Tips To Start, Scale And Succeed In Your Small Business

hello everyone and welcome to collab conversations i'm jen from women's collab and i'll be your host for today's conversation with an absolute rock star entrepreneur she is the founder of create cultivate a serial entrepreneur best-selling author host of the work party podcast angel investor she's done it all she's the ultimate multi-hyphenate and she is here to answer your questions so please welcome jacqueline johnson hey jacqueline hi hi everyone thank you for tuning in so we are so excited to have you join us today we have lots of questions that were pre-submitted but anybody out there in the audience there's a q a module to the hand side of your screen so if you have questions during the show feel free to ask we'll get to as many as we can in the next 30 minutes and so i'm gonna dive right in um obviously quite a few people have questions about starting a business so let's start with one thing that you think is overlooked as people are in the process of getting started yeah starting a business can feel extremely overwhelming but one of the things i always say is obviously like you have this great idea you want to go out and start this business but there's a lot of sort of legal things you want to take care of early on to set yourself up for success and that would be securing the url that you want for your for your brand checking the trademarks on whatever the company or the company name is making sure you don't run any run into any trademark issues and then also thinking about your goals for the business long term when you're starting a company you're just day to day getting it off the ground but you have to think about what's the next six months year two years three years looking like and are you set up for success for that uh company to be successful in the long term when you're having 10 employees 50 employees etc can feel extremely overwhelming but trust me it's worth it to get all of those legal logistics knocked out at the beginning versus having to deal with it while you're already running the business so a quick follow-up to that uh there's some questions about tech skills so are there tech skills you think people should have in business or are there some that you think people kind of get tripped up on and stuck on that they actually don't need yeah so we're really lucky now when i first started my companies like building a website was the craziest thing like you had to code customize hundreds of thousands of dollars was insane now we're lucky we have tools like squarespace and shopify and you can get up a business so fast online that looks like a million bucks so i would say the tech skills of yesterday are no longer needed to start a business today that being said obviously having really strong tech is vital for your business so making sure that you have the right tools potentially the right employees to implement on those it's extremely crucial but nowadays there's these no code platforms mobile app platforms you're able to build things quickly and iterate quickly as well so good tech is important but tech skills as a founder i would say is less so unless you're building a technology company obviously then you want to have strong tech skills but if that's the case and you have a great idea just bring along a great cto as your co-founder or as your partner on that journey as well that is great advice thank you um so we have a great question that came in from kelly about mentorship she said i mentor many women who lack the confidence to just go for it and start something new or try something totally outside their comfort zone what advice would you give them yes so this is the question that we get a lot i mean confidence is one of those things where it's it's difficult to build on unless you're already doing it and growing it right because you're not confident until you're actually in it confidence always begets confidence is something i like to say but when it comes to starting your own thing it is scary you might fail and i always say the best way to get over that hurdle of being scared to take the leap is realize and become okay with the outcome of failure once you sort of realize worst case scenario is this company fails um i might lose x amount of money um this might happen that might happen people might not like the products as soon as you just go through worst case scenario and accept it for what it is and become okay with that outcome starting something feels way less scary so i think that's something that's really important but also just know a lot of the people out there are winging it they're getting launched starting a business at 80 not 100 so don't overthink it launch it and then iterate from there and then i would say your confidence will come with time and skill and handling tough situations i always joke like when when you become a ceo of a larger company your full-time job is putting out fires so you get more confident in your approach to how to problem-solve create solutions build teams and build companies so don't overthink it become okay with the outcome and go from there so you mentioned um obviously putting out fires and overcoming kind of tough situations can you give everybody sort of an example of one of one of the biggest tough situations that you dealt with and what somebody else could take out of that yeah i mean there's so many um but i would say i mean there's difficulty all the time when you're running a new business i think something that a lot of people were dealing with for instance last year is employees leaving you know after years of being at a company the great resignation was very real and while they might have their reasons to leave a job or whatever it might be um being a small business owner and losing employees especially at a small company can be debilitating for your business so i think you know some of the lessons i've learned from that is one have really open conversations with your employees have an open door policy about what they're looking for is this the right fit for them are they feeling like they're getting the right growth in that way you know whatever it might be and if an employee is looking to leave it shouldn't be this really secretive combative experience like in my mind when employees leave like if they come in and say look i have this incredible job offer i can't turn it down it's you know four times my salary whatever it is just saying like here's my transition plan here's what i'm looking to do here's how i'm going to help you find your next employee having that good relationship and that good exit policy i think is such an important thing for a small business owner especially because two weeks notice as a small business owner is brutal like especially if you are relying on that employee for a large part of the day-to-day of your business so setting yourself up for success with your employees making sure they're happy in the long term having that open door policy having that good exit pause policy where you can help each other out and be good advocates for each other as you sort of you know move on from um that particular position i think is