Running a small business has taught me an awful lot over the years. Some of it has been genuinely useful. Some of it has been learnt the hard way. And some of it has left me wondering how on earth I ever thought running my own business would be a good idea 😂
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love what I do. But being a one-woman business means there’s rather more involved than simply making lovely soap and sending it off to customers.
So here are five things I’ve learnt from running The Soap Mine.
1. You have to wear ALL the hats
When you run a tiny business, you’re not just the person making the product. You’re also the marketing department, customer service team, purchasing manager, bookkeeper, photographer, social media manager, website administrator and cleaner.
And that’s before you even get to making the product. It’s not unheard of for a couple of weeks to go by when I don’t make any soap at all. But all those other jobs have to be done, and until I can persuade Jac to take over the bookkeeping, they’re entirely down to me.
2. Being busy and being productive aren’t necessarily the same thing
This is a big one. It’s perfectly possible to spend an entire day rushing around, answering messages, fiddling with the website, posting on social media and generally being extremely busy, without actually achieving the things I really needed to get done.
I’ve learnt that having a long to-do list isn’t quite the same as having a useful to-do list. Sometimes the most productive thing I can do is ignore the little jobs clamouring for attention and get on with the important one I’ve been avoiding.
If there were prizes for procrastination I’d be winning awards left, right and centre, so I’m still working on that one…
3. You can’t please everybody
Not everyone is going to love every fragrance, colour or product I make.
Some people adore sweet, fruity scents. Others can’t stand them. Some prefer essential oils, while others want fragrances that smell like pudding. And some people would probably prefer that I just made everything in beige. You can drive yourself slightly mad trying to cater for absolutely everyone.
I’ve learnt that it’s much better to understand who my customers are, listen to their feedback and make products I’m proud of, rather than trying to be everything to everybody. Although I do still get a little thrill when someone tells me I’ve made their new favourite soap.
4. Planning is essential. So is accepting that plans will go wrong.
I can plan my production schedule, calculate how many bars I need to make and organise my week down to the last hour. But then a fragrance suddenly becomes ridiculously popular, a delivery is delayed (SO common these days) or something unexpected demands my attention.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is that you need a plan, but you also need to be able to change it. Preferably without having a complete meltdown every time. I’m getting better at that too. Mostly.
Running a business involves a surprising amount of problem-solving (and a fair bit of making decisions when you don’t have all the information you’d really like).
5. The little things really do matter
When you run a tiny business, you notice every order.
You notice when someone comes back for their favourite soap, when a customer leaves a lovely review, or when someone takes the time to recommend you to a friend.
A single order might not mean much to a huge company, but to a business like mine, it genuinely matters. It’s easy to become so caught up in the everyday jobs that you forget what a privilege it is that people choose to spend their hard-earned money on something you’ve made.
And I never want to take that for granted.
Would I do it all again?
Oh yes.
There are frustrating days, exhausting days and days I have no idea how I’m going to get everything done. On the other hand I get to work for myself, be creative, set my own working hours, make something useful and send little parcels of loveliness out into the world.
I’ve also learnt that I’m capable of doing things I would never have imagined when I first started making soap.
So, while I might occasionally fantasise about having a proper HR department, an accountant permanently on call and somebody whose sole job is to do the washing-up, I wouldn’t swap this little business for anything.
(Although if anyone fancies volunteering for that last position, we should definitely talk!)
Vicki x