It’s episode 155, and 3 years since I started this podcast. I’ve spoken to so many wonderful product creators and people who support product creators over the last three years, and I have learned so much from absolutely everyone that I spoke to. To celebrate I have put together a compilation of some of the best advice I have heard over the years.If you want to launch your own product or are just in need of a friendly boost this is the episode to listen to!
Listen in to hear top tips from:
- Stephanie Orr, (01:10)
- Meera Bhogal, (02:05)
- Iain Moore, BGreater Shoes (03:15)
- Laura Gillett, (05:29)
- Louise Almond, (06:56)
- Demi Pendakis, Find Your Glow Ltd (08:04)
- Cara Sayer, Snooze Shade (09:20)
- Claire Grant, OriOrso (11:45)
- Vic Wood, Greener Beauty (12:54)
- Marieke Syed, Snackzilla (14:01)
- Ciara Westhead, Pico UK (15:13)
- Trish ODwyer, Autism Threads (20:02)
- Raksha Patel, Reflect With Raksha (21:43)
- Charlotte Phillips, Rugsy Lugsy (23:14)
- Puvan Briah, (24:29)
- Amanda Davey, Tilia Publishing (25:21)
- Georgina Robinson, Juniper Studio (25:54)
- Em Royston, Chasing Threads (28:25)
- Tas, Very Craft Tea (30:32)
- Janet Murray, (33:32)
USEFUL RESOURCES:
Listen to the episodes in full:
Episode 102 Taking part in an accelerator to grow your business – with Stephanie Orr
Episode 101 How to create an integrated range of products & services – with Meera Bhogal
Episode 149 Selling a product people don’t know they need – with Iain Moore – BGreater Shoes
Episode 130 Getting ready to launch your first product- with Laura Gillett
Episode 87 Getting ready to launch your first product – with Louise Almond
Episode 133 Leaving your career to start a new business – with Demi Pendakis – Find Your Glow Ltd
Episode 88 Why your product needs to be on Amazon – with Cara Sayer, Snooze Shade
Episode 136 How to create a children’s fashion brand – with Claire Grant – OriOrso
Episode 138 Sourcing and selling sustainable products – with Vic Wood – Greener Beauty
Episode 125 Selling sustainable partywear – with Ciara Westhead – Pico UK
Episode 105 Creating products with a cause – with Trish ODwyer – Autism Threads
Episode 109 3D printing your own products to sell – with Raksha Patel, Reflect with Raksha
Episode 104 Creating a business you love – with Charlotte Phillips, Rugsy Lugsy
Episode 86 Pivoting your product based business – with Puvan Briah
Episode 11, Moving your products business online – with Amanda Davey, Tilia Publishing
Episode 110 Creating a Sustainable Business – Georgina Robinson – Juniper Studio
Episode 148 Selling to retailers using wholesale platforms – with Em Royston- Chasing Threads
Episode 124 The importance of knowing your numbers – with Tas – Very Craft Tea
Episode 84 Creating and selling planners – with Janet Murray
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Transcript
Welcome to the Bring Your Product Idea to Life podcast.
Speaker:This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling
Speaker:products, or if you'd like to create your own product to sell.
Speaker:I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert.
Speaker:Every week I share friendly, practical advice, as well as inspirational
Speaker:stories from small businesses.
Speaker:Let's get started.
Vicki Weinberg:Hello and welcome to a very special episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Not only is this episode 155.
Vicki Weinberg:It's actually almost three years to the, today, to the very first
Vicki Weinberg:episode of this podcast was launched, which is just incredible to me.
Vicki Weinberg:I launched this podcast during a pandemic, which obviously wasn't the plan.
Vicki Weinberg:And um, here we are three, three years later.
Vicki Weinberg:I've spoken to so many wonderful product creators and people who support crop
Vicki Weinberg:product creators over the last three years, and I have learned so much from
Vicki Weinberg:absolutely everyone that I spoke to.
Vicki Weinberg:One very popular episode I.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I think it was two years ago now.
Vicki Weinberg:Wow.
Vicki Weinberg:Was advice from product creators.
Vicki Weinberg:So I ask everyone at the end of the episode their number one piece of advice
Vicki Weinberg:and yeah, this is a compilation of some of the advice that I've heard over
Vicki Weinberg:the years, so I really hope you enjoy.
Vicki Weinberg:Up first is Stephanie Orr.
Vicki Weinberg:And Stephanie has some great advice kick us off because her advice is
Vicki Weinberg:all about just getting started.
Stephanie Orr:Just start, just try it, put it out there.
Stephanie Orr:I mean, I probably should take that advice myself because I do have about
Stephanie Orr:five new products sat here that I haven't put out in the world yet.
Stephanie Orr:Um, but I think that is the biggest thing is, you know, put it out there.
Stephanie Orr:It, it might not sell, but at least you'll know then, and you can develop
Stephanie Orr:it in and you know change it and hone it until it's something that
Stephanie Orr:does sell or it might sell amazingly.
Stephanie Orr:And, you know, you'll surprise yourself and give yourself that massive
Stephanie Orr:boost of confidence to go again.
Stephanie Orr:Um, so yeah, I think it's, you know, just get started.
Stephanie Orr:Just get, get it out there somehow some way, whether it's your own
Stephanie Orr:website or Etsy or pop-up shops, or just put it out there and see.
Stephanie Orr:Try it.
Vicki Weinberg:Uh, my next piece of advice comes from Meera Bhogal.
