All Things O'Natural

My husband and I receive the question, 'How do you manage to successfully run a business together?' quite a bit. Our answer is always,  'The balance of ying and yang' That basically means we find our strengths and weaknesses and balance each other out. I must say, we definitely do not have all of the answers and feel that each business should find a balance and method that works for them. But, here are a few tips that has worked for us.

FIND WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOUR BUSINESS.

One thing I've noticed is that there are a plethora of people, a plethora of forums and a plethora of courses that offer advice on how to run a business. While many offer great advice, I find that the advice is beneficial if it truly works for the vision of your business and what feels right for you. Many things we've learned are through trial and error. To me, trial and error has been one of the greatest teachers. 

IT'S OK TO MAKE MISTAKES

Oh my goodness, the amount of mistakes we've made could probably set a world record. My husbands favorite motto is, 'it's not about focusing so much on the mistake but instead how well you recover.' We've recovered amazingly from hiccups and learned the greatest lessons. Those mistakes allow us to understand what works and definitely what does not. My husband, Syeed, is wonderful at not harping or stressing over things. It helps to balance me out.

MASTER ONE THING AT A TIME

Though it can be tempting to have a ton of products featured or line sheets with many line items, we've found that mastering the one or very few things first is best in terms of establishing a customer base. Once you've mastered one or the few, branch out and add one or a few more, but only if and when it feels comfortable. We've been in business since 2011, striving to master our first products before branching into a complimentary focus on body and oral care via our Bohemian Collection in 2015. Know when enough is enough. Having 4 little ones,  we have to be mindful of not becoming overwhelmed with a ton of products. One thing that's helpful in minimizing stress of having to handcraft a ton of products is by offering complementary products from other small businesses which handcraft and fit within the vision of our brand, such as the candles we offer by Pommes Frites Candle Co and shampoo by Dudu Osum. This minimizes the amount of items that we have to focus on handcrafting while offering options to our customers.

KNOW YOUR VISION. YOUR PATH IS YOUR PATH

With being a business owner, it can be tempting to strive to do or be like the next successful business, but it's so important to find what works for you and your business. My husband and I had a vision of where we wanted our company to go and what we wanted to do to minimize being overwhelmed and stressed. For us, we like to hand pick shows and craft fairs we like to vend and never feel that we must attend every single show that presents. One thing both of us agree on is that we don't like to force anyone or over convince anyone to buy our products. We love for customers to decide for themselves without feeling pressured and it can sometimes feel like a sport of sales at some shows, so we're comfortable researching and deciding which shows we will vend and if we feel it will be stressful or overwhelming and we don't vend. Knowing your vision also helps to decide shipping, organizing, wholesale and marketing.  Since I'm primarily the one who utilizes social media, my vision was to incorporate posts about overall healthy living. This encompasses healthy mind, healthy eating, healthy marriage  (which my husband collaborates with me), homeopathy,  spirituality, etc. I love to reach my audience through my love of all things natural, beautiful photos and family living. 

ALLOW BALANCE TO FLOW WITH A GREAT PARTNER.

One of the greatest lessons I've had the honor of learning is listening to someone else regarding my passion. I've learned the difference of needs vs wants regarding our business. My vice has been that I can over indulge and think too much about things, whereas Syeed is more balanced with understanding what's important and what can be detrimental to the business. Though I'm the creative head, I can be indecisive yet impulsive at times, so it's great to have that cool balanced energy from Sy. Whenever I feel impulsive to buy something that's truly not needed, I hear that 'do we really need that' voice or I, instead, reinvest into our business. Find what each others strengths and weaknesses are and allow each other to maximize in the areas of their strengths while the other maximizes in the areas where the other may be weak. Syeed's input has helped with organization and logistics, having a background in Restaurant Management for over a decade. We love the balance of creative vs organized, impulsive vs. thoughtful. This balance has helped with establishing ship out days that work for our business and does not interfere with our homeschool and home life, all while providing great customer service to our customers. 

STOP STRESSING OVER THAT WHICH IS OUT OF YOUR CONTROL.

One very important benefit my husband and partner has brought is not stressing over what we can't control. We can't control a poor review here and there, but we can enjoy and focus on the hundreds of great reviews. We can't control that people may love selfie photos of hair or photos posted of he and I in couple photos posted, but show slower interest in beautiful product placement photos or photos of our boutique or healthy eats. My husband always says, 'hey, you can't control it so why worry about it. But look at the ton of diverse new people who are drawn to our page because of those cool still life and lifestyle photos you post. Focus on that.' He's the 'focus your energy on the positive ' type of guy. Because of that positive input, I post what I love and what falls within the vision of our company. Instead of focusing on how your product didn't work for someone, focus on how they've worked for many...I think I've come to master that. I'm amazed at how focus shift truly works in minimizing unnecessary stress. 

SHIFT YOUR FOCUS FOR PEACE OF MIND

As stated earlier,there are a plethora of advice given that may or may not work for you and your business. If something doesn't flow right for our business as a team unit, we ignore it. If we read something that is great,but just not for us, we keep it moving. We try not to follow social media pages that causes us to doubt what and how we do things just to be on a certain level. We simply, change the channel,  or change our focus to things that truly feels right for us. Instead of comparing ourselves to the accomplishments of others,we focus on the beauty of being able to provide for a family of 6 sometimes 7 without having to go back to the workforce in over 4 years. This way, we can peacefully and honestly congratulate and feel joy for others without wanting to actually Be others. When you're so focused on  trying to be like others and what they've accomplished, you miss the joyful beauty of your own growth and successes. Find your peace.

TURN IT OFF

One of the most important things when operating a business with your spouse is turning off the business and truly enjoying each other and your family. Know that the business is ok and it will be there, but don't forget to live. For us, there is always time to talk and focus on the business, but more importantly, there is time to turn it off.