Working with a Business Mentor

Ever wondered what it’s like to work with a business mentor? We ask Jane Vandemeer, CWC treasurer and board member for her advice.

Jane Vandermeer is a creative & entrepreneurial thinker who doesn’t thrive under red tape or lots of rules. Having worked within the Fashion industry for 30 years, you can definitely say that fashion and small business is in her blood! Her strengths are to problem solve, particularly with a small budget, and to look into a small business to see what areas need help and guidance. Read Jane’s advice on working with a business mentor, and what you can get out of it.  

Part of my story

Not sure about you but I often found it challenging to cost up my garments. There was also the difficult task of promoting myself. Whether I was producing a range, making one-off pieces or providing a service (they were harder actually!), there was always the conundrum:

How do you price something when you are not sure how long it might take?

Perspective customers need a price or price range. So many times, I wanted the sale so I guessed the price, hoping that I was close to right. But it can be hard to remain competitive, cover your time, costs & make a profit!

Having a professional mentor can help

A professional mentor will look at your business from a different perspective. It is so hard to do that yourself when you are in the thick of small business.

Life gets in the way. It can be hard to keep yourself accountable. It is easy to push things to ‘next week’, particularly the things you don’t love doing.

One of the benefits is that having regular meetings with a mentor creates accountability and deadlines. It is one big way that can help propel your business forward, and significantly quicker.

Who is mentoring suited to?

• You are at the start up stage and not sure where to start. This includes important things like where to focus or spend money first.

• You have been in business for a while, feeling like you are working around the clock but can’t seem to get ahead and not sure why.

• You are looking at an exit plan but not sure how to do that

• You are passionate about so many things

• Those who are willing to take advise & learn

• Those who are brave to grow

• Many creatives’ are multi-dimensional but this can be overwhelming. Then comes paralysis…so you do nothing! A mentor can keep you going.

Tips when selecting your mentor

I often describe selecting a mentor as like selecting a councillor. Working one-on-one with a mentor is such a personal experience. If you are going to invest in a mentor, you need to connect and align with the right person.

A good place to start is to spend time at an initial meeting to ‘get a feel’ about a perspective mentor before diving in. If after the first meeting you don’t think you’re the right fit, that’s totally ok. Be upfront - they might also be able to recommend someone who is. 

Do you want your perspective mentor to be someone you admire?

Are they someone who has achieved or brings experience within the areas you need help & support?

Considerations for offerings/packages

In the initial meeting together, whether that is online, on the phone or in person, ask lots of questions. Make sure you are both clear on things like fees and what the mentoring service involves. 

Mentors might have different fee structures depending on the type of service you require. Here are some examples:

• An hourly rate. This is good for casual mentoring where something is project/problem based. 

• A program with a set number of modules. This type of structure gives perspective clients an idea of prices up front, so there are no surprises.

Some areas to consider:

• Appointment/meeting duration

• Frequency of meetings

• Does it include support such as emails, resources, phone calls outside of meetings?

• Are there certain days you can communicate?

• How is the payment system structured?

• Many do offer payment plans. This is often great for cash flow for small businesses.

Don’t be afraid to ask for clarity if you are not sure and get everything in writing. 

Expectations

It is good to set some expectations between yourself and your mentor too. Do you want someone to ‘teach you’ how to do various tasks/aspects of your business? Or do you want someone to ‘do it for you’?

Different mentors will have different approaches. For me, I have always come from the space of teaching & sharing knowledge, so that you are empowered to know, understand & grow. Everyone works in their particular way and there will be a mentor which will suit your style. 

Here is an example of what a mentor does…. 

A beautiful client of mine had been in business for over 5 years (so not a start up). She was working very hard yet not making enough at the end of each month.

After spending the time to understand her costs and sales. I discovered that she was only making 2% profit margin on many of her services!

We worked on a solution which gave her four options/strategies to increase profit within those existing services. The important thing was that they were all practical & easy to implement.