Vicki Weinberg:I really enjoyed listening to this piece of advice because I,
Vicki Weinberg:like probably a lot of us, um, do suffer from imposter syndrome from
Vicki Weinberg:time to time thinking, why me?
Vicki Weinberg:Am I good enough?
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, I think looking at what other people are doing and thinking, oh,
Vicki Weinberg:either I can't do that or why would anyone be interested in what I'm doing?
Vicki Weinberg:Is something that can trip a lot of us up.
Vicki Weinberg:So, um, do listen to this advice from Meera and take it to heart as well.
Vicki Weinberg:Because it's a great, great thing to remember.
Meera Bhogal:I think, um, my top piece of advice is don't be put off by people
Meera Bhogal:saying, but that's already been done.
Meera Bhogal:Yeah, it doesn't matter because you are going to do it
Meera Bhogal:differently to somebody else.
Meera Bhogal:So don't, don't, don't go looking out into, to your competitors or get
Meera Bhogal:overwhelmed by all the people maybe doing the same thing, because just
Meera Bhogal:focus on your own uniqueness and your own creativity and put that into
Meera Bhogal:your product, and that will make your product different to somebody else's.
Meera Bhogal:So don't be put off by however many people are doing things in the marketplace.
Meera Bhogal:There will always be somebody who will be interested in what you are doing.
Meera Bhogal:As long as that product is, is a piece of you, um, it will work.
Meera Bhogal:So my next piece of advice comes from Iain Moore . When Iain's episode first came
Meera Bhogal:out, a few of you actually contacted me to say this advice really resonated with you.
Meera Bhogal:Um, it resonated with me too actually.
Meera Bhogal:Some of you may know that something I say quite often is that, um,
Meera Bhogal:done is better than perfect.
Meera Bhogal:I really do believe that, and I think Ian's advice is really good
Meera Bhogal:for anyone who sometimes can suffer a little bit with procrastination and,
Meera Bhogal:um, putting off, making decisions.
Iain Moore:So I've been trying to actually give this some thought, and
Iain Moore:I don't know if I could say that, you know, I'm definitely not far enough
Iain Moore:down the line to be saying this is what other people should be doing, but
Iain Moore:I can definitely say what has worked well for me and I would say, If you're
Iain Moore:trying to make a decision, you're never going to be a hundred percent sure.
Iain Moore:So for me, I was trying to get to, am I about 75% sure this is the right decision,
Iain Moore:and if it is, that's my threshold, and then I go, fine, let's go with it.
Iain Moore:Because otherwise you can just drag things out for so long trying to
Iain Moore:find the perfect, you know, answers what, you know, the perfect shoe
Iain Moore:design or, or whatever it might be.
Iain Moore:Whereas actually I'm like, no.
Iain Moore:Is it 75% there?
Iain Moore:Yes.
Iain Moore:Good.
Iain Moore:That's good enough for me.
Iain Moore:And then I'll start doing whatever it is and if it doesn't work, and it just means
Iain Moore:you've learnt faster and you know, so, you know, when, I'll give you an example.
Iain Moore:When we first launched, because everyone has to be mindful of, of the environments
Iain Moore:and stuff, we, we wrapped our shoes to post them out in, um, paper with sort
Iain Moore:of nice, um, eco paper tape on top.
Iain Moore:And it was like, yep, this is the way I'm going.
Iain Moore:You know, 75%, I'm sure that this is the right option.
Iain Moore:And we started.
Iain Moore:And within a couple of weeks I was like, Nope, it doesn't work.
Iain Moore:Uh, just because of the amount of time, even though it was, you know,
Iain Moore:I mean it was, this taken me sort of, you know, 40 seconds I think to
Iain Moore:wrap up, uh, just a box by itself.
Iain Moore:But even still, when you're posting so many, it didn't work.
Iain Moore:But rather than spending ages and everything getting
Iain Moore:delayed, I made the decision.
Iain Moore:I started going down that path and I just learned faster that
Iain Moore:it did, does or doesn't work.
Iain Moore:And yeah, that, that's something which has really helped.
Vicki Weinberg:Next we are hearing from Laura Gillett from Stomperz Shoes.
Vicki Weinberg:It probably won't surprise you to know that I absolutely loved Laura's
Vicki Weinberg:piece of advice because it is all about the importance of research,
Vicki Weinberg:um, which is something that I feel really, really strongly about.
Vicki Weinberg:But, um, rather than me tell you that again, I'd love you now
Vicki Weinberg:to hear what Laura has to say.
Laura Gillet:So I thought really hard about this question actually,
Laura Gillet:and I kept changing my mind.
Laura Gillet:But I think my number one piece of advice would be to spend your time before you
Laura Gillet:spend your money on really doing your research into your market market, sorry,
Laura Gillet:your customer, um, making sure that there is definitely an opportunity out there.
Laura Gillet:I obviously knew the product well because I was the target market.
Laura Gillet:I was the parent who couldn't find shoes, and I knew exactly what a parent
Laura Gillet:needed, but I had to still do a lot of research into what was available.
Laura Gillet:How many other parents out there were having that problem before I decided to.
Laura Gillet:Any of my own money to the project.
Laura Gillet:Um, because the last thing that you want to do is get very excited that you found
Laura Gillet:this niche, you found a gap, chucked lots of money in and then realize that actually
Laura Gillet:there isn't anything out there or there is something out there that you've missed.
Laura Gillet:So I definitely think that spending your time before your money is a
Laura Gillet:really, really important point.
Vicki Weinberg:So we've just heard Laura talk about the
Vicki Weinberg:importance of doing your research.