really important so that's something that i think dealing with day-to-day and that was something i know a lot of the small business owners that i personally mentor we're really struggling with how do i get in this rhythm of trying to find a new employee train a new employee bring a new employee on um so really kind of having those policies in place i think is really important yeah that's great even for um people on like larger corporate teams too because your your immediate team if somebody's leaving it could feel just like a small business having that struggle oh great um so judith had a question that feels like a good follow-up here um for those who know that they have untapped potential they're ready to step out into the unknown with confidence what can you share that worked for you when you made your entrepreneurial leap yeah i would say just start by starting like getting out there and getting going and launching your business is like step one step two is being the best promoter for your company talking about it as much as you can getting it out in the world as much as you can cold emailing people for partnerships and things like that you have to be the number one self promoter for your business once it's out there in the world and then from there i would say create momentum around your company so once you launch it almost feels like a wedding where you get like a little depressed after you're like wait i did all this amazing work in this build up and now it's over the launch is over we're out in the world creating little mini launches along the way for your company and little moments of momentum whether that's announcing a partnership working with an influencer i like to call those fireworks so creating fireworks over and above just that big launch moment is crucial to creating momentum and excitement around your business as you continue to grow and build it so you have this idea you're confident you're excited to launch now just keep that momentum going with these fireworks i like to say awesome um and in situations where people are they feel confident going out they're ready to get started but then they they hear some no's and that confidence starts to wane a little bit do you have any advice to build that back up yeah uh get used to no i think that's like a really important method no does not mean no forever it means no for now and i think that's really important to consider when you're getting these nose and nose are okay nodes are just feedback nodes or data points okay they're not ready to work with me right now i'll follow up with them in a year or in six months or in two days whatever whatever works for you i got so many nodes at the beginning of launching my different companies and i still get those today so it's just about figuring out how to take those no's look at them as a potential opportunity down the line and just think it's no for now awesome so we had a few questions about scaling business can you talk about a standout moment of growth in your business and what someone can take away from that and we know you have multiple businesses so feel free to pick one or talk about a few that's good yeah i would say the key to scaling a business is automation that is huge so thinking about how you can create automated processes within your company that don't require you or even human capital to create so things like um asana or sli these little like tools that you can implement within your business so that you're not recreating the wheel every single time and that these things can automate and scale without you being there to answer all those different things a good example of this is um there's these really great instagram tools that you can use to automate messages to people who dm you so for me personally this is something that i think is so incredible but if someone's messaging let's just say crate cultivate typically like it's 10 messages that we get all the time how do i become a speaker how do i sponsor how do i get involved whatever it might be you can automate a chat to go back to that person say hey here's our top 10 frequently asked questions let me know if this helps you in this way to get to that next step from there you're you're eliminating the need for a person to handle the constant influx of hundreds of messages a day by eliminating that person being there but having that process and then obviously if there's a more personalized question or something that is escalated then it can go to a person but creating that automation allows you to scale and grow your business in a way that is efficient and capital efficient as well so with scale i always like to say automation is key is there a way to automate a process within your company so that you can grow and build and do more without bogging down your time and your team um so this next question as as someone who's done freelance graphic design work in the past i relate to this one um we've we've often been asked to do projects and steep discount or for exposure but sage's question is for someone who's leaving a full-time job to start a business and will be relying on that business's income how do you find the right clients specifically clients who are willing to pay full price yes oh my gosh of course well first and foremost i would say if that is your full-time job and you're not in a place where you need exposure or any of those different things definitely always discuss payment up front um i think sometimes people can get far down the line before they have that conversation because maybe they're nervous or they they aren't sure like is their budget right but your time is money so being up front about your cost is extremely important so i always like to say for a graphic designer and obviously things are like you know can flex and change based on the scope have a price sheet hey logo creation is x amount this is x amount like this is how much i typically charge and again say typically because obviously things can change and be clear about what your pricing is and then obviously you can negotiate from there know what your minimum is to like get something done and know what obviously your maximum is and how you want to get that project over the line and then make sure this is something i'm so bullish on for graphic designers that you have a clause in your contract that is specific on the amount of rounds of revisions you're willing to do without additional fees so having two rounds of revisions you know as part of that package and then billing hourly for future revisions that is crucial because you can get into a really tough spot where you maybe you're getting paid full price but then you have to do four different logos because they aren't happy with the logo that they've got so i would say make sure you go out there with a price sheet early on here's my pricing here's my structure here's how i typically work um and then make sure that you have in those rounds of revisions super crucial to make sure that you're actually getting paid the right amount of money for the work that you're doing and then what if somebody was doing more of a product-based business is there something where i mean i know