Her services were back up to 75-90% profit margin and best of all, it didn’t require that business owner to work any harder. 

A final note…

Different ideas can provide a different perspective to a business. Professional assistance can help set up ways to attract prospective clients who happily and joyfully pay for your beautiful and considered work!

Jane is the owner of Finesse Business and Style which provides services in business mentoring and styling. She is also the founder of Intuitive Whispers which provides intuitive products for the heart and soul.

Meet Jenny Brown of Melbournalia

Wander down the northern end of Bourke St and you will find a colourful store filled with all things Melbourne. We chat to owner Jenny Brown, owner and founder about work, life and that wonderful pocket of the city known affectionately as Bourke Hill.

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. Growing up in the 70s in the big, flat, treeless north, before cafes, avocados or even colour TV, let alone the wonders of computer technology, mobile phones or Netflix was like watching repeats of a long Moomba Parade on a black and white TV with the sound turned down; uneventful, predictable but sort of quaint. I was the last of a huge family of 8, my parents were from the pre-war generation, the house held a multitude of memories and physical objects from a 30 year period. It was like living in a mysterious museum where a party had happened, but just before you arrived.

School was 12 years of looking sweet and pressed in my hand-me-down catholic schoolgirl uniforms. Straight after school, I discovered hair product, ripped stockings, coffee, pubs and boys. It was the 1980s. I studied art history and cinema studies.

Tell us about your career

My Career is in shopkeeping! My business is located at the top end of Bourke St, Melbourne, we like to call the area Bourke Hill.

How did you get into this industry?

Attrition! I wanted to be an academic, a curator or an arts manager, but I kept finding myself behind a counter. Eventually I gave in and embraced it.

On a typical workday, I have coffee (my partner kindly delivers) check emails, the news and plan the work day before getting up. I then exercise a little. On days when I’m not opening the shop I tackle some accounts and answer emails at home, head into the shop before lunch, assist my highly capable staff, who are better at running things than me with whatever needs doing. I serve a few customers, tidy a few shelves, have more coffee, maybe plan some new stock lines, or do some ordering… I talk talk, talk to customers and suppliers, lock up late, head home, have wine. Finally I shower and do some stretches, sometimes I read, but mostly I pour over Instagram & Pinterest for ideas... I sleep and get ready to do it all again tomorrow!

What have been some of the biggest challenges in your career?

Probably coming to the realisation that I’m a terrific shopkeeper and being completely OK with that.

Best creative memory?

Heading up the rickety warehouse stairs in one of the old Munro buildings behind the Queen Vic Markets to our first a Melbournalia pop-up opening in late 2011, which had been planned in mere months, put together on hope, many favours and a shoestring budget... seeing that the place was full of friends, family and well wishers!

What’s on the horizon for the future?

I’m happy. I’d like to see the neighbourhood of Bourke Hill develop further. There are some terrific new businesses around us, and the old Job Warehouse and Palace Theatre sites are being redeveloped, which will be great for the area. There are of course some fabulous established and iconic Melbourne businesses in our neighbourhood such as Pellegrini’s, The Paperback Bookshop, Hill of Content and Gallery Funaki. I’d like Melbournalia (still a newcomer at just 5 years old) to be counted among them one day.

If you had any creative business advice what would it be?

Probably...take advice from those you trust, but listen to yourself and follow your heart as well as your head. Also, learn to delegate. You can’t excel at everything, but you can excel at finding the right person for the job!

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would it be and why?

My mum in 1953 (10 years before I was born). She had a whole bunch of kids, no car, the most basic appliances, a handsome, hard working but troubled war veteran husband, few outfits in her wardrobe, a jar of Ponds Cream and a lipstick on the dresser. Yet her house and her family were her pride and joy, both were always spotless, nothing went to waste, there was always good food on the table and fresh smelling washing on the Hills Hoist. One day in her shoes and I would never be complacent again.