Vicki Weinberg:The next piece of advice follows on from this really nicely.
Vicki Weinberg:It's from Louise Almond, and Louise is talking about how it's
Vicki Weinberg:really important to be willing to adapt your idea based on what you
Vicki Weinberg:actually find out in your research.
Louise Almond:I think just have a, have a really good plan.
Louise Almond:Like understand your customer, understand what it is you are trying to achieve.
Louise Almond:Because it can be very, you can get a bit design fixated, I think.
Louise Almond:And I've seen a lot of people do it.
Louise Almond:Students do it.
Louise Almond:But you know, you have this great idea and you just, you are bit blinkered and
Louise Almond:actually knowing how it's going to work.
Louise Almond:Is there growth in it?
Louise Almond:Can it, can the idea be adjusted?
Louise Almond:Um, can you add pieces to it?
Louise Almond:So, yeah, I think for me it was just, I had to really make sure I understood
Louise Almond:what it was that I was trying to achieve.
Louise Almond:I had an idea, but if I'm going make it a business, what, what
Louise Almond:do I really need to know and how, what would make it successful?
Louise Almond:So it's kind of almost forgetting your idea in a way.
Louise Almond:Um, so to know that you are actually willing to change your
Louise Almond:ideas to suit what is needed.
Louise Almond:Um, so avoid design fix.
Vicki Weinberg:Next up, we are going to hear from Demi
Vicki Weinberg:Pendakis, from Find Your Glow.
Vicki Weinberg:Demi spoke about the importance of being authentic and how authenticity
Vicki Weinberg:can really help a brand, but he also had a bonus second piece of advice because
Vicki Weinberg:you know it is hard to choose just one.
Vicki Weinberg:So listen in to hear the two pieces of advice that Demi really wants you to hear.
Demi Pendakis:Oh, just one.
Demi Pendakis:Um, uh, authentic.
Vicki Weinberg:I'll let, I'll let you have more than one If you need to.
Demi Pendakis:Auth authenticity, just be true to, to, I would say be true
Demi Pendakis:to what it is you're trying to create.
Demi Pendakis:Don't veer from that.
Demi Pendakis:Have it all written down.
Demi Pendakis:Every decision you make, just make sure that it's authentic and nobody, everyone
Demi Pendakis:can tell a contrived brand straight away.
Demi Pendakis:Everyone can tell a copy cat straight away.
Demi Pendakis:Um, so yeah, authe, authenticity and do that by, by researching.
Demi Pendakis:Um, but what I would say is, as a second one is do whatever you can
Demi Pendakis:to keep your costs down because it's very, very easy to get out of control.
Demi Pendakis:Um, you think about all the research and developments, et cetera that you're doing.
Demi Pendakis:Um, it just, yeah, just make sure you got, you got an eye over your costs.
Demi Pendakis:But authenticity and, and that, because ultimately it's all cash flow for a young
Demi Pendakis:business, so many, so many businesses closed within the first three years just
Demi Pendakis:purely because of cash flow as well.
Demi Pendakis:Uh, so from my perspective, you've got, you've got to have an eye on
Demi Pendakis:that and whatever you're developing.
Vicki Weinberg:So up now is Cara Sayer from Snooze Shade.
Vicki Weinberg:So Cara again had two pieces of advice for us, so you're definitely getting
Vicki Weinberg:some bonus advice this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, following on from Demi, talking about being authentic, that's actually
Vicki Weinberg:something else that Cara touches on on in her advice, um, which I
Vicki Weinberg:thought was really interesting.
Vicki Weinberg:And she also speaks about U S P and she had some brilliant points about
Vicki Weinberg:your U S P or unique selling point, um, which is something I haven't
Vicki Weinberg:heard actually say, so it might give you something to think about.
Cara Sayer:I think I would say.
Cara Sayer:Just make sure you are really clear on your U S P, which
Cara Sayer:is your unique selling point.
Cara Sayer:And like I say, that isn't necessarily the unique, unique
Cara Sayer:selling point of the product.
Cara Sayer:It could be the unique selling point of the customer service experience.
Cara Sayer:It could be the unique selling point of how you deliver it and package it.
Cara Sayer:It could be the unique service, unique selling, um, point of the fact that,
Cara Sayer:you know, You sell a tea brand and you donate to, um, you know, elephant
Cara Sayer:sanctuaries in India, you know, whatever it might be, but, but find something.
Cara Sayer:Um, so I'd say there's that one.
Cara Sayer:Find something unique.
Cara Sayer:And the other thing I would say as well is at the Amazon world
Cara Sayer:is full of a lot of people.
Cara Sayer:It's quite funny whenever I go to Amazon events because it's full of people
Cara Sayer:who are selling like, you know, seven, eight figures or whatever, and they,
Cara Sayer:and if you say to them, what do you do?
Cara Sayer:They're like, oh, I'm in the baby category, or I'm in the pets category.
Cara Sayer:And I'm like, oh no.
Cara Sayer:I do Snooze Shade, and they're like, what?
Cara Sayer:Hmm, sorry.
Cara Sayer:You know, because it's all very secretive and no one likes to share what they do.
Cara Sayer:And I'm like, I don't care because I'm a real, I consider myself a, a brand.
Cara Sayer:I just happen to use Amazon as a sales channel.
Cara Sayer:Um, because I would say that, you know, one of my top tips is if
Cara Sayer:you're not afraid of putting your face out there is, you know, add a
Cara Sayer:bit of personality to your listings.
