How to deal with the disappointment of slow business growth

Your business is your baby, the lifeline that gives you the drive to get out of bed each day. Hours of sweat equity and thousands of dollars have been spent trying to get it off the ground and make it successful. Things were going well for the first few months until you hit a plateau. Growth stagnated, and you’re fearful that you’ve hit a downward trend. 

It’s a rough place to be in, especially for a handmade seller. A crucial component of your business model is based on people appreciating your handmade products and viewing them as important purchases. You’re most likely serving a niche market that may be too narrow for expansion. Etsy may have been helping you reach your small audience, but you’re also facing stiff competition from cheap mass-produced products from overseas. 

If you’ve chosen the Amazon Handmade platform, you’re probably struggling with the exorbitant fees and lack of autonomy. These issues may be impeding your ability to earn enough profit to truly make your business viable. Aaarrgghhhh!!!! Don’t you just want to tear your hair out in frustration? 

Micro businesses like yours are constantly bombarded with challenges that SMEs would never begin to understand. There are times when you may feel like you’re struggling alone. However, all struggles, failures, and disappointments are necessary to prepare you for new and exciting opportunities. The moment you stop chipping away at the troublesome stones may just be the moment when you’ll actually break through and see the diamond.

There’s an effective four-step strategy that you can use to help you push through your disappointment and frustrations. It’s called the IRRC. You see, it’s easy to wallow in self-pity and feel as though the odds are stacked against you. Staying in that pit, that dark, miserable hole, guarantees the sudden death of your business. The IRRC strategy helps you regain focus and proactively make changes to take your business to new levels of success. 

Subscribe to Handmade Seller Magazine to read the rest.