How to plan a photoshoot

As a small ( or not so small ) business owner / creative there will perhaps come a time to consider hiring a professional photographer for a photoshoot. Whether it’s for a headshot / portrait, product photography for your website or social media, a market stall application, event photography, pitch to a magazine… but where do you begin?

There are many things to consider - including choosing the actual photographer, but first up is usually the budget - what can you afford? Perhaps you have the $’s to fly to the Maldives with a team of stylists, models and make-up artists - but realistically, most of us don’t!

Costs

After you’ve established your rough budget, most photographers will work in hourly or half day / full day rates. Their rates are usually dependant on their skill and experience, plus post production and editing time on your chosen images.

Communication with your chosen photographer is key - from the outset, know what you want and whether it is achievable in the time frame that meets your budget. Shooting 50 products in 2 locations in 1 hour is unlikely!

Licensing of images

There are usually licensing or usage costs per image - this will vary from photographer to photographer and the client. For example, the terms of usage for a big brand’s large scale advertising campaign would generally cost more than a small business product shoot. There may be usage limitations on the images, and a smaller usage will often equate to a smaller fee. Some examples of usage are:

• Usage for social media content only.

• Photography for use in a packaging / element of a new product or that will be a product for resale.

• Photography of your business / product for your website and branding.

Some photographers may also set a time frame limitations in licensing. One example is that you might have usage of those images for 12 months, then they will be available for you to re-license for an additional time and fee. Or they will give you total rights to those images for 6-12 months and then after that the photographer may license the images to another company or magazine.

How to find a photographer

Unless you have a good friend or a family member that is a professional photographer, it can be difficult to know where to start. Word of mouth is usually the easiest way - ask around your network. There are also many creative networking groups online where you can post a job and then go through the photographers profile/ website. Another good way is to look on social media at other brands/ imagery that you like and see who they have used. Many will include a photographer’s credit on a shoot. 

Questions to ask/ things to think about prior to booking a shoot

Location: Where will the photo shoot take place? Is it in your own home/ office/ studio? Does the photographer work from their own studio? Will your shoot be on location, in a public space?

Some locations require permits for a photo shoot, with approval and payment prior to the shoot taking place. As an example, see Heide Museum which has requirements for using their site. With this in mind, is the location/ studio hire an additional cost to add into your budget ? Is the location out of town, and will it incur an additional photographer’s travel fee?

Props: Will you be sourcing the props / backdrops yourself or will you be employing a stylist ? A photographer will often have an existing supply of props or backdrops, however there may be a need for prop hire for flowers, food, additional products, plinths etc. Who will supply what ? Can you borrow items from friends ? Many retail shops will also hire furniture and props for a fee.

Create a brief: What exactly are you after ? Try to include any image examples/ sketches /mood board /colour /vibe etc. Pinterest is a great tool for this. Here’s an example of a food mood board I created recently.

Set a time frame: Do you require the images under a tight deadline? Most photographers will have a 1-2 week turnaround on post production of images, if not longer. If you need images ASAP, there may be an additional fee.

Know what you want, so that you can communicate your needs to your photographer, then they can provide a quote.

Here’s an example…

I was approached via email to shoot a product range of 5 new artwork prints, with the possibility of photographing the existing range if time permitted. I met in person with the business owner of Gussy - Simone (who agreed to me including this shoot here) to discuss further and to provide a quote. 

Considerations were her budget, the time required for the shoot - we agreed upon a half day / 4 hour shoot. The chosen location was her home interior, utilising 6 different rooms. Each artwork required individual styling, using props from her home, my collection or borrowed from friends. So additional costs were minimal. We set ourselves the target of photographing her entire range of 18 prints in 4 hours, prioritising the new edition prints. We discussed that the images were for her website and social media/ promotion.

We created a Pinterest board and Simone organised a shot list, including which artworks would hang where within her home and with what props to suit each artwork, so time was not wasted on the day. 

