It's the new year. A lot of people are thinking about new life goals and starting new businesses.
So in this video, I thought it would be helpful to share with you.
The three things. I wished I knew
as a beginning business owner
so you can learn from my mistakes and shave years off your journey and get to success faster.
Hi, my name is Mei Pak. And I help makers artists
and designers make a living from selling their handmade products online.
If you're new to my channel a little bit of a quick background.
I've been selling my own handmade jewelry and I've been in this online business world for 15 years.
Now as of this recording in 2020 my husband
and I made it to multimillion-dollar status with our businesses combined.
So I've definitely been through a huge adventure to get to where I am today my hope for you.
Is that it? Take you 15 years to get there,
but just a fraction of that.
So the first thing I wish I knew about was the different types of business models online
and how each one works best with different marketing strategies.
For example, a content-based business like a YouTuber
or a blogger makes money in very different ways than someone
who is a service provider like a photographer
or graphic designer.
For example, someone who makes money
as an affiliate and promotes other people's products
and then gets paid commission requires different forms of marketing than a
business that sells pre-made products from China on Amazon
and someone who sells coaching for $10,000 is also going to be different from everyone else.
I just mentioned so you have to be very clear where you fit in and what you want to be its best.
Also if you don't try to create some sort of new category of business model like
this because then you'll just get really confused and your business will take ages to take off.
So if Our handmade business owner
and you sell physical products
what it takes to make a business like that successful is not the same strategies
as a service provider or content based business.
And that is the biggest trap. I fell into that cost me a ton of money
and a lot of time in the beginning and it's the same trap.
I see people fall into over
and over again even today
when I first started my business there weren't many
books or courses about how to start handmade business most resources.
Nurses out there were four businesses in general
and mostly that was for service-based businesses or coaches or bloggers.
So I spend a lot of money on programs
and courses that were designed
for people like them but not from my type of business model
and this is a problem that still true today.
There are more courses out there than you can buy
and they're not all suited for the handmade business model.
Like I was taking courses on Pinterest blogging Instagram
and it all just felt really hard to apply it to my own.
Sniffs because so much of what I learned.
I felt couldn't work for my business.
So just be smarter than me
when I first started and be aware of the different business models
and that way you can be more selective
on what you decide to do with yours in who you listen
to for advice and what strategies you adopt for your business.
The second thing was I wish I had invested more in the beginning
as someone who started with nothing completely from scratch and built.
Businesses that now makes his millions of dollars.
Now I can tell you that there is a huge difference in how I valued Investments back
when I was barely making any money.
I obviously couldn't afford to pay big money for in-depth programs or really in-depth coaching.
So I will constantly spend like $10 here $90 there on little ebooks
and many courses that didn't make an impact in my life or business.
2018 which is 12 years since I started was to first time.
I actually paid $12,000 for the year to work with a coach in a group setting.
It's such a huge leap in the big mental shift.
It was definitely very scary. And then in 2019,
I spent $15,000 for a coach that ended up not working out
and I was out that money and then in 2020 I spent even bigger money.
Dollars across three different coaching programs now,
I don't think it is a coincidence that our business has surpassed seven
figures for the first time in 2020.
Before I got to that point though, I had always seen other people invest a big money like this
and I always wonder what it was like I thought do I have to invest big money in order
for my business to grow and
what I've learned coming out from the other side of this experience is the short answer is yes,
but it's not that simple.
So yes in very simplistic terms the more money you invest the more your
business will grow one thing that we discount
or are unaware of is how much you commit to something.
When you have so much at stake,
like if I spend $25 on an e-book it wouldn't be the end of the
world if I never got around to reading it,
right? But if I spent $10,000 on a program you bet I will do
whatever it takes to make that investment
worthwhile that mental switch gives you an incredible sense of accountability
and healthy pressure that I think we all need where it gets more complex has you
don't want to spend big money just The sake of it.
It has to be extremely calculated.
There are many coaches and programs that would gladly take my money,
but it was very careful in vetting who it was.
I was giving my money to what kind of service they provide
what other people say about them and more importantly what I needed to do to make it work.
Well, I also took my time to wait
for the right investment to come my way
and for me I had decided in 2019 that would it would be to invest in YouTube.
So the majority of my investment went into anything.
NG YouTube related right.
So hindsight is always 20/20 right?
And I don't know if I could believe
or be convinced when I was younger that this is the way especially
when you don't have $10,000 to spend in your bank account,
right that makes it so much more impossible.
I think you just have to go through the trials
and tribulations and to experience this for yourself to really see what I'm saying.
The third thing. I wish I did
when I was just starting out was to reach Out to create a community sooner I'm talking
about that community of friends who are in the same boat
as you and who you can trust
and talk to it wasn't until eight years after I started then I finally found some
friends that I would dare call lifelong friends that I love
and who get what I do and I can tell you that they've made a huge impact on how I shaped my business
and my life they give me confidence.
They listen to me complain they can help me problem solved.
They helped me keep me accountable.
They challenge me. They help me go after my dreams,
but for many of the first few years,
I was so alone, especially since back in the day.
There were so few people selling handmade products online and see it just been established.
There were no craft stores where I lived in Malaysia.
And so everyone who was physically around me like family or neighbors or school friends.
They had no interest in what I cared about. If you're in a similar situation my biggest tip
for you is to reach out.
Out to people even if you're afraid put yourself out there.
So join us on Facebook groups or message boards and put a call out that you're looking for a friend.
That's what I did. I know it sounds crazy,
but it worked it didn't always work out.
But all of my lasting business related friendships that have turned into
just life friendships have come from doing exactly
that and having that kind of support from people who get it will
make this whole journey that much sweeter
and easier.