good business plan, put it aside for a while.  Then go back and change it and make it better.  Do this a few times.  Then, if you have any doubts, don’t start a business.  Remember that very few people have what it takes to be an entrepreneur, much less to be a successful entrepreneur.  Be brutally honest with yourself about whether or not you are or could be that person.

Yup.  Those are my top three.

[Lovewell]

@TheRealChipA LOVE this answer. Especially the "not being all things to all people" We hear "you know what you should do..." so many times especially opening this new shop and it can be annoying to be honest. When you know your vision it is much easier to ignore those comments. 

Also- Amen to not letting it be all consuming. Some days we are better at that than others. 

We are really working hard on creating an amazing leadership team so we can step back just a little. Our longest time away yet is just around the corner. 19 days of not being in our shop! This will be the true test. 

[Doran]

I am in agreement with number 1 for sure!

But, I'd also go out and look for mentorship.  I've been in business for myself, by myself for so long I see where things were just harder than they had to be because I didn't know better.  

I would take that accounting class I took in college much more seriously!  

[Lovewell]

THIS! Mentorship. We are beyond thankful to be doing this with each other. There is actually 12 years between us sisters. Bit We are just so thankful to have each other. We also did pick a lot of brains before starting. You truly need a great crew and community around you or owning a business can feel super isolating. 

[DinaLRosenberg]

this is a great question..

I think if I could go back in time I think we'd push more on social media (selling) sooner. 

[Lovewell]

Absolutely! Instagram for us is a game changer! 

[Stacelyn24]

If I could time travel and start my business over, there are three key things I would do differently:

1. Implement a Shift System for Nail Technicians: Instead of trying to work around everyone's individual schedules, I would establish fixed shifts right from the start. This would streamline operations, reduce confusion, and create a more consistent work environment for both the technicians and clients.

2. Set Up a Clear and Efficient Time-Off Request Process: I would create a more structured way for technicians to request time off. A clear policy would avoid last-minute gaps in the schedule and ensure the team is well-prepared to handle any changes without impacting client service.

3. Tie Commission Tiers to Performance: Lastly, I would implement a commission structure where levels only increase based on individual performance metrics. This would incentivize growth and skill development from day one, ensuring that top-performing technicians are rewarded accordingly, while maintaining high service standards across the board.

[Lovewell]

This is beautiful! Totally agree on time off requests. We have started this (finally) and it has so far worked so well. 

[VanKalkerFarms]

That is a great question and I think one we have all thought about at one time or another.

1. Think big.  We never thought we would end up with 5 acres of greenhouses and more to come, so we should have planned out the original location and footprint of the whole complex much differently for retail experience and wholesale efficiency.

2. Think long term.  We've moved multiple greenhouse structures over the years because like #1 it made sense at the time but after growing it now didn't.  The 2 points are related.

3. very specific to our situation but go back and mortgage everything and beg/borrow so that we didn't sell half our farm in 1988 because of one of the worst droughts.  Farming is such a gamble and to put out a quarter million and return effectively none and still have all the expenses and labor and insurance etc is a business killer.  So my parents sold 10 of the 23 acres on our home farm to scratch together enough capital to make it through, but going back to #2 it severely limited us into this very narrow and long piece of property that hampers all expansion projects by having to build farther and farther deep into the property.  I was only 11 at the time but it is still one of the things I think about that could really impact our business today.

4.  Buy Apple or Google or Nvidia stock 🤣

[Bronze_Palms]

Love this question!

I have always been number focussed so I am surprised I didn't do this before, but I wish I would have made a payroll plan instead of just scheduling staff when I figured it would be busy. For example, I have a spreadsheet now that calculates how many hours I need to staff for if I am going to earn 10% more same month last year. It reallly helps us with payroll consistency costs and productivity per hour in the salons.

We are still getting the hand of loyalty - we rolled out a referral program that is going well so far.