Here are some of the images from the shoot:

One thing to also consider with image usage is that we shoot in either and landscape or portrait mode, however posting to Instagram or your website design may be square - so images will need to be cropped. Remember to discuss this as an option in your usage/ editing or composition at the shoot. Also websites such as Shopify have their own file specifications / colour management. 

Find a Photographer you can work and communicate with, ask questions - it may seem daunting, but most of us are nice!!!

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Based in Melbourne, Australia, Natalie Jeffcott is a professional freelance photographer - specialising in editorial, interiors, small business lifestyle and product photography.

All images by Natalie Jeffcott.

http://www.nataliejeffcott.com/

Q&A with Rebecca Jamieson Dwyer

Rebecca Jamieson Dwyer is a journalist and editor of the delightful Peppermint Magazine. Find out more about her creative career, and the things which make her tick.

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I grew up between New Zealand and Scotland, so I have a slightly weird accent, but on the plus side, I have two passports (hurrah!) and feel equally at home on both sides of the world.

I have an honour’s degree in English and a masters in Journalism. After uni, I moved to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for six months to teach English. It was also where I got my first taste of being a journalist – I started freelancing for a local magazine, which sent me all across the city on the back of a motorbike to interview lots of weird and wonderful people.

What do you do?

I’m editor at Peppermint magazine – a quarterly Australian publication focused on style, sustainability and substance. We’re an independently owned publication telling the stories of people doing good in the world, covering topics such as ethical fashion, food, body positivity, mindfulness, zero-waste living and lots more – and each issue is certified carbon neutral. We also run a series of events called PepTalks, where we gather our community together for inspirational, uplifting talks from people from the pages of Peppermint and beyond.

Tell us about your career

Apart from a brief stint as (possibly the world’s worst) radio news reporter, I’ve always worked with the written word. I started by writing for free and building up a decent portfolio before getting my first job as editor of an Edinburgh-based website and then moving to Brisbane and eventually nabbing the role of deputy editor at Peppermint.

The biggest challenge in my career was finding a role where I could use my skills to do something that felt like I was contributing to the world in a meaningful way. That type of job is super rare, so I’m still – five years later – so grateful to have found it in Peppermint.

There are SO many things I love about my job, but getting to interview amazing people I admire is a definite highlight – as is working with such a close-knit team of cool, clever creative women. And the days we get sent free donuts are pretty great too.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

Depending on what stage of the production cycle we’re at, you might find me dreaming up content ideas, briefing freelance writers and photographers, interviewing people, going over budgets, liaising with advertisers, editing stories, looking through photoshoots, helping to plan/strategise online content, brainstorming coverlines, and, of course, answering a million emails. There’s a fair bit of swooning over beautiful ethical brands too, which never ends well for my bank balance.

Best creative memory?

Best creative memory? That feeling when you’re writing and you’re so deep in the zone that you don’t notice time passing or get the urge to check social media. Cal Newport has a book about this called Deep Work, which should probably be next on my to-read list.

What do you get up to when not working?

At the moment I’ve been doing lots of pickling, knitting, reading, op-shopping and listening to podcasts (Desert Island Discs, The High Low and Soul Music are my current faves). And I do enjoy a big ol’ stomp around the streets with my dog by my side.

What’s on the horizon for the future?       

You never quite know what’s in store for the future so I always try and remind myself to stop and be present (and grateful) in this moment – but fingers crossed it involves continuing to do work that feels meaningful to me.

If you had any creative business advice what would it be?

I’m not entrepreneurial at all and am in complete awe of anyone who manages to run their own business. I saw a quote from Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day a little while ago that said something along the lines of: “If you run a creative business and you’re making it work financially then you’re basically a genius”. So high five to all you geniuses out there.

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would it be and why?

Can it be a fictional person? Lyra from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy for her fearlessness, bravery and sense of adventure – and also because she has an animal demon who’s always with her, which is basically my dream come true.