it's not the same as a service business where somebody's going to be asking for discounts and that kind of thing but if you're transitioning from a full-time job going into a product-based business what advice do you have for them to feel comfortable making that move i would say don't hold a ton of inventory so making sure because this is something that i feel like i've been hearing a lot from different um product-based businesses is the supply chain issues are really bad and then they had to buy a lot in bulk based on like you know demand and now they're sitting on heaps of inventory and very nervous about you know their financial future as they're sort of going through this experience so i would say if you're launching a product based business keep low inventory and know your timelines to get that inventory in stock the number one piece of advice i have for someone who's launching a new product business out the gate is pre-sale launch in pre-sale be it get people hyped up excited about your product launch and pre-sale not too far out not like three months out or even two months at like one month out maybe from an actual launch and get that cash in the door to then pay for that inventory out the gate so our next question is from lee and lee's asking how what you would recommend to mitigate risk for someone who is a single income household who's starting a business and wants to know when it's the right time to make that jump from a full-time job to their own thing yes so this is a super popular question i would say is build out your financial runway and think of your current job as your investor in your future business so thinking about what do i need to survive for the next three six and one year so is it a certain amount of money a month that i definitely need to be making and build up i would say at a minimum six months of runway because the reality is to launch a business usually the first six months or a year you're not going to be making any money or bringing home any money you're reinvesting back in that business to get it off the ground so for me i would say have six months of cushion to get that going set a goal for yourself like i need this needs to be generating x amount of income and know that you don't want to dig yourself further in a whole if it's not going well so give yourself that six months of financial runway build in that savings think of your you know current job putting away that cash as your investor in your company to then pay your salary for that six months as you get your business off the ground and then after six months take a minute to look back and reflect is this working is it not working do i see a path where i can really start making money from this business and then make the best decision for yourself from there um so another question came in from ariel when running a small business you often wear many hats how do you choose what to prioritize at different times when you're starting your full-time or small business yes you're wearing all the hats and that kind of lasts for a while my biggest piece of advice is focus on the revenue generating hats focus on the hats that are going to make you money first and foremost and then outsource if possible from there if not i always say like when i was first doing uh my first company i was hr i was financed i was um the seller i was the marketer i was the executor i was doing every single thing and you kind of have to do that for a while but first and foremost i focused on the money making business so getting in those clients through the door because then i knew the more money i could make the sooner i would be able to hire against the things that i was not good at or should not be focusing on so i would say focus on the money makers um and then tiffany has a bit of a strategic question that kind of works in there what is the best way to find your target audience when marketing a new product or service well i think first and foremost when you're about to launch your product you should know who your demographic is or at least who you want your demographic to be who is this product for where do they shop what do they like what are like-minded brands that maybe fit into that category and then from there think about where they live online and offline are they an older demographic and maybe like hanging out on facebook are they a younger demographic and on tick tock or snapchat and really start focusing your energy on where your target audience is and then pay attention to the analytics if you're finding that actually your audience is 45 year old plus women instead of 22 year old women then you need to change up your strategy and start re doing all of your marketing to target that new database of women in that new demographic so things change for sure and obviously there's also times where your demographic grows up with you right so you can launch and be attracting 22 year olds as they grow into 30s or 40s or moms or motherhood or whatever you need to start thinking through how you're changing up your strategy to attract that demographic but before you even launch your product who are you who is your product for who is your demographic you should know that or at least know who you want that to be socials and things like that a question came in i'm seeing a lot of people looking on google and uh website and facebook but i'm not seeing the calls what are the things to avoid on the website or in marketing to get them to call or to come in and this is for a day spa business so brick and mortar getting people through the door is crucial for your business so i would say events are a great strategy for any brick and mortar business experiential building something new so let's say you're a day spa obviously and you want people to come in and like test drive different um services that you have do a partnership with another company or another business in your neighborhood maybe they're your neighbors maybe they're your retail partners maybe whatever and say hey we're going to do a sample sale of jewelry with a really cool brand they're going to do a trunk sale and we're going to be giving out mini facials come join us rsvp you're able to get number one their email acquired and so that way you're able to remarket to them after the fact they get a little mini cool experience at your space where they said wow that was really great i want the full thing and you're cross-promoting with another brand that has a similar audience to what you're trying to achieve so assumingly a female audience that wants spa treatments that is the best way to kind of get people in is these little low lift events that have a lot of fun tied to them maybe even bring on a host and offer that host an influential host a free treatment in exchange for inviting their friends to come to the event those are great ways to get people through the door in your business and that can apply to like any type of retail business truly um and just getting in there because the reality is if you're struggling to get people through the door other businesses are struggling to get people through the door so how can you come together build a partnership create community and acquire those email addresses that's awesome and that community build can be so helpful even just as small business owners being able to talk to each other so that's great um we have another question that's a little bit of a follow-up to something you were talking about earlier with some of those automated automation tools and things um what are some of the tools to market your services what scheduling software do you recommend um they're asking specifically for a demographic 45 and up but really any software recommendations that you have enough yeah so i would say manychat is the platform i use to automate the instagram faqs that i was talking about it's a great platform planoly is also a great platform for planning out your social and obviously having it posts for you hootsuite's also good people like that one as well um so figuring out you know again you don't need to be sitting there on your instagram posting like these can be automated and super easy that they're operating without you and then for emails clavio is something i really like it's it typically works with shopify and that is an email platform you can use to quickly get things out and then there's another one that i'm totally blanking on but that is a really fun video chat that you can do on your website um where it kind of answers real-time faqs from the founder perspective which is a really fun one um but those are the ones that i typically use in terms of like the automation side of things awesome um so moving into a little bit of a different areas generally the idea of success is often just kind of clouded in the idea of just making a lot of money so how did you determine what success really looked like for you and how can somebody else really kind of dig in and figure out what success really means to them and it might mean a lot making a lot of money which is totally cool by all means ladies make money um but if it's if it's not just about making a lot of money what how would you figure out what that really looks like yeah i mean i think the the biggest marker for success for me is that when i wake up am i excited to go to work and really thinking about what that looks like do you dread when you wake up do you dread checking your emails do you dread going to the office you dread having to meet with your employees like that's a very visceral experience and weighs heavily on you physically mentally and through stress so for me like my number one indicator is when i wake up am i happy am i excited am i motivated am i passionate about what i have to do for the day even if that's spreadsheets or emails or whatever right that's how i gauge it success for me personally and then obviously success from a financial perspective is also great to your point like it's not a bad thing to make money and have a successful outcome in that way but usually those things are tied together if you're really happy and excited about what you're doing the money will come and especially if you're passionate and putting it out there if you're miserable day in day out like when that money comes you still might be miserable day in and day out so i think it's really about gauging what excites you what makes you happy what motivates you to get up in the morning awesome um so a small pivot to more of a community kind of conversation so you obviously built an amazing community centered around your crate and cultivate events which were awesome i've attended so thank you for those because they're great um what advice do you have for someone who's in the early stages of building a community how can they really get something going yeah so i would say nowadays like creating cultures around like 10 years so we were like very lucky and very early building out this community around obviously female entrepreneurship and female small business owners now the internet has really changed and the way people connect and communicate has really changed i think the best way to start a community is by going extremely niche into the type of community you want to start so we're seeing things pop up that are specifically for cpg business owners things that are specifically for women of color things that are specifically niched to a specific audience and whatever that is for you whatever that is that relates to you maybe it's businesses that are making under a million dollars businesses that are beauty centric whatever um figuring out those niches and really doubling down on that smaller community and then growing it from there i think that's really important because i think now that we've spent so much time on the internet we're used to zoom we've been on our screens the whole time um we're not just looking for those like wider conversations we want to niche down and get information and education and community within a group that knows exactly what we're going through so thinking about what that niche is for you specifically and doubling down in that category awesome and then a little follow-up to that so for people who are hosting events for those communities um how do you get your audience excited and engaged when you may be a new brand or they may not know the speakers or it's a topic they think they wouldn't be interested in yes so getting people to events i think the best way to do it is word of mouth and finding people to be your advocate so leaning into getting two to three hosts co-hosts people to come in on that event is the best way to get people to their door obviously you'll have your people you know are going to show up for you but get other people involved at the beginning especially to fill that room up and cross promote i think it's again it goes back to that community perspective of like how can we bring in other different event partners to help leverage and build our businesses to be a cooler event so for instance with creighton cultivate when we first started out like no one had any idea who we were we built in a lot of different partnerships and partners to help us get that off the ground so whether it was the ace hotel which obviously the cool name and a cool brand or levi's which people knew those brands helped us crowd the room on a on a event that no one knew what to expect so that's the best way to get people through the door i would say and then again capturing those emails to remarket and get them back through the door again for your next event well i think we're uh we're just about out of time we're a little bit tight here so jacqueline thank you so much for sharing your insights with us again today um we we loved having you at our international women's day event we're so happy that you came back so thank you so much for joining us of course thanks for having me and thanks for tuning in everyone and everybody out there in the audience thank you so much for joining us uh we look forward to having you at more collab conversations if you're not already on the mailing list go over to we are women's collab dot com join the mailing list so you'll be in the know when these kinds of events happen again and again thank you jacqueline and we will see you all soon bye

2022-07-11 23:07

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