6 Small Business Lessons Learned in 2023
One thing I asked myself in 2023 many times was “what is this all for?” and it wasn’t because I didn’t feel purpose in what I was doing or creating.
It’s actually quite the opposite.
I feel so much purpose in my business and the work I do. So why did I ask this question? Because I often had to remind myself that while the hard work is important, I’ve truthfully been grinding my butt off for this for the last 5 years.
And there haven’t been many breaks in between. I’ve gone through A LOT these past 5 years as a business owner. A lot of joy. Tons of excitement. But honestly if I had to guess, I would say most of the tears I’ve cried over the last 5 years have been related to my business in some way.
Whether it was crying because I was sad to be at my 9-5 while I had to leave my small business work at home, crying because I dreaded telling my employer at my last corporate job that I had to leave, crying because I was so tired I couldn’t think, or crying tears of joy over and over AND OVER again because I couldn’t believe how the Lord has faithfully shown up for me in my business, small business ownership has proved to be quite the emotional journey.
It’s been so hard and so good at the same time. But it’s a really beautiful journey if you stop to smell the flowers every once in a while. And what is this all for anyways? Why did I work so hard to get here?
I did it for the joy of creating.
The freedom of being my own boss.
The freedom in my schedule to do what I want when I want.
That’s why I worked so hard. So when I woke up several days this year feeling like my business was running me rather than me running my business, I had to ask myself several times, “what is this all for?” Because if one of the reasons why I went full time with my business was to have freedom with my schedule, then I need to feel like if I want to go see a movie in the middle of the day for no reason then I can do that. I did this, and you can watch the full day unfold in this vlog here.
And the JOY. The joy of creating. The joy of accomplishing. That’s what I did this for, so I need to experience that fully! Which means celebrating every moment, every win, every victory, big or small. If you never allow yourself to celebrate, to enjoy the fruits of your labor, you’ll wonder why you’re doing this in the first place.
Here are some other things I learned in 2023 as a small business owner…
1. There’s a cost to every dime you make
2023 was a year unlike any other in my business while simultaneously being so similar to years prior. It was completely different because now I’m doing this full time, and I saw quick growth that I thought wouldn’t come for years, but it was the same in that I felt just as exhausted as I had felt in 2022.
So why is this?
There’s more than one answer to this question. For starters, there were many times when I said yes to things I should have said no to. I took on work I didn’t truly have time for. I sacrificed my personal time and health over and over again to trade time for dollars. As much as I love to make a profit, there’s a cost to everything you say yes to and I learned that the hard way this year.
2. Investing in your business is always worth it (even when it feels difficult to part with your hard earned money).
I used to feel so nervous about spending money on my business. From my first canon printer purchase to the time I walked into Best Buy the day after New Year’s with all my graduation money in hand, ready to make the big scary purchase of an iPad that would actually change the trajectory of my life and my business for forever, I’ve always felt some nerves in any “big” purchase I’ve made.
Sure, I’ve made some purchases in my business that didn’t actually end up being worth it. I can admit that. BUT, I’ve also made a lot of purchases in my business that have helped me to continue re-investing in my growth, which is EXTREMELY important to any business owner’s continued success.
When you’re first starting your business, odds are you’re starting like I did, growing it alongside your 9-5. If that’s the case, ideally you’d have a little bit more wiggle room with your business spending to save the money you earn as a business owner and re-invest it back into your business. I understand this may not be the case for everyone, but my point is this: Once you ditch the day job and transition to your small business being the full time income, it begins to feel more difficult to invest money back into your business because you don’t have another salary to fall back on.
So while you’re working another job, especially in the first year of your business, virtually every dollar you make with your small business should be getting re-invested back into your business so that you can continue to grow it.
What they say is true, you’ve got to spend money to make money!
Here are some example of investments you might make back into your business
Tickets to attend conferences or workshops related to your industry
Investing in a coach or mentor for business guidance and support
Online courses or training programs to enhance skills and knowledge
Purchasing new technology such as a laptop or desktop computer
Upgrading software or tools to improve efficiency and productivity
Marketing and advertising campaigns to reach a wider audience
Creating professional branding materials like logos and business cards
Investing in inventory or materials for product-based businesses
Upgrading the quality of the materials you’re using to produce your products
Renting or leasing office space or equipment for a dedicated workspace
3. Document EVERYTHING.
This journey is challenging, sweet, hard, rewarding and everything in between. It goes by in the blink of an eye, trust me.