How to prioritise when you're a solo business owner

When you’re a solo business owner you’re a one-man-band playing the drums, guitar, keyboard and singing all at once. It’s hard to keep the juggling act in the air and know where to start on your long list of competing tasks.

I always find knowing what to prioritise is the hardest thing about working for myself. But I’ve picked up some tips over the years that help sort out the ‘ticked that off my to-do list’ feeling, as opposed to ‘I went down the rabbit hole on admin’ or ‘got completely bamboozled and decided to look at Instagram instead’. Yep, it happens to all of us.

So instead of feeling the guilts, try out these 5 tips and you’ll get to tick things off, as well as do those fun, yet highly distracting, sneak peeks at Instagram. 

1. Write a list

I’m a massive nerd when it comes to lists (or maybe that’s all the time!) I love getting it all down on paper and out of my head. In fact, I’ve been writing myself a daily to-do list each day of my work week for a very long time. There’s nothing more satisfying that crossing out what I’ve achieved that day. I don’t even stress myself out if something just moves from one day to the next, as I’ll know that wasn’t a real priority to get done that day and it will be a key priority for the next day. 

So if you write your to-do list, you’ll then instantly be able to see what the priorities really are and what doesn’t need to be done right now. Take advantage and push out the stuff that’s not as important until later in the week. This will hopefully save you from the overwhelm feels and keep you focused on achieving stuff each day.

2. Break up your time.

Something that Madeleine Dore from Side Project Sessions has introduced into my routine that I find really works, is the breakup of focussed work for 45-minutes with a 15-minute break. Breaks are important, so that you can get up and move around and have a cuppa and a snack and then get back into more focused time. I find this keeps my brain fresh and focused for longer and really helps me kick goals on my to-do list.

You might like to use a segmented time approach and give yourself blocks of time with short breaks – whether 25-minutes working with a 5-minute break or 60-minutes working and 10-minute break – find your groove and stick to it. Giving your brain (and body) a rest and a stretch. Getting away from the computer is a must-do with your breaks.

3. Top 3 tasks

Only having 3 top tasks that you need to complete each day, takes a big load off your mind. This is a great thing about migoals notebooks as they have this integrated into each page and they give you lots of tips on how to get more done. Awesome.

I find that if I nominate only one task for each of my 45-minute concentrated work sessions, I get a whole lot done in half a day, rather than moving from one small, unimportant task to the next. That way if you get your top 3 things done in the morning and out of the way, you can spend your afternoon doing that thing you really want to do. Laptop window shopping, anyone?

Or you can get even more nerdy and split your day into 3 x blocks of two hours where you focus on 3 long tasks to fill your day.

4. Breakdown larger projects

Sometimes I have large projects that can take months to work through. This is when I need to breakdown larger projects into tasks I need to do right now. So there’s nothing like a plan and a timeline to help you focus on what’s next and not stress about that thing that’s happening further down the track. 

I write on my to-do list the first few things, and only the next steps, that I need to do that day or week, so I don’t get overwhelmed by the enormity of a project. All big things are made up of a lot of little, tiny tasks that can become not so big if you work through it in this way.

5. Remove yourself from distractions 

As much as I love my house of furry creatures, they are not the best co-workers and don’t really let me get things done. I find getting out of the house and going to a cafe or co-working space is the best use of my time and allows me to really focus on my task. I find the buzz of people and background noise really motivating, but you might like the silence of a library.

If you work from home too, find some other spaces that work for you where you can remove yourself from distractions – a park on a sunny day, the library when it's pouring outside or a cosy cafe where people bring you pots of tea (yeah, that’s me!).

Depending on how you like to work, finding somewhere out of the home, where you can talk to some humans, other adults and just generally feel the vibe of other people does wonders for productivity. Well for me anyway!