Cara Sayer:On Amazon and, and to your website, make it about the real you or you know,
Cara Sayer:give the, give customers a story because they like stories, they like a to be
Cara Sayer:given a reason why they should support you over some other faceless entity.
Cara Sayer:And you know, if you go to any of my listings, uh, and you're welcome
Cara Sayer:to, they're not, I do them all.
Cara Sayer:They're not particularly brilliantly done.
Cara Sayer:But again, doesn't have to be perfect, just has to work.
Cara Sayer:And you know, you'll see there's pictures of me on there, pictures of my daughter.
Cara Sayer:Um, I talk about the fact that it's invented by a mum, you know,
Cara Sayer:because that is actually part, a very important part of the story.
Cara Sayer:And Amazon particularly, and the internet is quite a
Cara Sayer:faceless personality less place.
Cara Sayer:So the more you can do to make people actually care about why they should buy
Cara Sayer:from you, the better, I think, really.
Vicki Weinberg:Next up, we have some great advice from Claire Grants, and this
Vicki Weinberg:advice is particularly relevant to those of you in the very early days, perhaps
Vicki Weinberg:just starting out with your business.
Claire Grants:It would be, don't be afraid to try everything yourself.
Claire Grants:Um, I, from the outset was very set that I wanted to do every step
Claire Grants:along the way and learn about what it took to actually create a brand.
Claire Grants:And I think there's some amazing experts out there.
Claire Grants:And certainly in time I might outsource more of what I do, but I've learned a
Claire Grants:huge amount from actually having to do the marketing, the sales, the branding.
Claire Grants:Um, I've done every step along the way, and I think that has definitely, um, held
Claire Grants:me in good stead and allowed me to make sure the brands exactly as I want it.
Claire Grants:I think sometimes when you use experts too soon, um, or you outsource things like
Claire Grants:your branding, then it is very expensive.
Claire Grants:So it's a, it's an upfront cost, but it's not always authentic
Claire Grants:to what you wanted it to be.
Claire Grants:Um, and so yeah, that would be my thing is don't be afraid
Claire Grants:to, to try everything yourself.
Claire Grants:Might take a bit longer, but I think it definitely pays off in the end.
Vicki Weinberg:Next up is Vic Wood from Greener Beauty.
Vicki Weinberg:And Vic's advice is actually indirect contradiction really to the advice
Vicki Weinberg:you've just heard from Claire.
Vicki Weinberg:But the reason I chose to include it is because I feel like
Vicki Weinberg:there is no one size fits all.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, not every piece of advice you hear today or anywhere else is going to
Vicki Weinberg:resonate with you or with everyone.
Vicki Weinberg:And um, I think it's really good to get lots and lots of perspectives,
Vicki Weinberg:which is why I love each of these interviews because everyone has
Vicki Weinberg:something else to bring, including the advice that they give.
Vicki Weinberg:So, um, I would love now for you to hear what Vic has to say.
Vic Wood:I think if I could go back and do it all again, I'd
Vic Wood:probably work out a way to work with experts from the beginning.
Vic Wood:And I know that makes it difficult because there's not always the budget
Vic Wood:to do that, but the challenge is, you know, you could spend five years
Vic Wood:doing your own ad campaigns or your own accountants and it just, it
Vic Wood:just will take you so much longer.
Vic Wood:And it's more, not only, it's a time thing, it's also the efficiency thing.
Vic Wood:I would say, you know, do your best to invest as much as you can on
Vic Wood:getting the right people on board.
Vicki Weinberg:Our next piece of advice comes Marieke from Snackzilla.
Vicki Weinberg:Marieke's advice is also relevant to anyone in the really early
Vicki Weinberg:stages of creating a business.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and it's all around asking for help and who you might thinking about asking.
Marieke Syed:I think my number one tip would be before you start, really
Marieke Syed:reach out to other people with similar products and really invite them for
Marieke Syed:a coffee or a phone call and really, you know, drill them for, sorry, drill
Marieke Syed:them for everything that they know.
Marieke Syed:What are the highs?
Marieke Syed:What are the lows?
Marieke Syed:How much money have they really had to invest or raise to make their
Marieke Syed:products successful and just get as much info as you can at that beginning
Marieke Syed:stage before you start investing your time and money into doing anything.
Marieke Syed:Because you just learn so much from, from doing that network and getting
Marieke Syed:that advice from other people.
Marieke Syed:Um, So that's just so important.
Marieke Syed:Before you start, just talk to people who have, who have done it successfully,
Marieke Syed:but also maybe not successfully.
Marieke Syed:Really find out what were the lessons learned so you can take
Marieke Syed:those lessons into your own business.
Vicki Weinberg:Now you're going to hear a little chat
Vicki Weinberg:with Ciara from Pico and myself.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, what we talk about is really more of a mindset, um, hack or trick or point of
Vicki Weinberg:view, or however it is you want to say it.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and by the way, for anyone who listens to the original episode,
Vicki Weinberg:no one has proven me wrong yet.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, so if you think you can please do get in touch because I genuinely
Vicki Weinberg:would love to hear from you.
Ciara:Oh yeah, I saw this.
Ciara:Um, I would say time, just like give it time because you know, we've only been
Ciara:started for three months, but I am in such a different place to where I was
Ciara:when I first started and I'm in such a different place to when before I started.
Ciara:I know so much more now from three months ago and then three months before that I
Ciara:know so much more and you just have to, you know, I think we hear about these
Ciara:overnight successes of people that they start, and that's amazing that they do.
Ciara:They start businesses and they're a success straight away.