You may not know yet where your business is going to take you, but there’s a good chance that one day you might wake up and think “wow, I can’t believe how far I’ve come”, and when you do, you’ll want to look back on your memories from when your first started and the journey that led you to where you are now.
Keep a journal, a video diary, a note on your phone, take photos, do it all or do a few, just make sure you’re doing something to track your progress and capture the magic of this journey along the way.
4. Diversifying your income is important, but too many streams of revenue can be a hazard.
Every once in a while for us entrepreneurs, we get a case of shiny object syndrome.
Our creativity is simultaneously one of our biggest strengths and also the very thing that gets us into trouble.
What do I mean by this? We tend to jump around, feel like we need to continuously add more services, and we spread ourselves really, really thin.
I did this in 2023 when I launched my wedding service line. Although I LOVE custom commissions for weddings, I wouldn’t say it’s my niche or what I want to be known for. So why did I launch a service line for it?
That’s a great question. I got inspired one day because I had made a bunch of custom stationary designs for my husband and I’s wedding, and I thought it would be fun and profitable to offer this as a service to others.
In all honesty, this service line has not been all that profitable for me. I’m sharing this for two reasons, one of which is to share the other side of the highlights reels you see on instagram…no business owner is batting a thousand, and the launch of this service line in 2023 is probably one of my more recent “failures”.
I received only a few inquiries for this in 2023, and only booked one wedding this year that actually had the budget I was looking for, and while I’m so grateful for that project, I’m just not sure that opening up a Simply Sophie Designs Weddings service was really the right move for me.
It’s not a space I want to pivot into, it’s just something I thought would make me money and be fun. But the impact it had on my bottom line this year in the grand scheme of things was miniscule. I put a TON of work into the launch of this service line in quarter 1 of 2023. I wasn’t even 6 months into being full time with my business yet, and was desperately trying to take control of my business and scale quickly. It didn’t work!
We all need to be humbled from time to time, and sometimes in our strivings, when we try to control the outcome rather than trusting God’s timing and guidance, we fall flat on our face.
So while I’ve had the pleasure of completing some beautiful wedding stationary designs this year, it wasn’t anywhere near the launch I had dreamed up in my head.
And to really put things into perspective, I spent FAR MORE time putting together the marketing, investing into SEO-optimized content for the web page, and creating samples for my services, than I actually spent working on paying wedding commissions this year.
So if I’m taking into consideration the investment of my time, I actually LOST money on this service/project.
2023 was by far my most profitable year in business yet, I increased my revenue from 2022 to 2023 by over 3x, but this wedding service line was a definitely a failure. So while we’re all sharing our highlights on Instagram (myself included), I hope this goes to show that entrepreneurship is just a never ending journey of trying new things, failing, finding what works and repeating what works for YOU, not what works for someone else.
To circle back to my main point, in my head, when I added this as a “revenue stream” for my business (it was more like a revenue trickle), I though that just the simple act of adding on an additional stream would mean more money. It turns out it doesn’t!
And at the end of the day, the time I took to prepare and promote this offer was actually taking me away from putting effort into promoting and developing the offers I already had that were already working well for me.
I recently saw a post from Boss Babe Inc. that illustrated the danger of doing too many things in your business at once. Their founder, Natalie Ellis, shared how they made their first 7-figures with ONE product. If you’ve got a moment, click here to watch the clip.
The way I approach this is slightly different than Natalie, but I am in full agreement with the principles of her message, and I think it’s an encouraging message to show that you don’t have to have a ton of offers to be successful. I think the important piece of her story though that may not be evident at first glance in this video is that she found one thing that WORKED and stuck with it. I always tell my students, once you find something that works, just keep doing more of that thing. It really can be as simple as that.
What you might not be seeing in this clip though, is the other products Natalie tried. The other business ideas she had, maybe even ones that didn’t quite work out? We all have failed launches, even the successful entrepreneurs that you follow on Instagram. And for most of us, the concept of failure is something the stays with us for the long haul. We’re constantly trying new things, finding out what works and what doesn’t. But the beauty of finding out what doesn’t work is that while it might be failure, it’s kind of like success in disguise. Or a pre-cursor to future success. Because it points us away from what isn’t going to work, and gets us one step close to discovering what WILL.