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Sarah Lawrey is the owner of Collectus Studio, a Melbourne-based branding and graphic design studio. Creating beautiful brands for nice people with purpose, helping her clients achieve their branding goals, both visible and invisible. 

Say hi to Jasmine Mansbridge

Where did you grow up, and what was it like?

I was born in Brisbane, and my family moved every couple of years. Eventually, we settled in Katherine in the Northern Territory, where I lived until I was 26. 

My father was a teacher, so I had a variety of regular school and alternative education and home school experiences. Overall, I found it hard to sit still and was often in trouble in High School.

I left pretty early, higher education in Katherine was not the focus for most people. I got married when I was 17 and had my first daughter when I was 18. This was when I started doing my art with some focus and intensity. Starting a habit of painting at night that has not ever really left.

What do you do, and how did you get into this industry?

I am a painter and also more and more working with large scale and installation work. By being so obsessed, I couldn’t do anything else.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

I am travelling a bit to paint and organise projects etc., so I have a big picture routine to deal with. I am in the studio or the kitchen mostly, cooking and preparing for my absence and painting for shows etc. which I can’t do when I am on the road. I have five children, the younger three only left at home and it is a very full life to keep it all going.

 What have been some of the biggest challenges in your career?

Lack of finances, my own feelings of parental guilt and the mental load, other people not understanding my big picture, fear of failure, tiredness!

Best creative memory?

I am on a high every time I sell work and know I can make something I want to happen. Proper highs though would be New York Art Fair, painting in Hong Kong and in Beijing. I love that awful yet alive feeling of being out of my comfort zone.

What do you love best about your job?

That it is just me being the best version of me.

What do you get up to when not working?

Parenting, running, looking at art, bushwalking, but my art takes most of my time, and that’s ok. Everything is generally in some way related to the work.

What’s on the horizon for the future?

I have said yes to many things this year, so the next big thing is London, then an exhibition in August opening at 19 Karen Gallery. I am travelling to paint with Schools in Ethiopia! Many things plus more I will no doubt decide to squeeze in!

If you had any creative business advice, what would it be?

Do you bookwork/tax even well before you make money. Be prepared to work harder than you would at any other job. Back yourself. Get out of your comfort zone, do the things that make you want to throw up.

If you could be anyone else for a day, who would it be and why?

I would happily take some of Angelina Jolie's staff. Make clothes and pick Vivienne Westward’s brain and have coffee with Patti Smith!

How to set up an online business - Tips from Christina Lowry

When I started my online business I wasn't sure that I could run a business without a business degree. I laugh now at how innocent I was and I want to share my top tips and techniques to first create a business and then build it online.

I’m Christina Lowry, a jeweller and photographer. I created an online jewellery business, Christina Lowry Designs, when my first son was just a toddler and worked from home for several years. I started my online business after completing a bachelor of fine arts visual arts at Griffith University and working for ten years in the jewellery industry. I studied photography and gold and silversmithing as part of my degree and decided to pursue a jewellery apprenticeship upon completing my degree.

In my business, I handmade collections of gold and silver jewellery in my workshop, as well as taking custom orders. Recently I closed my online store for this business as it was generating more work that I could manage since I took on the opportunity of home-schooling our three children, which I love. Looking for greater flexibility, I followed my passion down a different avenue that emerged out of that business and now I run Christina Lowry Photography. I work with small businesses to create beautiful product photography for their websites, advertising and social media. This grew out of my initial business after creating several photoshoots for my jewellery collections and having other business owners contact me for the photographer’s details. I have been able to apply the knowledge gained from my retail years and online business experience into this new business

Image: Christina Lowry

Find your ‘why’

There is a saying that not every great baker should open a bakery. Is it a hobby or a potential business? Businesses are hard work. You need passion and commitment to even start a business, let alone maintain one through the ups and downs. So before we start discussing how to start a business you need to find your why. You’ll hear this all the time. ‘Find your why’. And that why may even change over time. Why do you want to start a business? Do you want to work from home in your pjs? Do you want to take control of your career? Are you looking for a way to contribute to the finances while raising children? Are you looking for pocket money in retirement? Do you make something that you want to sell? Do you want to help people? Help the environment? Knowing your why helps answer the questions that will follow. The why is not just about money.

