5 Business Truths We’ve Learned Along the Way

Today is a big day for us at DesignGood. We are celebrating 17 years of helping clients build brands that grow their success! Our anniversary falls on an auspicious day. According to numerology, “building” is one of the themes of 2022. And 2/22 can be seen as “a reminder that you are on the right path and doing the right things in life.”

As we mark this important business milestone, one word keeps coming to mind for me: gratitude. I’m grateful for our clients, our community and our amazing team. I’m also grateful for the journey that brought us here — obstacles and all. 

Running my business today looks totally different than it did 17 years ago. And that change and evolution is what I am most grateful for. Creating a business doesn’t mean that you have to get everything perfect right out of the gate. Instead, it means allowing your business to grow and evolve, just as you do. It means continuing to take steps now that will lay the foundation for your future success. Your brand and your business will always evolve with you. 

So what can you do now that will support where you want to be down the road? What seeds can you plant now to ensure you will have the life and business of your dreams now and in the future? Here are some of my greatest lessons, discoveries and — dare I say — epiphanies from the past 17 years.

• Create more space in your life for the things you want to show up. This is a pretty simple concept, but one that took me quite some time to learn. It’s hard to expect new opportunities to show up when our homes, our offices or our schedules are packed to the gills. Creating space is both metaphorical and physical. If you are wanting to call in some new things this year, it might be time to literally throw some other things away. Making space signals the universe that you are ready for the next wave of growth. When I am feeling stuck, I start throwing things away. I stop saying yes to everything. I rearrange a room, or I create more moments of stillness and reflection. If we are stuck in our business and our physical and emotional clutter, there is no space for the things we truly desire to show up. Out with the old means in with the new. 

• Fly the plane before you're ready. We can get stuck moving forward with creating our brand, business or changes we want to make in our lives because we feel like we have to be 100% clear on where we are headed and have everything perfect before it is birthed into the world. Analysis paralysis, second-guessing yourself and self-doubt can be our greatest personal enemies and dream blockers. If you've got an idea for something you want to create, or a business you’ve been dreaming of, start putting it out there before you have all the final details nailed down. Sometimes it’s in the sharing that those final details come into place. I always tell clients to start doing what they have been dreaming about NOW and then let it naturally evolve and grow. You can always refine and fine tune as you go, but you cannot go back in time. Yes, the timing needs to feel right. But if you know you want to be at a particular place in your career in five years, start flying that plane now. Brands will always evolve, and businesses will always change. It’s the valuable information you get along the way, by being in action, that truly sets things up for your future self and brings those ideas to life. 

• Keep taking the next best step. I love thinking about the big picture. But when you start to think about how to get there, it often seems overwhelming. What I have learned to do is just to focus on the next best step to take. For example, one of my big goals for this year is having a program that anyone can work though to help them move forward on the business of their dreams. Documenting 17 years of knowledge is insanely overwhelming. But documenting it one subject at a time isn’t so bad. I could spin out and start to think about creating videos, making support tools, marketing it and all the other things that have to come after it's done. However, that would just keep me stuck! If I commit to moving forward one next step at a time, that keeps the energy flowing. And it keeps me in the state of creation — a powerful place to be.

• Set yourself up now for things down the road. Even if you might not know exactly what those future things are yet. Many of you have probably heard me say this before. I love to get people dreaming about what their business future looks like. The things I did five, 10, 15 years ago are the things that have set us up for success today. For example, we started building our email list almost 12 years ago, and now we have a very targeted list of subscribers that we know actually care about the things we have to say. Because we have this list, I have more options for other services and offerings we plan on developing this year, because we have an audience to market them to. I have more opportunities, and more ease in where I want to take this company as we head for our 20th year.

• Try something different. Like REALLY different. As I look back on my business, I’m reminded of all the times I thought there was NO WAY I could do things the way I would love to do them. For example, charging a particular amount, not offering something I thought we HAD to, limiting revisions, setting boundaries, only doing full branding projects vs. one-off projects, or giving up a particular task that I thought “only I could do.” But when you're bold and you stand up for the things you dream about, the universe adjusts your circumstances. If you hate doing something, STOP doing it. I promise you something better than you can imagine will take its place. The more things you do that are in alignment with who you are and that keep your vibe high, the more flow you will find in your business.

These are the kinds of things we’ve been helping businesses just like yours do for the past 17 years. We’re ready to do the same for you. If you're looking for that kick in the pants you've been needing to create the brand and business of your dreams, schedule a chat with me now.