Ciara:But actually I think, you know, to start a business, you really do need to have
Ciara:time and you also need to have resilience, which I'm sure, you know, most founders,
Ciara:um, know about You just, you have to keep kind of going and don't burn yourself out.
Ciara:But give yourself time and really, you know.
Ciara:Yeah, I would just say keep going and you'll be, if you're stuck in somewhere
Ciara:right now, take a break and then you, you know, take a, a moment to kind of
Ciara:flip everything over and then in, you'll probably look back in three months
Ciara:time and be like, I got over that, and then onto the next hurdle type thing.
Ciara:So yeah, just, I would say give it time.
Ciara:Give it time to get orders up and give it time to, you know, learn so
Ciara:much more to get to the next stage.
Ciara:Yeah, time.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you.
Vicki Weinberg:I think that's really good advice and you are right because I think it can be really
Vicki Weinberg:tempting to, it would be really tempting to sort of do thing quickly or you can
Vicki Weinberg:get really disheartening that things take time, but I definitely think it's
Vicki Weinberg:worth spending that time and that's all.
Vicki Weinberg:A lot of the, what am I trying to say?
Vicki Weinberg:I think there's so much more time upfront than you realize, but it's all
Vicki Weinberg:the stuff that's really important, like all the research and the stuff that
Vicki Weinberg:feels like maybe you're not actually getting anywhere, but I think it's
Vicki Weinberg:really good groundwork to be doing.
Vicki Weinberg:Definitely, like I think about it when I was just,
Ciara:you know, sat on my, um, desk, um, every morning and
Ciara:Pico was really just a vision.
Ciara:I remember thinking, is it ever going to become like reality?
Ciara:Like at one point I was like, am I really going to get there?
Ciara:And if I can think of myself a year ago, I, I feel like really?
Ciara:Wow, okay.
Ciara:I did it.
Ciara:Like it's just the start and there's so much to come and
Ciara:I'm so, so excited about that.
Ciara:I didn't, in a sense, I didn't think I'd be here at one point, but I am.
Ciara:And then hopefully, you know, I've got visions for the next six months and the
Ciara:next year and hopefully I can look back and be like, I actually did get here.
Ciara:And you know, be proud of that.
Vicki Weinberg:And I think as well that it seems like a long time,
Vicki Weinberg:but then I meant, I was mentioning big one before we start recording
Vicki Weinberg:that we last spoke last year.
Vicki Weinberg:And to me the time in which between we last spoke and speaking to you today,
Vicki Weinberg:when I look at how much you've done in that time, I just go, wow, you've done
Vicki Weinberg:such a lot in a short space of time.
Vicki Weinberg:So I think often we are quite hard on ourselves as well, but um, yeah,
Vicki Weinberg:whenever you speak to any, any sort of company founder, they've always,
Vicki Weinberg:always been working on it for much longer than, than you'd think.
Vicki Weinberg:And actually even a lot of like massive companies now.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and I know we are all small businesses.
Vicki Weinberg:When you even talked to massive companies, they, some of them took like
Vicki Weinberg:5, 10, 15 years to actually get to be.
Vicki Weinberg:You know, a household name or in some cases get to be selling
Vicki Weinberg:anything much at all really, you know, see any kind of success.
Vicki Weinberg:So I just think, yeah, we're often quite hard on ourselves, but it really doesn't
Vicki Weinberg:matter how long it takes, does it?
Ciara:No, I know.
Ciara:And I think that is, again, maybe we have, like I said, you know, we, we see things
Ciara:like I even saw things and I was like, oh, but like you see these overnight success
Ciara:stories and all these kind of things, but mo, I don't think most companies.
Ciara:Actually it does happen like that.
Ciara:Um, so yeah, don't be disheartened that if, you know, I would say don't
Ciara:dishearten if you haven't, if that doesn't happen for you because yeah,
Ciara:there's so many companies that it didn't happen, but they have been
Ciara:huge successors, but it's taken time.
Ciara:So yeah, just give time.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, I think overnight success is actually
Vicki Weinberg:a myth and um, I'm pleased.
Vicki Weinberg:If anyone wants to prove me wrong on that, that's fine, but I would
Vicki Weinberg:say nine times out 10, it's a myth.
Vicki Weinberg:And actually that overnight success has probably been working away quietly
Vicki Weinberg:for much longer than any of us realize.
Ciara:Yeah, I agree.
Ciara:Agree.
Ciara:But yeah, let us know anyone if, um, prove us wrong.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, I'm sure I will be free from all of that.
Vicki Weinberg:We're now going to hear from Trish from Autism Threads.
Vicki Weinberg:Trish's advice follows on really well from what we just heard before from Ciara.
Vicki Weinberg:So I really wanted to share this advice with you and, um, I'm sure
Vicki Weinberg:lots of you will be able to resonate.
Trish:Um, it's a really good, good question, I think don't, don't be
Trish:sort of, um, disillusioned by, you know, or, um, fooled by people's
Trish:success, especially on social media.
Trish:There's the, you, you see it, and you can't help but think all
Trish:of these businesses with their very pretty posts and are, are,
Trish:you know, churning out the sales.
Trish:It, it, that really isn't the truth.
Trish:Um, it takes years, um, pandemics aside and, um, like you suggested
Trish:earlier to, to focus on your passions and your strengths you have.
Trish:You know, you're going to have to work really hard.
Trish:You, things that you do in the background, you won't realize that
Trish:will actually start to generate sales.
Trish:Um, you just have to keep, you have to keep at it.
Trish:And I think my, my, you know, you have to, you have to make it, you
Trish:have to tell yourself, if you are, if you're a personality like me, who's,
Trish:who's not full of self-confidence.
