As we celebrate the end of another year, we took some time to reflect and respect the crazy ride this business has taken us on! Sit back, relax and rest assured in the knowledge you’re not alone on the small business roller coaster – here’s our biggest business truth bombs for 2019…
1. Hustle and they will come
You know that saying ‘build it and they will come’? Spoiler alert: that’s not enough. We poured a huge amount of blood, sweat, tears and money into building Newstead Studios and the result was aesthetically spectacular. Who wouldn’t want to work here? Who wouldn’t want to hold an event here? Who wouldn’t want to shoot here? The answer was: anyone who didn’t know about it.
So, hustle and they will come.
Sure, we’ve had plenty of clients find us before we found them, but many of them – particularly in the first year – we dragged through the door! We did a lot of reaching out, the old fashioned way – leaving our egos at the door and spruiking our space to anyone who’d listen. I’m not talking about pimping your business out for free (in fact I’m dead against this) – I’m talking about identifying your ideal clients, understanding their needs and showing them that you are exactly what they’ve been looking for.
The hustle hit rate speaks for itself and we’ve landed some incredible clients this way, who have in turn generated our most valuable source of marketing – word of mouth.
A major 2019 highlight – Vogue Australia shot their July cover in our Studio. Hustle people!
2. You’ve got yourself a family business!
If you have a family and you start a business, congratulations you’ve got yourself a family business! Despite our best efforts to keep our two terrors away from the pristine white walls and perfectly polished floors of Newstead Studios, the fact is, sometimes our huge curved studio cyc looks like the ultimate skateboard ramp and our gallery the perfect handball court. In these moments we have to remember, we’re all in.
Sometimes that means dragging the kids begrudgingly to the studio after school, on weekends, when they’re sick and inevitably during never-ending school holidays (cue six-week juggle-athon, starting…now!) What’s helped us navigate life as a small business family is to keep an open dialogue about our business, and what it means to our family. We created it. We’re proud of it. We work hard for it. We can always do better. We have ideas. We can grow. We can achieve big things together. We can create a life we all love. With this undertone established, generally respect and understanding win over grotty handprints and scuff marks. Generally.
Hello family business
3. Surround yo-self
Owning and running a small business is exciting and varied and all the things. But it can also be lonely and insular. Most of us can’t provide the necessary levels of encouragement, motivation and inspiration to ourselves on the daily (though, a self-high-five is always a fun idea) so look around and find others to do this for you! Here’s a few ideas:
• Co-working spaces – jam packed with creative folk and business brains eager to share ideas, or even just a gag at the water cooler. Hey guess what, we know just the space!
• Mentor and mastermind groups – a problem shared is a problem halved. Some of our faves are Owner’s Collective and The Founders Team.
• Networking events – gone are the days of awkward intros and mindless business card exchanges. There are some incredible business events out there (hot tip, go for quality content over extravagant goodie bags). Some great events for your diary are League of Extraordinary Women, Minding Her Business and The Lady Counsel. Also keep an eye on our RUN SHEET e-newsletter for all the amazing workshops and events held at Newstead Studios (join our mailing list to get this straight to your inbox each month).
• Finally, if human interaction isn’t your jam, get your daily dose of biz-spiration straight to your ears with these podcasts – Your Creative Start, One Wild Ride, Offline, Brandfetti, Stop Collaborate & Listen, Stevie Says Social.
Alison Rice and Jasmine Dowling in the Studio for the Sundays Offline live podcast recording
4. You can’t be everything to everyone
If you’re like us, it feels natural to please everyone at any cost. In business, you have to let this mindset go. Just send it out to pasture, retire it forever. Over the last two years, ‘you can’t be everything to everyone’ is a mantra that has helped us overcome countless conundrums. There’s been many times when our first instinct was to change who we are and what we do to meet someone else’s expectations. Like the time a new client came in and said the studio walls were too white, it would be better if they were yellow. People pleaser instinct: “Yellow walls! Genius! We’ll paint them for you!” Or the time a prospective co-working tenant said they’d sign on the dotted line if they could install wall-to-wall TVs and live stream their whole working day with their team in Manilla. People pleaser instinct: “How wonderful! I’m sure everyone else could just wear headphones and who doesn’t love a sports bar vibe at work?”
Or the time an event client asked if there was any chance the room dimension was actually 6m not 5m as per the floor plan. People pleaser instinct: “If I push really hard against the wall I’m sure I could stretch it out another meter for you!”
The bottom line is you’re never going to be EXACTLY what EVERYONE is looking for and that’s ok. In fact it’s ideal. Learn to embrace what’s different about your business and make these things the defining pillars of your success.
A couple of a favourite co-working space tenants (who don’t livestream to Manilla)
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas break with family and friends. We can’t wait to share some exciting plans for Newstead Studios in 2020!
Cass and the Newstead Studios team
x
P.s. A big thank you to Grace Elizabeth Images for our beautiful family pics. A painter’s house is never painted, so we will cherish these forever.
