I Outgrew My Business
(If your business no longer feels like you, this might be the sign you've been waiting for.)
It wasn’t like I just woke up one day and knew all the ways my business needed to change and why I wasn’t attracting the clients that I wanted to work with or even the work I actually wanted to do.
It was a painful process.
It started slowly in January of this year. By March I had a really awful experience with a client and I realized, the clients I wanted to work with, the kind of work I wanted to do - it had ALL changed.
I had evolved but my business hadn't.
It was still attracting the same energy, the same people - all the things that were burning me out and making me resent the thing I loved!
So, I started with some “light” research…
I thought about just shutting down my business and getting a corporate job (for the first time in many years!) but something wouldn’t let me. I started researching options, what were other designers doing? Were they offering templates? Should I do that? What packages did they offer? Could I bring my other skills in marketing and business growth into my packaging somehow?
Being Autistic I went down the rabbit hole for weeks. It was exhausting but on a deeper level I felt this freedom, like there are a million possibilities here and I can decide what feels good to me.
I did deeper work on my target audience and who I wanted to work with (honestly, this is the biggest piece in marketing but it's the one we often avoid).
I decided I had to do something different if I wanted my business to match my current energy and bring in clients I felt aligned with. I had to declutter, move out the old stuff and bring in the new energy (just like when I declutter my closet!)
I re-wrote all my copy.
Quick sidenote: Always start with your copy! This allows the design, packaging, really everything to flow in the right direction.
I made sure it was MY writing, my words, my personality (not AI) and geared it towards who I wanted to work with and the issues I can help them solve.
From there I started adding Squarespace website templates (I had only ever done custom design work). These were liberating for me! It gave me a chance to play with design and copywriting and bring back the creativity into my work that had felt stifled for so long!
But the design is off somehow
Things started to feel better! But then I took a look at my design and I knew it wasn't giving the feeling that I wanted and it didn't feel like me. I wanted my design to feel clean, clear and fresh. With pops of color and a dash of fun, bold, magic vibes. I added images of ME to my website (which I have never really done except on the about page). I added elements that represented me and my energy - so potential clients could get a feeling of who I was before we ever spoke.
And WOW that made a difference!
I had skills I wasn’t using that could really help my clients
I realized I had all these amazing skills I had been keeping separate from my website design business but I could easily integrate into a fully custom website design package. I have been in marketing and business growth since 2011 so why wasn’t that part of my packages?
I switched all of my website design to ONE platform - Squarespace - and created a website design package that includes a custom marketing plan along with business growth tools. All in one and done!
The name matters
That’s when I knew my business name no longer reflected the direction I was headed and it needed to change. It felt heavy and was carrying so much old energy inside of it. So I changed it to PinkCherryCreative
And EVERYTHING shifted.
My motivation came back.
My sense of ownership over my business came back but in a different and more powerful way.
I felt lighter. My business felt lighter.
I think the main thing holding me back for so long (and why this process was months in the making), is that I thought my business needed to look a certain way, it had to offer the right things, it had to fit into this box. When I decided to let that go the process of changing and growing became easy and fun.
If this is where you’re at, babe I get it! Consider this your permission to evolve, grow and change! It’s not as hard as it might seem right now. And remember your business doesn't have to look like anyone else's. It just has to feel like you.
And if you'd like someone to help you bring that vision to life, my inbox is always open.