Trish:You have to tell yourself that this is, that this is your business.
Trish:Because when you're a mum and you're working from home and it's
Trish:your own small business, you can't believe how, how unimportant it can
Trish:become to the rest of the family.
Trish:They just seem to assume that it just does its own thing in the background, you know?
Trish:And, and, and you drop everything for loads of washing, for family
Trish:lunches, for school runs for, yeah.
Trish:You have to, you have to keep making it important for yourself you know.
Vicki Weinberg:Last year I spoke to Raksha Patel about how she started up
Vicki Weinberg:her business around bullet journaling.
Vicki Weinberg:Raksha has some great advice to share with us now, as well as, um, a quote
Vicki Weinberg:that she uses, which I absolutely love.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, see if you can spot which one it is.
Raksha:What I would say is that there's a lot to learn, um, in this
Raksha:whole journey, and you only really learn by doing and reflecting.
Raksha:Um, and a, there's a quote that I love that describes this really well.
Raksha:It's, I hear and I forget.
Raksha:I see.
Raksha:And I remember.
Raksha:I do and I understand, and this couldn't be more true because I always
Raksha:thought about starting a business or wanting to work for myself and spent
Raksha:years just putting myself off because I always thought I didn't have any
Raksha:good ideas or I don't know what to do.
Raksha:Um, and it was only after taking that first step of making a video that I
Raksha:really started understanding how to offer something valuable to others.
Raksha:And so it's when you actually try to do something and then reflect on what you've
Raksha:done and refine it along the way, that's when you truly understand your offering.
Raksha:Um, so my advice would be to take a small step, act on one of your thoughts,
Raksha:whether it's just sharing something online or testing, making a small
Raksha:sample of a product to try and sell.
Raksha:Um, the more you try to do something and then reflect and refine it
Raksha:along the way, the closer you get to creating something special.
Vicki Weinberg:Now, Charlotte Phillips has some advice to share with us, and
Vicki Weinberg:Charlotte's advice applies whether you are right at the start of your business.
Vicki Weinberg:But equally, I think whatever stage you are, however long you've been in
Vicki Weinberg:business for, this is definitely something that it's always worth remembering.
Charlotte Phillips:Be adaptable.
Charlotte Phillips:Um, as I've explained to you, we started out with one idea of how
Charlotte Phillips:we were going to run the business.
Charlotte Phillips:We had to change due to a pandemic.
Charlotte Phillips:Um, now I wouldn't ever wish a pandemic on anybody and hopefully
Charlotte Phillips:current situation, um, uh, regardless.
Charlotte Phillips:Um, no one would have to deal with something as big and potentially
Charlotte Phillips:damaging as that when they're setting up.
Charlotte Phillips:But I think, you don't know what the market is going to be like.
Charlotte Phillips:Be it online, be it selling through Amazon, be it selling
Charlotte Phillips:it actually face to face.
Charlotte Phillips:So it's a really good idea to just be adaptable, be ready to change, to tweak.
Charlotte Phillips:Don't go into this with two, set an idea of exactly how it's going to work,
Charlotte Phillips:because I think you're going to set yourself up for failure if you do so.
Charlotte Phillips:That would be my one piece of advice would.
Charlotte Phillips:Be adaptable.
Vicki Weinberg:Next, I'd love you to hear from Puvan Briah.
Vicki Weinberg:She has some great advice for you, which is based on her own experience.
Vicki Weinberg:So if you haven't listened yet to her episode, that's a great one to listen
Vicki Weinberg:to for a bit of context around the advice she's going to share with us.
Puvan Briah:Hmm.
Puvan Briah:I'm trying to think.
Puvan Briah:I want it to be like golden advice.
Puvan Briah:You know?
Puvan Briah:I want it to be like the be all and end all of like advice.
Puvan Briah:I would say change if you feel like it's going to make you happier.
Puvan Briah:If your business isn't making you happy, then why are you doing it?
Puvan Briah:You know, the whole point of it is that it gives you freedom and
Puvan Briah:it it gives you purpose and you can live your life on your terms.
Puvan Briah:Um, and that's why I got in, got into it.
Puvan Briah:So if it's not making you happy, then change it to make you happy.
Puvan Briah:Um, And also additionally, if you have extra stock, sell it and make some money.
Puvan Briah:So yeah, that's my, that's my advice.
Vicki Weinberg:The next advice we're going to hear is from Amanda
Vicki Weinberg:Davy, who actually had two pieces of advice to share with you.
Vicki Weinberg:Don't worry.
Vicki Weinberg:They're really succinct and they are both definitely worth hearing.
Amanda Davy:Can I do two?
Vicki Weinberg:Of course you can.
Amanda Davy:Advice we were given, um, was make your mistakes while you're small.
Amanda Davy:But there's another bit of advice and that is be patient, go for the long game.
Amanda Davy:Not.
Amanda Davy:Not try and do the, the get rich quick models because they blow up
Amanda Davy:and then down again very often.
Vicki Weinberg:Now you're going to hear Georgina Robinson from Juniper
Vicki Weinberg:Studios and myself have a little chat.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, so Georgina had some really great advice.
Vicki Weinberg:It's, um, Georgina did say it, well initially it wasn't about selling
Vicki Weinberg:products, although she did agree in the end that actually it, it is.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, but I think this is great to listen to.
Vicki Weinberg:And to remember when you are having tough times and you're just trying to
Vicki Weinberg:sort of stay in touch with why you're doing what it is that you're doing.
