Have you ever wondered how to create a product to sell? If you’re reading this, chances are you have.
As well as the many common questions I hear from clients, I also hear a lot of concerns and worries.
“Can I afford to do it?” “Has it been done already?” “Will anyone buy it?” And, a big one “Can I do it?”
Once upon a time, this was me too
When I started Tiny Chipmunk, coming up for three years ago, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and where it would all lead. But I had complete confidence that it would work. It had to. My previous business, teaching children’s yoga, just didn’t work with a toddler and a pre-schooler. I wanted to be at home with them, but to do that I needed to at least earn enough to cover pre school fees.
Yes, I could have got a job (I did consider this, more than once), but after over a year of post natal depression, feeling completely lost, I wanted as much time with my children as possible – on my terms.
I listened to lots of podcasts, and spent hours on Google and You Tube, trying to figure out what I needed to do to create a profitable business I could run without needing lots of childcare.
The journey this led me on
While Tiny Chipmunk did well and allowed me to work at home and spend all the time I wanted with my children, the big shift in my confidence, and in my business, came when I realised I could help other people to do the same.
I started getting the occasional request from people I knew, who wanted to create a product and needed help and advice with all or part of the process. Once I had a few happy clients, I had the confidence to start to ask for money for my expertise! (Something I still find tricky.)
The more people I work with, the more results I see. The more my own business grows, the more I learn. And the more value I can add, to everyone, has just boosted my confidence further.
My business, my terms
Now I’m in a place where I really feel like things are on my terms. You’ll see when I launch my new website shortly, that I’m only going to offer a few services – the things I REALLY want to be doing, that I believe add the most value. For the other things, I’ll share tips and tactics to help you do things yourself.
I also feel much more confident to turn down work that isn’t right for me, to turn off email when I need to and to take holidays, not work on the weekends, or reply to messages in the evenings (unless I choose to). My business is definitely feeling more like it’s on my terms – rather than being reactive, as I was initially.
Back when I started out I felt quite lost, as a new entrepreneur and had a habit of chasing after every idea I heard on a podcast / read in a blog / saw someone else was doing on Instagram. Nowadays I still love a good idea – I just keep them all on a (pretty substantial!) list and every once in a while i review it and decide what’s actually right to do now, what I can keep on the list for another time, and what’s actually not a good fit and can be scrapped.
I love a list!
So my confidence journey is an evolution and I’m sure it’s not over.
If you’ve heard me talk about my course, you may have thought to yourself “what qualifies her to do that?”
Fair question. I’ve thought it myself once or twice.
Hopefully my story here has given you some background.
But here’s the thing, while that thought does occasionally creep into my head, I’m able to shut it down pretty quickly nowadays – for two reasons.
- I have the confidence that I’m coming from a good place, wanting to help people add something to their lives and / or businesses and support them through that.
- I have the confidence that I can do a good job, as I’ve seen results – for myself and for clients.
So confidence is pretty key here.
I never actually thought of myself as a confident person. I was always a shy little girl and sometimes I do still feel like her.
For me confidence means an absolute belief that what I’m doing is the right thing, for the right reasons.
I guess it’s a quiet confidence. For anyone who knows me personally I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t say I’m overly loud, outgoing or extroverted.
I think my children both personify this kind of confidence really well. They’re both pretty shy, but they have strong minds and are absolutely set on what they want to do and aren’t swayed by outside influences.
I like this approach!
Confident kids
Why work with me?
The idea for the course came when, just a few months after I’d started consulting, I was completely booked up with clients. Some of what I do is technical, and some is easier with experience, but a lot can be learnt. I like the idea of empowering people to do things for themselves.
The thing is, if you have an idea for a product and no idea where to start and you go through my course, you will learn step-by-step how to do it yourself. Imagine the confidence boost that’ll give you!
It also means that when you want to add the next new product to your range, or implement anything new in your business in fact, you’ll have done it before and have the confidence (and the knowledge) to do it again.
Using myself as an example, a few years ago I’d never have believed I’d be running a course teaching people to do something that, at that point, I’d never even done myself. Yet here I am!
An amazing confidence boost
Once you’ve created that product you’ll not only have another revenue stream, but you’ll have proven to yourself that you can do something that only a month or two ago seemed impossible (or certainly daunting). How powerful is that?!
I hope that gives you a little insight into me, and how and why I feel I can help you! If you prefer to have a chat, book in a free call.
