5 Things I have learned in my first year of business
I started on this journey, around a year ago. It’s been a sharp learning curve but I am finally starting to see traction and progress. Read more to find out what are the 5 lessons I have learned.
Strive for progress, not perfection
TL/DR
It’s been just over a year since I returned back to Australia at the tail end of travel restrictions in Australia. Since COVID started in 2020, my husband and I had tried to travel back and forth to Australia to see the kids. From March 2020 to August 2021, we spent 18 weeks in some sort of quarantine.
Some of it was easy- at the beginning, you just had to stay at home. We spent 6 weeks doing that in both Australia and Hong Kong. The rest was pretty traumatic- separated from family and friends, not being able to do projects in HK because you couldn’t visit clients’ homes, being cooped up in a tiny room which you had to pay a lot of money, for anywhere between 2 and 3 weeks where life seemed out of your control.
But out of that came this….
I had the time to really think about how I could help my colleagues and I had a bit of time to learn new skills.
During this period, I deep-dived into website design and branding. I learnt all about course creation from email marketing to social media- and there is a lot to learn. I started using different apps. I learned how to shoot video and video lighting. The list goes on. I got into 3D visualisation in a big way!
I have spent hours and hours learning this stuff and I’m pretty happy with what I have learned. Of course, there were things that were a bit of a waste of time and did not resonate with my brand. So with no further ado, let me tell you what worked and what didn’t and what was truly painful.
1. EMAIL LISTS
The thought of building my email list was daunting. I spent so much time learning about improving the content of my offers that actually building an email list seemed very low on my priorities. Actually connecting said email list to my website made my head spin for a while. There were two main difficulties. Firstly, what email service provider to chose? I looked around and I liked two: Convertkit and Flodesk. Being a visual person, I loved Flodesk’s graphics but everything I read about funnels, sequencing etc pointed me to Convertkit. I am still getting to grips with it all. Overall, I’m on the fence as to whether it has been a win.
2. CAMERAS & TECH
I’m a pretty techy person. I love anything that is new and shiny and has features and whistles. I probably spent way too much time and money getting my set up right. As a keen photographer, I shoot with a Leica M9 rangefinder and occasionally with a Canon 5D Mk II, I love street photography and I used to do a lot of it. However, video is a completely different beast.
I ended up shooting my main talking head videos with Panasonic GH5. I have also invested in a Sony ZV1 to shoot more content outside and as a secondary camera. I haven’t done a lot of this- learning video is a bit of a curve and takes a lot of time. But I’ve come a long way. Progress not perfection right?
3. COURAGE ON CAMERA
This is a huge stretch for me. I am not a performer and actually hate being on camera. If you look at my website, you may be left with the impression that I love being photographed. But I hate it. This is a huge stretch for me. All I can say is the more you do it, the better you become. This doesn’t mean that all my posts are perfect and it doesn’t take me hours to film one thing. It does. But I am getting better at it every single day.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGES
I don’t love social media. I am not someone that checks their social media feed numerous times a day and shops from it. However, I am learning to embrace its sense of community and have found a few pages with content that I love. I don’t think I have been doing an excellent job with my Instagram- mostly because I was feeling overwhelmed with it. However, I have made a resolution with myself, not that I am more familiar with the app and how it works, to ensure that I post more mindfully rather than just posting once a day with little thought of the overall look and feel. I was doing the overall direction and then getting my VA to post but this is not working for me anymore. I have to take more control.
5. GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME
The fifth lesson I have learned, and probably the most important, is that all things take time. It has taken me a lot longer to get this business going- probably because I have had design projects going on in the background. Every day I learn something new or some process becomes more polished and assured. I know now a lot more about branding, websites, tech and organising design management than I did this time last year. It makes me think about how much I will grow in the coming year. I can’t wait!
It is incremental change that will be the most significant leap for your business. If you think you can just set and forget and not be constantly pivoting, adjusting and readjusting think again. Every day there will be new designers and more competition, but on the flip side there will be other projects and opportunities. You just have to be open to small wins and the big ones will follow.
Check out our courses on branding and websites specifically for interior designers just like you who want to start and scale up their interior design businesses.