Georgina Robinson:I think it would just be to make sure
Georgina Robinson:you're still having fun with it.
Georgina Robinson:Um, make sure you're enjoying it because I think that really does
Georgina Robinson:come across in, especially as a small business when it tends to be one person
Georgina Robinson:or a few people doing everything.
Georgina Robinson:If you are not passionate about it and enjoying it and doing it for
Georgina Robinson:the right reasons, your content and marketing and and re reason isn't
Georgina Robinson:going to resonate with a customer.
Georgina Robinson:Um, but also it's going to be about your quality of life as well.
Georgina Robinson:Like there's very few people that will choose to work,
Georgina Robinson:um, if they didn't need to.
Georgina Robinson:But actually it, I don't know, it's not, I'm not making sense.
Georgina Robinson:Are making sense.
Vicki Weinberg:You are making sense.
Vicki Weinberg:I think you're right.
Vicki Weinberg:Because I think you need to enjoy it because, um, otherwise
Vicki Weinberg:it's a job and I guess.
Vicki Weinberg:But a lot of us, if we didn't want to be doing what we were
Vicki Weinberg:doing, would go and get a job.
Vicki Weinberg:Mm-hmm.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, so you have the, I I agree.
Vicki Weinberg:You have to, you have to want to do it because running a business isn't easy and
Vicki Weinberg:you know, you have to put in hours, maybe, you know, work more hours, maybe you'd
Vicki Weinberg:like to, and you know, the income might not always be where you want it to be.
Vicki Weinberg:So I think you do have to have that reason to keep going, because it's hard, and I
Vicki Weinberg:think if you're not enjoying it, then it's much harder to keep going when you have
Vicki Weinberg:those hard days or weeks or months even.
Georgina Robinson:Yeah.
Georgina Robinson:Yeah, I, yeah, I think that's what I'm getting at, basically.
Georgina Robinson:And just keep checking in with yourself and make sure that you are, because it's
Georgina Robinson:really stressful and it's really hard work and the hours are actually way longer
Georgina Robinson:than if you're working for someone else.
Georgina Robinson:But obviously there's the huge perks of working for yourself and
Georgina Robinson:running your own business as well.
Georgina Robinson:Um, but yeah, I think my biggest thing is just keep checking in with yourself and
Georgina Robinson:making sure you're still doing it for the right reasons and for you and your family.
Georgina Robinson:Um, I guess it's not really a tip on how to get your product out there and
Georgina Robinson:sell it, but um, ultimately I think it actually is because I think it
Georgina Robinson:does come through in small businesses as a whole when someone is genuinely
Georgina Robinson:enjoying and loving what they do.
Vicki Weinberg:Em Royston from Chasing Threads is now going to share some
Vicki Weinberg:advice with us, um, which is something that I've definitely taken on board
Vicki Weinberg:myself over the last few years.
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, I think while you're listening to this, it actually might
Vicki Weinberg:be worth thinking for yourself.
Vicki Weinberg:How much of a good boss are you?
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, love to know your thoughts on this.
Em Royston:Yeah, no problem.
Em Royston:I think it's probably maybe more down to kind of how I think, you know, a lot
Em Royston:of product creators and small businesses work on their own and the whole kind
Em Royston:of, um, The benefit of, of having your own business is, you know, that
Em Royston:flexibility of lifestyle and, um, but I think that can be quite hard to kind
Em Royston:of, to work with your own energy and like, you know, work with your own time
Em Royston:when you are feeling creative and when you are feeling actually, like, I can't,
Em Royston:I don't, I don't feel creative today.
Em Royston:But, you know, um, I base, I guess basically what I'm trying to say is like
Em Royston:the whole point of, of being your own boss is to be a good boss to yourself
Em Royston:and not sort of give yourself a hard time if things aren't like going that well.
Em Royston:I, I used to just set myself kind of a nine to six working day, but actually
Em Royston:I found that that's not necessarily the best way to be productive.
Em Royston:And you know, if I'm just sat on my computer just not really achieving
Em Royston:anything, then I do just go for a walk and listen to podcast.
Em Royston:Or I'm lucky that I can stitch as part of my kind of work.
Em Royston:Um, even though it feels really weird, especially like a cross
Em Royston:stitch, uh, sorry, a trade show time when I'm trying to stitch up samples
Em Royston:and I'm manically cross stitching.
Em Royston:It doesn't feel like.
Em Royston:But, um, yeah, I think just kind of, yeah, allowing yourself to, to use
Em Royston:time as, as it works for you and, and give yourself a break if you know
Em Royston:it's not all happening every day.
Em Royston:Because I think I went through a few years at the beginning when I really did
Em Royston:late hours and weekends, and I really put all of my energy into my business.
Em Royston:And that's, you know, put me in the position I am in now, um,
Em Royston:where I don't necessarily have to burn the candle all the time.
Em Royston:And yeah, just allowing myself to sort of work with my energy
Em Royston:when I'm feeling creative and, and know that it'll come back.
Em Royston:Um, so yeah.
Vicki Weinberg:We are changing gears slightly in this penultimate piece of
Vicki Weinberg:advice and we're going to hear some really practical business advice from our
Vicki Weinberg:last two contributors to this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:So first we can hear from Tas from Very Craft Tea, who's got some really
Vicki Weinberg:practical but useful advice for you.
Tas:That's a really good question.
Tas:Um.
Vicki Weinberg:That's why I leave it till the end because it's true.
Tas:Yeah.
Tas:Lull to a false sense of security being, oh yes.
Tas:This is a lot harder question . Um, I really, th.
