Minisode: Thinking Outside of Your Industry

Are you too stuck in your industry? I built my stationery business by doing things differently than everyone and looking at service-based companies. There are three main things I do differently than most stationers, and we're talking about those today. If you're feeling stuck in your business, no matter the industry, it's time to start thinking outside of the box.

There are three main things that I don't do as a stationer, that goes against the grain of the industy. Here is what they are: Styled shoots, working with planners, or doing wedding shows. 

I am going a lot more in-depth on all these topics in this episode, but here are some highlights! 

Styled Shoots. 

My time (and your time) is valuable, and my products (and yours) are valuable. Doing a bunch of free work is not always the right answer. Getting published could be amazing, but it could also get you no business and be a huge waste of time. In my experience, that has been the case. You get out of it, what you put into it.

Planners.

Working with planners has not been in my business model ever. Not to say it's a bad idea, but you can get those high ticket brides or a lot of orders without working with planners. 

One of the main reasons is that I do not meet clients in person ever. Again, not typical for the industry. 

Bridal Shows

I have booked out my calendar every year, being solely an online business, never doing bridal shows. I'm not too fond of the idea of these shows because they are expensive and take you out of the office A LOT. 

So why don't I do these things? Because I don't want to. 100% because I do not want to. 

The moral of this is you can model your business however you want.

I don't do styled shoots. I don't do wedding shows, and I don't meet with my clients in person solely because I do not want to, I serve my customers in different ways. And that's not to say that it's wrong or right. 

How can we look at our business differently to be more successful?

Or maybe it's not more successful. Perhaps you're the same amount of successful, but you enjoy your job a lot more. And in which case, I think you will feel more successful because when we love what we do, it shows up in our business and it shows in our life. I encourage you to think outside the box and outside of your industry. And figure out what it is that we can do as entrepreneurs to take our business to the next level by learning from those other people.