So how many revenue streams should you have in your business? I don’t know that there’s necessarily one right or wrong answer to this question. But I think what it comes down to is having a focused, narrow set of offerings.
You might have a two offerings or you might have three or four, but it’s a related set of offerings that are profitable and move the needle forward in your business. Anything that isn’t profiting, aligned, or propelling your business forward gets the boot. Don’t waste your time on it, don’t put your effort into promoting it.
Put your effort into what’s ACTUALLY taking your business to the next level, not what you WISH would take your business to the next level.
5. Being TRULY authentic on social media as a business owner
At the very last second of this year, I learned the power of truly showing up authentically and vulnerably and what the truly means for me in this season. I’ve prided myself in the past on being “real” on Instagram, but if I’m really being honest, I think there’s a lot I haven’t shared because of my fear of opening myself up to criticism. What I’ve been missing though is the amazing connection that happens in the midst of making the posts that feel scary to share, even if it a little bit of criticism ends up coming my way in the process.
This connection isn’t just good for my soul as a person, but from a business perspective it IS good for my brand. It helps me built trust with my audience in an authentic way. It doesn’t feel sales-y and scheme-y, it just feels honest. That’s what I’m striving for.
I made a post that I was honestly scared to share, and it ended up being one of my ”best performing posts” in quite some time on the ‘gram. But more than that, it was one of the most freeing posts I had shared in a long time. I shared what I truly thought about something, a controversial take, and to my surprise, there were so many people that voiced their support of how I felt.
I also shared a vulnerable post on New Year’s Eve talking about some of my lows in 2023, and it was met with so much love, grace and kindness. I was scared to share it, but what I learned from this is that there’s impact to be made in vulnerability. There’s strength in sharing what you might otherwise keep behind closed doors.
The algorithm didn’t quite pick up this NYE post like it did the previous post I referenced in this section, but that didn’t matter one bit. The impact was still felt. Some of my final posts of 2023 reminded me of what inspired creating on social media can truly feel like. How it can be used for God’s glory and to point others to him. Because while these things might elicit kind comments and encouraging words, or positive results for building trust between my audience and my brand, ultimately, this isn’t about me. It can’t be. It’s not for my glory, but for the Lord’s glory (even in the moments where I wrongfully lose sight of this).
6. Being rich in time has a different kind of value than being rich in $$$.
I spent a lot of time in 2023 feeling like there simply just wasn’t enough time to get it all done. I spent a lot of evenings working upstairs in my office, weekends on the couch with my laptop out when I wish I would have been focusing on my husband. While the financial blessings of the last year were great, they came with a cost.
So for 2024, I didn’t set a single financial goal. It feels weird to write that out. Last year I had financial goals at a monthly level, quarterly level, and for the whole year. This year I’ve set none. And while I’m not saying I don’t care about how much money I make, I am saying I don’t want to be a slave to it.
2023 was another hustle year, and I’m grateful for it, but I don’t want 2024 to be about that. I talked about the danger of how money can become an idol and my personal experience with this in a recent YouTube video. If you watch it, that’ll give you the gist of how I’ve been feeling about this.
I want 2024 to be about rest, being rich in time. Serving my clients well and just focusing on that rather than trying to serve my clients well while simultaneously constantly looking for new ones. I’m done running on that hamster wheel.
I want to have time in 2024 to invest in my relationship with the Lord, to invest in myself, my people and my physical health. I can’t do this at the pace I was running at for most of last year, which is why I let go of three of my clients in the last quarter of 2023.
My 2024 goals now are less about money or business and more about how I want to FEEL in 2024 and what I want to leave behind in 2023.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely think there’s a time to hustle and put the pedal to the metal, but I just don’t think that hustle can be permanent. It has to be a season, and I’m ready for that season to come to an end for now. Maybe I will surprise myself and be like Natalie and have a more profitable year because I slowed down and focused on less things. Or maybe I will simply just make less money in 2024. Either are okay with me. I just don’t want life to pass me down without actually truly savoring it.
So there you have it, my 2023 reflections and even a little bit about what I’m looking to accomplish in the new year. Don’t forget to let me know in the comments what you’re learning. If you’d like to check out more about my 2024 goal setting, check out the full video below:
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Hi there, I’m Sophie! I’m a graphic designer specializing in small business branding + illustration, custom squarespace website design, small business marketing and I’m an educator for creative entrepreneurs. I’m so glad you’re here!