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In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m sharing 11 business takeaways from the last 11 years in business that I wish I knew in years past. I’m peeling back the curtain on my journey by sharing some rapid-fire lessons that I hope will encourage you, save you precious time and energy, and remind you that no matter how many years we’ve been doing this entrepreneurial thing, there’s still something to learn!
Tune in for the full episode above.
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Please note this transcript has been auto generated and may contain typos.
Bonnie (00:07):
Hi, friend, and welcome to the Brand Strategy Podcast, a show created to equip you with the inspiration, encouragement, and clarity you need to build a brand of your dreams. I’m your host, Bonnie Bakhtiari, brand designer, strategist, and founder of the illume retreat. From Sustainable Strategy to heartfelt Encouragement. Each episode is designed to equip you with the tools you need to chase after your dreams, because you deserve a brand that empowers you to do what you love, connects with your dream clients, and offers a deep sense of fulfillment along the way. So grab a cup of coffee and join me on this journey, won’t you?
Bonnie (00:46):
Hey friends. Welcome back to the Brand Strategy Podcast, where today I am sharing 11 rapid fire takeaways from 11 years in business. I am honestly a little bit baffled to, um, have celebrated my 11th year business anniversary of starting B is for Bonnie Design earlier this year. And, um, it kind of took me a couple months actually to like, get it together enough to, you know, first of all, like really wrap my head around like, wow, it’s been over a decade. And then also reflect on, okay, over those 11 years, what are some of the big lessons that I’ve learned? Like, what are some of the things that if I could go back to year one or year two, or even year five, like what are some of the things that I would have benefited from knowing and how could I potentially share those things? And you know what, here on the podcast, I think it’s a really great place for us to start to get into some of this, as always with, um, quite a lot of what I share here on the podcast, it’s my personal lived experience.
Bonnie (01:48):
It is not meant to be blanket advice. It’s not meant to be like what you then must go forth and do. Um, you know, I am making comments and suggestions based on what I’ve experienced. And if some of that resonates, feel free to take it for yourself. If none of it resonates, that’s totally fine. You can trust yourself, you make good decisions for yourself and for your business. And so you get to decide what you listen to and what you take action on and what you either table for later or absolutely never. Okay, so with all of that being said, I wanna do this a little bit rapid fire so that, you know, a, this doesn’t turn into like the longest episode you have ever heard of and , um, b, that it is going to be something that we can, uh, you know, kind of dive into in a way that feels, um, approachable, that feels digestible, that feels like, oh yeah, I can do that.
Bonnie (02:50):
That’s not like a big complex scary sort of thought. Okay? So we’re gonna do this a little bit rapid fire. First and foremost, number one of the 11 lessons that I’ve learned in the past 11 years of being in the creative space is that your brand is about your ideal client more than it is about you. And what I mean by that is your incredible ideal clients should be at the core of your brand, the visual identity and the brand strategy that you create, whether you’re doing it yourself or you’re working with a brand designer and strategist like myself. Is it really the, the core of that should be about who you’re serving, who you are trying to reach, whether that’s your ideal client or your ideal customer. It’s not so much about what you want and what your favorite colors are and what your favorite things might be.
Bonnie (03:41):
It’s more about finding that sweet spot of what, yes, what resonates with you. But more than that, what resonates with the people that you are trying to work with? Because at the end of the day, those are the people that are going to be paying the bills. Okay? Number two, the first iteration of your offer will not be the final iteration of your offer. And that is actually a good thing. The very first service, or the very first product that you introduce in the world will quite likely not be the final version of your product or service that you’re offering for like the, the entire lifetime of your business. And until the end of eternity, it is going to be something that grows with you, that changes that evolves. And that’s a good thing because that means when our offers are evolving, it means that we are making changes that serve us well.
Bonnie (04:33):
We’re making changes that align with the kind of business we wanna be running or the kind of service or product we wanna be offering. And often in cases, it means that we’re listening to our clients and we’re listening to our audiences, and we are making changes that will work for the client and work for the customer in the long end. Number three, there really is room in your niche for absolutely everyone to thrive. I know that we like, you know, scarcity mindset makes us believe that it’s all a competition and there’s only so much success and there’s only so much money, and there’s only so many clients for all of us in the entire world, but in my experience, that’s not really the case. There really is room, even in your very specific, very detailed niche, there is room for all of you to make it.
Bonnie (05:20):
And when we realize that that takes a lot of the pressure off and it, it really makes it feel like we can, we can exhale and we can all do this. Okay? Number four, you do not need to know all the answers. You just need to know what your next move is, because my friend action creates clarity. If you are looking at where you’re supposed to take your business, if you’re looking at how to start a business, if you’re looking at how you’re gonna reach this big audacious revenue goal, you don’t need a 23 step plan. You just need to know the first few steps. And as you take that action, you’re gonna start to see what’s working, what’s not, and more of that path is gonna become clear. So you don’t need to get caught up in knowing all of it. You just gotta know the first few things.
Bonnie (06:09):
Number five, constant growth is a myth. Normalize seasons of maintenance. This constant depiction of like exponentially growing your business year after year after year from someone who’s been doing this for 11 years. That’s nonsense. You absolutely are gonna have seasons in your business where you’re just maintaining things like maybe the last year was this year where you exponentially increased your client load, and so your sales boomed, uh, you know, realistically, the year after that, you, you might not have the capacity to do that again. So, okay, that’s fine. You’re maintaining the growth that you’ve already experienced and that’s normal. And that’s actually, in my experience, a sign of a healthy business because those maintenance periods give us the space to make any necessary changes. It, it gives us the space to take cha to take, uh, inventory, take stock, really, of what’s working and what’s not, so that we can in the future, move on to the next season of growth.