If your why is because you want to earn over $100,000 a year while travelling the world, your business model will look very different to that of someone whose why is to follow a passion in retirement.

My why is that I want to get paid for doing what I love. I need a creative outlet that is flexible enough to fit with my lifestyle, I want to contribute to the family finances while staying at home and homeschooling my children, I want to follow my photography passion and use my skills and knowledge to work with other small businesses to up-level their brands. I’d like you to take to write down your why. Maybe next time you are sitting with a cuppa try explaining to yourself why you want to do what you want to do.

What’s your product?

Every business sells something. Product is the starting point of business. What is your product? A product can tangible, physical, expertise, virtual. Like online bookkeeping, stylist, business coach. Can you create a viable business around it? If your why is to support your family with your business, how much money do you need to make each year? If your product is hand carved wooden spoons, can you carve enough spoons a year to reach your goal? Or can you supplement that income by selling spoon carving kits and teaching workshops? Your product needs to fill a gap in the market. It needs to be useful to the client. A bag they can carry their groceries in, a wedding ring, a light shade for their lounge room, a candle as a gift for a loved one. So once you have decided on your product, it’s time to think about the client. Some clients will buy a $2 wooden spoon, some will buy a $60 hand carved wooden spoon, you need to find the right clients.

A note on pricing…

As a rule retail price is twice your wholesale price. To be a business and not a hobby you need to make a profit. Too many businesses start by charging too low, then worry when they lose customers once they adjust their prices. Start where you need to be. Being the cheapest is not a great strategy long term. Be the best. People pay more for great products and great service. For instance, Australian handmade businesses cannot compete on price alone with products coming from countries overseas with a lower cost of living. But we can compete on quality, design, innovation and customer service.

In terms of pricing, keep in mind that jewellery has up to a 300% mark up while stationary can be a lot less. Perceived value, cost of stock, insurance, overheads; there is a lot to take into account. But this rule of thumb is a great place to start.

Materials + labour x 2 = wholesale

Wholesale x 2 = retail

Even if you aren’t yet selling wholesale, you need to price accordingly for growth. When you are approached to sell in a bricks and mortar store you can do so. (Don’t be scared to lose clients by putting your price up. Educate them on why the price is the way it is. Your tools, experience, skill, aesthetic, customer service, overheads etc.)

Find your market

Once you have a product you need to find your market. Who are you selling to? You can have a great product, but if the people who need your product can’t find it, you won’t have a business. If your product is nappies, you need pregnant women and mothers to see you. If your product is silk ties, you want businessmen and women to see you. So, a nappy advertisement in the magazine on a first class flight would miss its mark. Silk ties in a mother and baby magazine is missing its mark too. You want to define your audience and then find where they are, what they are reading, what they are looking at. Who is your audience? I can guarantee it isn’t ‘everyone’. Is it you? People like you? Male or female? Age range? Are they buying for themselves or as gifts? This is going to affect the way you write about your product. There are a lot of exercises online about finding your ‘ideal client’. It may be a customer you already have. It might be an imaginary dream client. You can look at your current followers to research further. Knowing who they are gives you the tone on how to talk to them.

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Tip: Your budget is not their budget. This was a great piece of advice I got early on. I have never spent over $1000 online on a product I have never seen, but I have made $1000 plus sales in my online shop. Don’t underprice because it feels expensive to you. Something is only expensive if you can’t afford it. Other people can afford it.

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My ideal customer for Christina Lowry Designs jewellery was a female, 25 and over, university educated, working in a creative field like graphic design, who doesn’t buy mass produced items, is eco-conscious and prefers shopping online with small businesses.

Next, what is a brand?

