I am a planner BIG TIME, so when I decided I wanted to launch my small business I read a bunch of business books and articles, wrote an extensive business plan, and tried to create the perfect business blueprint so I wouldn’t be caught off guard by anything. I wanted to know exactly what I was doing and what would happen before I jumped in. And this helped me immensely (you definitely need to do the planning)! But I’ve also learned so much in my first days as a small business owner that all of my plans and blueprints ended up having to go through some major revisions. There are some things you just can’t learn from a business book, like what product/services you offer will be most successful, what social media strategies actually work best for you and your audience, and how they will respond to the content you create.

The planning and strategizing is a great and necessary starting point, but you have to learn as you go and be open to changing things as you gain the experience.

I’m going to be honest; my business plans and ideas were way too big when I launched. There were so many things I wanted to do and accomplish when I started out that I really overloaded myself and lost track of my core purpose. In order to develop a stronger brand and business I had to shrink and simplify my grand business plan (twice actually) so that I could better serve my audience and customers, creating quality content and products for them. Don’t do what I did! Start small and keep it simple so that you don’t overwhelm yourself or muddy up your brand purpose. You can always grow your business and add to it later.

It’s tempting to try to utilize all of the social media platforms you know of, especially with all of the social media scheduling apps out there and new platforms popping up regularly. The more platforms you use the more people you reach and the more audience/customers you gain, right? Well, you might reach more people, but you won’t have time to do literally anything else, even with the best scheduling tools. Social media is a lot of damn work! That’s why big businesses hire full teams to manage their platforms. Your best bet is to pick just a few that best fit your needs and audience and be consistent about posting to them.

It’s still going to be a lot of work, but focusing on quality over quality will get you further in the long run.

Since simplifying my own social media marketing strategies I have gained back so much time that I am now able to use to create better content and products.

I launch new products, post to the blog, handle business grunt work, and schedule my social media posts on the same days each week. By keeping my weekly schedule consistent and repetitive week to week, it allows me to more easily add more into my schedule and saves so much time when planning out my week. Also, your audience will appreciate a consistent posting and product launch schedule.

For me this is creative work like lettering and sign painting. There is always going to be more work to do and it’s easy to get caught up in your to-do list, but if your only focusing on those things you’re going to be miserable, burnt out, and your business will suffer for it. When I started out my to-do list was all I worried about and I quickly lost track of why I started my business and the things that set it apart. But when I started making time to create new hand-lettered illustrations and painted signs, even if I didn’t have an commissions, my business did better, I was so much happier, and I felt more connected to my business purpose. Maybe your favorite things to do is write out thank you inserts for packages going out. Or planning and running photoshoots. Whatever it is make sure you are making time for the things that keep you passionate.

Hopefully you found this post helpful and informative! For more useful articles for small business women, coaches, and ladies with side hustles, make sure to check out the rest of my blog and subscribe to stay up to date on my latest content!