Tas:Oh, I think the main thing is, is getting your numbers right.
Tas:I can't stress this enough about everything.
Tas:So I have this spreadsheet and it's, I don't know, I think it's about 27
Tas:columns long or something like that.
Tas:And it talk and it goes through every single bit of costs that it takes
Tas:for me to produce either a bag of tea to sell or a craft kit to sell.
Tas:Um, and it talks about bags, labels, uh, processing costs on the website.
Tas:Uh, so, you know, so like, um, so I, my websites do Shopify, so it'll, um,
Tas:the cost that Shopify take per sale.
Tas:Postage how much?
Tas:Um, you know, PayPal takes all these sorts of things and it all works, and
Tas:I've done it every single point and then work out how much it costs to
Tas:sell that before I end up with a price.
Tas:I didn't do that for about two and a half, uh, no, probably longer
Tas:than that, probably three years.
Tas:I hadn't had that and I worked out that I was selling cheaper than it
Tas:was costing me to, to make it, which is not really a good thing when
Tas:you're, when you're in a business.
Tas:So, um, so, um, so yeah, so if I could start again, that would definitely
Tas:be it, because not O one I guess it would is obviously you don't get into
Tas:the thing that I was, that you're not selling things cheaper than what you are.
Tas:It's costing you to get and make, um, two, it you'll be able to build
Tas:in quite a nice, uh, you know, margin or profit for you as well.
Tas:But also like three is like you can build in potential uplifts and
Tas:costs that you, that you might incur from like, uh, you know, like, you
Tas:know, uh, over the pandemic, like nobody could get cardboard boxes and
Tas:cardboard boxes that I was buying for 30 p went up to like a pound 50 each.
Tas:And it was, you know, and all these sorts of things.
Tas:And it was, you can take a little bit of the hit of that for a small
Tas:amount of time, but not if it was for, for, you know, forever.
Tas:So it's, you can work out, you can change, you know, small amount of figures, you
Tas:know, your figures in this, you know, in your spreadsheet to say, you know,
Tas:if it did go up a thousand percent, how much is that going to affect the,
Tas:you know, what I end up getting or, you know, will I have to pass that cost
Tas:onto the consumer and how, if I do, how do I, you know, explain that to them?
Tas:How do I mitigate that if I can, or all these sorts of things.
Tas:So yes, my one piece of advice would be to make sure your numbers are correct
Tas:because it will end, it will save so much heartache and headache later on when you
Tas:have up in your prices, um, because you've not factored that in until the beginning.
Vicki Weinberg:Our very final piece of advice comes from Janet Murray, and to
Vicki Weinberg:give a little bit of context, I asked Janet for her number one piece of advice
Vicki Weinberg:for creating content around your products because I know that's something that
Vicki Weinberg:a lot of us can find really tricky.
Vicki Weinberg:And Janet is an expert in this area, so here she is with her advice for us.
Janet Murray:I think it will be to almost put your product aside and to
Janet Murray:focus on your ideal customer or client.
Janet Murray:What problems does your product or service solve for them?
Janet Murray:that's key.
Janet Murray:But also what problems have they got that would bring you bring them
Janet Murray:to your product in the first place?
Janet Murray:So to use, you know, hair products as an example, my daughter does the curly, the
Janet Murray:curly girl method, and I've bought her all sorts of stuff like silk caps and
Janet Murray:silk pillows and all that kind of stuff.
Janet Murray:Like, just really thinking what else would that person,
Janet Murray:you know, want information on?
Janet Murray:Like my daughter?
Janet Murray:Multitude of videos on how to, you know, you sell, you might sell silk
Janet Murray:caps, but actually your ideal client is also looking for the best brush to buy,
Janet Murray:or they're also looking for the best, um, leave in conditioner or whatever.
Janet Murray:And, and actually sometimes it's, bit about being brave enough to
Janet Murray:talk about other people's products or methods because that's what your
Janet Murray:ideal customers or clients want.
Janet Murray:And rather than making them not buy your stuff, it will bring them closer
Janet Murray:because they will see you as an expert.
Janet Murray:That's my actually top tip actually to finish is you.
Janet Murray:Instead of seeing yourself as someone who sells a product, see yourself as
Janet Murray:an expert in the problem that your product solves, if that makes sense.
Vicki Weinberg:So that is it, that is all of our advice for this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:So thank you so much for all the contributors to this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, you may not have known you were going to make it here, but you did.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, thank you so much for sharing your advice.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening.
Vicki Weinberg:I really hope you find these episodes valuable.
Vicki Weinberg:I know that when I ask this question at the end of each podcast interview I
Vicki Weinberg:do, I always get such, you know, such unique answers, such different answers,
Vicki Weinberg:but ultimately such valuable advice.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and I think it's really great to have this all in one place so that people can,
Vicki Weinberg:you know, just pick up these top tips.
Vicki Weinberg:It's great hearing everyone's stories and everyone's journeys, but I love
Vicki Weinberg:hearing what people say to this question, and I hope that you do too.
Vicki Weinberg:So thank you for listening all the way to the end of this very special episode.
Vicki Weinberg:I can't believe I've been doing this for three years now.
Vicki Weinberg:That's such a long time.
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, in some ways, in other ways not.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you again for being here and if this is your very first listen.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you as well for giving this podcast a try.
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, I will be back with another episode for you next week.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Do remember that you can get the full back catalogue and lots of free resources
Vicki Weinberg:on my website, vicki weinberg.com.
Vicki Weinberg:Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it,
Vicki Weinberg:and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful.