If you are thinking about opening a bakery or other small business in 2023, make sure you do this one thing….
Start. That’s really what your goal should be. Just start. I say that because I hesitated for so long to start my business. I had a variety of reasons. I was overwhelmed with details, questions I didn’t have answers to, where to start in general, how I would find the time, and definitely a fear of failure and embarrassment. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have read that when I first started there, I blocked my adult children from my account. I even blocked the majority of my coworkers. I needed time to work through my own insecurities as well as my knowledge (or lack thereof) of the platform and being an entrepreneur in general. Side note: I eventually told my kids and they are my biggest supporters.
But the REAL reason I encourage you to start immediately is because, if you are anything like me, you will go through a period of trying to figure it all out. There is really no way around this trial period. You simply don’t know what you don’t know and the sooner you get going, the sooner you will begin to build your knowledge and skill…which means the closer you will be to earning a full-time salary. If it helps you at all, here is what I would tell myself if I could go back:
1. You don’t have to have it all figured out. Just start…and the details will slowly come together. When I finally started, I did not have a business plan, or clear goals, or a clear vision. If I would have waited until I had sorted all of that out, I probably would have never started at all.
2. It’s okay to change your mind. Don’t get hung up on needing the “perfect” idea. It’s okay to change and adjust as you go. I began with a cake sprinkle business and sold gourmet, hand-crafted sprinkles. After some time, I transitioned the sprinkles to a seasonal “collection” release only and focused more on items that were not as likely to be seen as a luxury item and more likely to sell consistently (i.e. baked goods).
3. Don’t let your perfectionism prevent you from starting. This was a real struggle for me. I like to do things well and I don’t like to publicly fail (does anyone?). But perfectionism can also prevent us from growing and becoming life-long learners. It will keep us stuck and unwilling to take risks. Imagine all the things we could accomplish if we set out with the mindset that we were going to learn something, not that we were going to be an immediate expert of something.
4. Think of your entire business as an experiment. I believe this is the one thing that has really helped me to develop a successful business. After some time, I began to look at every decision and every success or failure as a data collection opportunity. The more I analyzed my results, the more knowledge I gained and the more that knowledge helped me with the next decision. Each time my results revealed data that I had or had not expected, my hypothesis for the next decision was grounded in even more knowledge and experience. I had to be okay with not succeeding right away, or all the time. I’ve always told my own children…success teaches you nothing. It is failure that teaches you the most, makes you wise, and provides you the opportunity to help others. I had to really remind myself to take my own advice.
5. And, finally, what’s the worst that could happen? I tend to overanalyze frequently and, time and time again, I return to this question to help me get back on track. I take a few minutes to determine, if I make this decision, what is the absolute worst that could happen? Once I’ve determined the worst possible outcome, I then decide if it is something I would survive, something I would be able to work through. Almost always, it ends up not being nearly as bad as I’ve made it out in my head and I bet that will be the same for you too.
So get started asap. The more time you allow to pass by, the further away you are from becoming an expert in your field. And, besides, what is the worst that could happen?