Bonnie (07:09):
Number six, new level new devil is real. As you’re going through seasons of growth, you’re going to reach new levels of success. You’re gonna reach new levels of, um, expectations or commitments that you need to follow through on. And with that, there’s gonna be a lot of new stuff that you learn and a lot of new challenges that come up. So if someone’s telling you that, like it’s all uphill from here, yes. And also there’s gonna be some new challenges that arise as you keep going on because there’s always a new challenge that corresponds directly to a new level of success you’re tapping into. Okay? Number seven, very few people are actually gonna remember your flops, but lots of people will remember how your work helped them be motivated by hope more than you are motivated by fear. That’s it, that’s the point. Number eight, your brand isn’t gonna be everyone’s cup of tea.
Bonnie (08:14):
And that’s actually a good thing, and I kind of sort of love that for you because our brands don’t need to be these generic blanket, like one size fits all sort of things, right? Because that ends up being attractive to basically nobody. If you’re trying to be the business for all of the people, you’re gonna actually end up attracting nobody. So instead, I encourage you to focus on being the very specific brand for your very specific ideal client. So they have no choice but to connect with you, to follow along with your journey, to learn how they can work with you and they can take action. Number nine, overnight success is not real. Sustainable. Growth with longevity in mind is where it’s at. People who are telling you that overnight success is possible. I, I am just gonna say it, I think they’re lying to you.
Bonnie (09:10):
I’ve been doing this for 11 years, and in those 11 years I’ve never once, you know, done a thing, gone to bed, then woken up the next day, and I like made it. It’s been this constant process of of, of showing up in a dedicated manner, daily consistent manner to reach new levels of success, followed by periods of doing the work consistently showing up daily to then reach a new level of success. It’s never been overnight. Number 10, what works for others in business may not work for you. It takes experimentation to find your best strategies and methods. So treat it like a game. Although there are so many resources that we have access to, you know, here on the podcast, right? I’ve shared so many of my strategies and so many methods for creatives, for fellow designers that have worked for me. But, um, it’s meant to be something that you play with and you experiment with and you try it for yourself and you see how you can tweak it and, and kind of add that finesse so that it works for your business.
Bonnie (10:21):
It’s never meant to be, at least from my corner of the internet, this like one size fits all sort of solution. It’s meant to be something that you take and you make it your own. And that’s how I encourage you to approach a lot of things in the online business space, right? Take what parts of it resonate with you, play with it, make it your own. And if it doesn’t resonate, if it doesn’t work, you can either choose to keep tweaking with it, keep playing with it, or you can just ditch it all together and move on to something else. Like, that’s, that’s the great thing about having a business in this day and age. We have so much, uh, so many choices, so much option available to us. And then number 11, be captivated by the journey, not just the destination. This is something that I’ve really been leaning into in the last, I’d say year or so in my business.
Bonnie (11:11):
I’m not getting so focused on the destination and the revenue goal and, you know, the growth and all of that. I’m not getting so captivated by that, that I lose sight of the journey that I lose sight of the day to day and the little kind of steps that it takes to get there. And I find that when I am more captivated, when I am more enthralled with the journey that I am on, I begin to experience so much more joy and so much more fun and so much more flow in the day-to-day. If I’m focused on only the destination, wow, I can’t wait to get through the day-to-day in order to reach that final destination. And what happens is I end up wishing away days of my precious life in order to reach whatever that big picture goal is. So instead what I’ve been doing, I have been practicing being so focused on the journey and trusting that this journey is taking me to the destination.
Bonnie (12:09):
So either way, I’ve already won, right? I’m, I’m so in love with the journey that even if I don’t reach that destination, that end goal, that’s okay. ’cause I’m having a great time in the day to day on my way towards that destination. Whew. Okay, friend. I hope that one of those maybe more encouraged you, you know, resonated with you. Maybe it made you chuckle. Maybe it’s giving you something to think about. But I wanna share this in, uh, in really an intent with a hope to illustrate how we are all learning. We are all growing, we are all in different stages of our journey, right? So I’ve been doing this for over a decade now, but there’s still so much that I’m learning because, hey, remember new level, new devil . So there’s always something for me to learn no matter where you are in your business, whether you’re just getting started or you like me, have been in this for years, there’s always something that we can be learning and something that we can be growing towards.
Bonnie (13:14):
And to me that is so exciting because it means we’re never done. It means that the journey we’re on can continue and we can keep having more fun. We can’t keep learning more about how we wanna show up and who we wanna be as business owners and, and what that looks like. So with that being said, friend, I hope that you are walking away feeling hopeful for your future, feeling hopeful and excited for what is next for you and your incredible business. And you know, as always, I’m gonna be here cheering you on from Waco.
Bonnie (13:50):
Thank you so much for joining me today. Friends, before you go, I would be so grateful to receive your feedback on the Brand Strategy podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general has helped you grow your brand, I’d really appreciate it if you left us a review in iTunes. Your positive reviews enable the brand strategy podcast to continue to grow and reach like-minded creatives just like you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as together we pursue building brands with purpose and intention. Until next time, I’m cheering you on from Waco.
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