Unlocking Success: Overcoming Major Obstacles for your New Business
Allyn Lewis
Starting a business is definitely not for the faint-hearted and if you’re an entrepreneur, you know exactly what I’m talking about! That’s why we’re launching our monthly “Unlocking Success” column! This column is for those days when everything seems to be falling apart and you’re just not sure how much longer you can hold onto your dream for. We often hit a point of frustration where we’re devoting our entire mind, body, soul, and wallet into our business without seeing a significant return on our efforts. That’s the exact moment that you can’t give up because it means you have dedicated your whole self to the point where there is no turning back! To know that you’re not alone we’ve gathered up a bunch of our Key Pointes businesses to give their insight and stories on the business world.
This month we asked, “What is the biggest problem you’ve had to face in starting your business, and how have you overcome it?”
“Time! I want to do everything, and do everything well, but it’s especially difficult when you are a start up. There’s a lot of doubt and questions that can sometimes clog your vision, so you have to be even more confident in yourself and fully accept that you WILL make mistakes. In the end, what’s a mistake if you learn something from it? By starting my business, I’ve learned more about myself than I ever thought possible.” – Crystal Brailey, Owner of Love & Dawn
“As a girl who adores sparkle and has an eye for design, I knew the easy part of launching Pink Bubbly would be styling the brand and selecting items and designers to showcase. However, as a one woman shop, I was the only person to do the technical components that I previously relied on a web team to execute for me. I had never built a website from scratch, filed taxes as a business owner, or dealt with web service providers. Asking questions, researching online, and teaching myself was my only option, and some of these challenges have been my greatest learning experiences. As I charge into the future and continue to learn and grow, I know these experiences will make me stronger, smarter, and more savvy.” – Michelle Michaud, Queen Executive Officer & Fashion Blogger at Pink Bubbly
“As a perfumer, the uniqueness of what I do works as an advantage and a major challenge- many people have never met someone who makes perfume before! Like so many other designers in the beauty and fashion industry, the market already has major name brands, and proving that my products are just as high quality has taken a lot of work. I have overcome this challenge by making great perfumes and letting the product speak for itself- the major part I play is having the confidence to put it in the right hands. Word of mouth is key, and when bloggers are raving about your product and boutique owners are selling out of it- you know you’ve overcome the hurdle!” – Jeanette Price, Owner of Peachy Keen Perfume
“The biggest problem I had when first starting my business was charging people. I used to hate when people asked how much and would under charge. After a while I realized I had to charge what it was worth to be able to make a living from a hobby turned business.” – Stacy Douchard, Owner of Diamond in the Rough
“The biggest problem I faced starting my business was getting people to recognize the product I have to offer. Alpha Fitness Club has everything a person needs to achieve their health and fitness goals and I continue to work at getting that out into the community. Once I gain them as a member, then I need to provide exceptional service to keep them coming back. This is a challenge for me and it’s also a challenge to motivate my staff to follow my lead. I believe the only way to achieve this is to lead by example and to take a hands-on approach to running my business.” – Matthew Matta, Owner of Alpha Fitness Club
“There are always problems that pop up when you are running your own business and part of trying to be successful is working through them. Sometimes you feel like you are doomed but not giving up is the key. This happened to me about 2 years ago when my manufacturer closed up shop. This was the place I went to to get my pearl necklaces hand knotted, my macramé bracelets hand woven, my diamonds set, my diamonds sourced and my molds created. I was devastated because I didn’t know how I would find a place to fulfill all of my needs. It took some time and a lot of leg work but this experience turned out to be a blessing. I learned and grew a lot from this. I met some great people that I work with who are each masterful at their task. I began sourcing my own materials and learned how to do a lot of work myself, which I had previously delegated to others. I cut a lot of my costs and I was therefor able to lower the price of my jewelry. I also got more creative control, being able to manage and oversee everything myself, as well as being able to improve my quality and production. It was truly a blessing in disguise. At one point I was so lost and I didn’t know how I would continue, and now I am so thankful that this happened.” – Alina Skyler, Owner of Skyler Man Jewelry
“The biggest problem I had to overcome when starting my business was finding the right people to have my time. I found that by truly knowing myself and my core values, and establishing a very well-defined culture, it helped to weed out the people who did not belong and attract the people who did. Once you have a team in place that shares the same values you can lead the way want to and really start to grow your business. I found in the beginning that it took a while to really find out what kind of leader I wanted to be, therefore it took time to get the right team. One must really know themselves well and hold true to your beliefs.” – Ashley Thompson, Owner of Elliven Spa
“I would have to say that the biggest problem I faced in starting a business was not knowing exactly what in the world I was doing. Let me elaborate. I have been and figured I’d always be a 9 to 5 chick. I have the ins and outs of that down to a tee. No issue there. However, when the thought of Nikki’s Magic Wand came to me, that’s all I had was the thought. It didn’t come with any knowledge of how to develop it into something you could hold in your hand. So, initially, it was difficult to figure out how to proceed. The idea sat for a bit as I felt overwhelmed by just how much I did NOT know. Then one day, I decided to type this simple phrase into Google, “Manufacturers in Pennsylvania.” The results that populated the page led me down the path of getting a prototype made and then ultimately the final product. This journey has taught me to not only be brave when it comes to tackling new things but to be excited about learning how to do something out your comfort zone. Yes, sales and riches are great but knowledge is something no one can ever take away from you.” – Nicole Manns, Owner of Nikki’s Magic Wand
For me, the hardest part of starting Relevé Public Relations has been securing clients as a brand new PR firm. Typically, the majority of a PR firm’s clients come from referrals, which is impossible to rely on when you’re a new business first building your customer base. Even though my staff and I had a ton of PR experience beforehand, people wanted to see our portfolio and what we had accomplished, which is definitely hard to show when you don’t have any clients yet! How do you show someone they can put their business in your hands without having proof of what you’ve done before? In the early stages of Relevé Public Relations our team started heavily pitching to potential clients. Although responses were coming in, commitments were not being made. Often times the process was drawn out for weeks and weeks only for the potential client to back out. Everyone on the planet is afraid of commitment, PR is no different.
Our team needed to develop a solution that would lock in those pending clients and show them that we have the skills and passion needed to take their businesses to the next level. I’ve also always been baffled by the outrageous hourly rates other PR firms charge. Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to make $300 an hour, but small and new businesses need PR just as much as the larger companies and I wanted to be able to cater to both ends of that spectrum! Combining these factors together, we developed Key Pointes!
The program allows us to create a fantastic stepping stone for developing relationships with those growing businesses without them breaking the bank. It also makes our team relatable because we’re experiencing the stages of being a new business with our clients and subscribers. We understand what they’re going through and thus have a deeper understanding of how we can best help! The program has had its wrinkles of course that we’re smoothing out, but overall, it’s been a major success! I cannot thank all of our subscribers enough for taking a leap of faith with us and trying something new for you business! Moral of the story, creative problem solving is key to business success. Don’t ever be afraid to try something that’s outside of the box if you believe in it!
If you’re a business owner reading this, I’d love to hear your response too in the comments below! So, what is the biggest problem you’ve had to face in starting your business, and how have you overcome it?
With Inspiration,
Allyn <3
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