As some of you may now, I started my aromatherapy business last year called Dabira Aroma. I can’t believe it has been a whole year! Starting my business last year has been one of my biggest accomplishments, and I am looking forward to what I will accomplish in the years to come. I have learned a lot and will be sharing some of the tools that I have been able to use to help me run this business. In this post, I want to share with you five things I’ve learned so if you are thinking about starting your business you can
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Done is better than perfect
If I waited until everything was perfect I probably would have never launched my company. There are so many things I wanted to be perfect that was holding me back. I wanted to wait until every detail was perfect. One thing I’ve learned about starting a business is that you will have growth and there are things you will be able to improve. If you are sitting on an idea, start planning and think of ways to execute it. Trust your gut. It’s usually right most of the time!
2. It is okay to ask for help
Use your community of people and outsource when you can. I quickly learned that just because you are the founder of the business, it doesn’t mean that you have to wear ALL the hats. I started to get overwhelmed and began to go through the things I could ask for help with. One of the items was copywriting. I wanted the words to set up the image of my candles in my customer’s home. I struggled for weeks with coming up with the perfect descriptions. That is when I decided to log on to freelancer.com and set a budget and hire someone to write my product descriptions. I was paired with an amazing woman who wrote all 6 of my descriptions for like $50-60! Which is a steal? Not only was she able to turn it around in about a week, but it was also literally perfect, and each step of the way was collaborative.
3. Be your number one cheerleader
If you aren’t your number one fan, how will you get people to support your business? Throughout the year, I had to get comfortable with talking about my business. If this is something I kept quiet, I would have never got customers. Most of the time, your initial customers will be your family and friends, and then they will go on to share your product with their friends, etc. One of the new things I’ve learned most recently is that it is great to connect with your customers on Twitter. I have found so many new customers by just reaching out to people looking to support black-owned candle business.
4. It’s okay to change your mind
When I initially started, I knew I wanted to start with candles but then eventually branch into more aromatherapy items. If you have been following closely on this journey, you know I started as Dabira Candle, and as I became making other items, I did not want to keep myself in that box of only making candles. I decided to change my name to Dabira Aroma, and I remember being so scared to change my name because I was in business for under a year. Then I remember talking to a friend, and she had told me this is your company, you can do what you want! I’m glad I stuck with my gut and changed my name because I am obsessed with my new name!
5. You don’t have to say yes to everything.
It is great to get ideas from everyone, but if I would have made every scent, someone suggested I would have over 50 different types of candles. Everyone and their mom will come up to you with suggestions of what you should be doing with your brand. If it isn’t a custom order for a special event, I can’t just make a candle for everyone! I do listen to what they suggest because it can come in as inspiration some time!
I hope these tips were helpful for you, and I loved being able to share my knowledge of what helped me during my first year here. I want to be able to share some tools that I have found useful to help me run my business if I have any fellow business owners out there.