Do you need a brand? I want you to think about some big, recognisable businesses. Big businesses have spent a lot of money on marketing and research and we can learn a lot from them that we can apply to our own businesses. Think of McDonalds. The golden arches. Red and Yellow. A fast, inexpensive, family-friendly restaurant. They never go off brand. Think of Tiffany’s jewellery. That duck egg blue box. Luxury Diamond jewellery. Their brand is simple and memorable. Your brand is everything about your business – your name, your logo, the colours you use, your tone of voice. Have you seen ‘who gives a crap’ toilet paper? Their tone is humorous, from the wrapping around their toilet rolls to the toilet humour in their emails. But they are also eco-conscious and installing toilets in third world countries.

What is your name? Logo? Colours? Copy Tone?

My brand for Christina Lowry Designs was black and white, clean and minimalist, my images had a creative and slightly vintage feel. My logo was cohesive across all my packaging. My tone was personable.

Image: Christina Lowry

On to the second part – building an online business.

Once you have your why, your product, your market and your brand you can start building your actual online website. Please, don’t even start until you have these things or it will be random rather than cohesive.

It’s not an online business without a website, and there are many platform providers out there these days. Your decision will depend upon your product, market and brand. From my experience, I love Squarespace for their websites, portfolios, blogs etc, and Shopify for an online storefront. You may want to sell on Etsy, Madeit on another online platform. This may work great for you. In my experience, even if you sell on one of these platforms you still need your own website to be sending your traffic too. Online marketplaces can close, or shut your account without warning. When people shop on Etsy you have more chance of losing a sale than if they shop directly on your website.

Even without much experience, you can create a great website using the templates Squarespace and Shopify provide. Or, support another small business and hire a graphic designer to create your logo, brand and website with you.
Once you have your name, claim your website and get an ABN. You can’t run a business if you aren’t buying your materials at wholesale. Research any other relevant legal issues pertaining to your business – eg, if you sell food or baby items. I don’t give legal advice. There are lots of government sites online that you can find out about things like registering your business, when you need to register for GST etc.

A mailing list!

It’s a must. It is easier to sell to a past client than to find a new one. Keep them up to date with what it happening behind the scenes, with promotions and product launches. Don’t be scared to email them. They love your business and they want to know about you and stay up to date. If you lose some subscribers don’t worry, they weren’t going to buy off you anyway. Most people use an opt-in to get subscribers. Be careful that your opt-in is attracting the right subscribers. If you do a giveaway of your product to drum up mailing list subscribers, you may just end up with subscribers who are after freebies and never buy.

Social Media

Social Media is a must in today’s day and age, but you don’t have to do it all. By knowing your market and researching where they are spending time, you will know whether you should be targeting Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube or a blog. Pick one or two and do them well. You can’t and don’t need to do them all. You will have the most success with the one you enjoy spending time on the most.

As a visual person I love Instagram and I love curating my feed, writing captions and creating conversations in this space. I tick the box in IG that posts the same post to Facebook, which gives me a facebook feed for my business with minimal fuss. I love Instagram and I could talk all day about it. But a few tips for Instagram.

• Only post your best pictures. If you only have a crappy picture don’t post it. Can you imagine Tiffany’s posting a crappy photo?

• Be genuine. Leave genuine comments and always answer comments.

• Use hashtags and locations

• Write a list of content ideas, batch shoot and edit them and have them ready in an app like Mosaico

• Don’t use bots to gain fake followers

• ‘Like for like’ and ‘follow for follow’ are the saddest sayings on the net - again, 100 genuine followers are better than 1,000 fake followers

Keep it maintained

So, once that is all in place you are done, right? You have created a business. You created an online storefront and you can sell to the world. Well, like a garden, it is never done. Your online store needs constant maintenance. But just chip away at it. One thing a day for your business = 365 things in a year.

Show up, set goals, embrace rejection as another step closer to a yes.

Image: Christina Lowry