Your business is growing…how do you keep up?

Aug 19

So…you started a business, word got out and now you just can’t seem to keep up! What do you do? For me it’s simple…BALANCE, but first the back story.

I started Longarm Machine Quilting in July of 2005, word got out and over the next several years my business grew steadily. Then in 2012 I quilted for My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe, here in Logan Utah, until they got a quilting machine. I got well over 100 new clients. It was crazy busy! So many fun quilts and wall hangings coming in and going out. With that, I quilted well over 500 things that year. Crazy, huh? It was such a fun time, to meet so many great women and see all the amazing quilts they were working on. With it came some crazy and sometimes impossible deadlines.

Thankfully it calmed down quite a bit since then. I LOVE what I do, don’t get me wrong. But in order too continue to love it, I needed to pace myself better. I needed to take breaks and do something else, even if I didn’t go on vacation, I took time to do other things that I love to do. Playing the piano, cooking/baking, waterskiing, reading, doing some of my own sewing, spending time with my family, and so much more.

I actually changed how and when I received quilts from clients. For the out of towners, those can come when they are ready, but for the locals…which is most of my clientele, I add them to a list and let them know when I’m close to their name. Which works wonderfully!!!! I don’t get super stressed about all the work I have hanging in the closet. By getting added to my list it also saves their spot as they finish up those last parts of their quilts, like backings and borders. Did I lose some clients doing it that way, yes. That’s okay. It doesn’t work for everyone. It’s what works best for me. One thing that is important to me, after quilting for 15 years, is to be able to continue to quilt until I’m ready to retire and not get burned out. I’m constantly reminding myself it’s okay to wait and work on a quilt later, so that I can go watch my nephew play baseball or my niece in her dance recital. We are both going to remember that I was there to support them. Also, during one of my busiest times I quilted 7 things in one day. I know 4 of them were wall hangings, then I think there were some quilts and possibly one runner…I can’t remember. I just remember working from the moment I woke up until I went to bed, with only eating breaks. I remember being exhausted, and haven’t done that since.

I truly believe there is great wisdom in taking good care of yourself. Nothing is more important than YOU!

Working from home has great advantages, the commute is none. Which can be great during the 2020 pandemic. But, work is always there! Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you need to devote all your time and energy to it.

My suggestion is simple, look at your work load. What do you want to accomplish this week, (this next part is so important) within reason. Is it reasonable to quilt 7 things in a day, or 18-20 things in a week? That’s up to you. For me it’s not. You figure out what is best for you, so that you can continue to do all the other wonderful things that you want/need to do. Write who’s quilt your going to quilt on a calendar, and then let your clients know a realistic time frame. That works wonders! Don’t feel like because their quilt is there, that it needs to be done today! Unless of course it’s the only quilt you have to work on and you have the time, or it’s the one that you were planning on working on today.

I know for some, the amount of income coming in is important, so working as much as you can is needed. If that’s the case and you’re still struggling to make ends meet…up your prices. Each time I’ve done that, my clients tell me my work is worth it.

I love my clients!! I count them as friends. We’ve always enjoyed visiting and catching up on what is going on in our lives. Until this pandemic came rolling in, let’s hope it’s rolling on out of here soon…for good! My clients are so great to work with!! I’m so blessed by each and every one of them. They also are very understanding with what I can do and when it can be done.

So, my advice. Set realistic weekly work goals, figure out what your priorities are and what else you’d like to be doing in your life, and set boundaries. Boundaries are something you need to set for you. Sometimes you may need to with others, but more often than not, the boundaries that need setting are ones you need to set for yourself and you need to keep them. So, if your weekly goal was to quilt 8 quilts, and it’s early Friday afternoon and you’ve met your goal…but you could start just one more…decide if it can really wait until Monday. I believe in taking weekends off, if you can. Life is for living, not just for working or earning a living. Actually, sometimes I will pin on the next quilt so it’s ready to quilt, when it’s time for me to work next. Something that takes me 15-30 minutes to do. I don’t even turn on the machine to baste the quilt top down, that can wait.

This is what works for me. The key word in all of this is “balance”. To have balance requires more things than just work. What is important to you? Add that to your list of priorities, and fit those things into your schedule. No negotiating on the other things that are important to you, never tell yourself they aren’t important or can wait. This year I’ve added daily walks and short runs to my balance list. Also, be flexible with yourself. If you don’t quite meet your weekly goal, or don’t really do much with work at all this week, that’s okay! I promise. Tomorrow or next week is just fine. It’s also okay to shuffle around the order in which things are completed, in order for you to do “all the things”. If I have a quilt that has a deadline that’s getting pretty close, I will do it sometimes before the others that should be done, because that’s better than me stressing to do a few more before I can get to the one with the deadline. Then I just pick back up the order. You know what…no one will know either, unless you tell them. It’s all in the flexibility.

As a hard working self employed champ, you also need to cut out the things that aren’t important. For instance…I have helped my business grow through using social media, blogging, Pinterest, pictures, tagging clients, sewing with groups, and so on. It’s a lot to keep up with it all. So I cut back on some of those things. Instead of blogging each individual quilt, I blog a variety of some not all of the different quilts that I quilt, all in one post. It saves me so much time. I also take pictures on my phone instead of my nice digital camera, because it’s easy to crop and edit them and then blog them, all through the app for my website…all on my phone. Which makes it easy to share on social media and Pinterest. Tagging clients on Facebook is a great way to help build your clientele, but is also not necessary. If it’s something that takes more time than what you have, figure out how to do it quicker or in a more simplified way. Or just cut it out all together.

Remember at the end of the day, YOU are more important than your work. You are worthwhile, so make time for yourself. It may seem silly to read the title about keeping up with a growing business, and then being told to simplify…prioritize…and make time for yourself. But if you take time for you, then you have more to give. You’ll continue to or can start to, love your work again. Really, set some boundaries and stick to them. You’ll be happier if you do. Remember things can wait, but taking care of you can’t.

This all comes from my experience with just trying to keep up. Taking on every opportunity isn’t necessary to be successful. Pick the ones that have the opportunity for more growth and longevity. Example: for me it’s designing machine quilting designs. It’s great additional income, yet it allows me to do my main job machine quilting. Multiple opportunities can spread us too thin, so it’s okay to say that it’s not for me, or even try it out and decide later it’s too much. I’ve done that. It’s also okay to say no. I just did it today with a good friend, because it just didn’t work in the time frame that I have to quilt something by the time that she needs it. She was totally fine with it. No’s don’t make you a bad person, they help others know you value your time and can’t quite make it work this time. I usually tell my clients to give me a heads up next time, so I can keep their quilt and deadline in mind.

A quick side note…

Rush fees…have you charged them before? You should if you haven’t. Your time is important and if someone really needs you to quilt something, and jump way ahead of everyone else or even to the front of the line, they should pay a rush fee. You need to know that the extra time taken out of the other things you want to be doing, to catch up on work, is worth something. Have confidence when you tell them you can do it, but you have a rush fee. Your rush fee also shouldn’t be $5 more an hour for the time it takes. It should be within reason, but it’s okay to charge upwards of a flat fee of $50 to $100. For me it depends on the size of the quilt and if it’s super labor intensive. That’s when I charge on the higher end.

Value yourself. Value your work. Value your time. The balance you create in your life with your business should have your best interest in mind.

I hope these suggestions can help you if you’re needing some more balance in your life/work.

Write things down, and stick to them. You’ll be glad that you did!