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Surviving Tough Times in Your Life & Business
94 Plays8 months ago
Cass & Amanda share why we missed last month’s episode, some life and business challenges we and our designer friends are facing, and practical tips for navigating and being prepared for challenges that require you to step away from your business. Let us know in a comment if you can relate to anything we share or if you have tips that helped you survive a tough time in your entrepreneurship journey.
Resources mentioned:
- Get your free ticket to The Simply Profitable Designer Summit (March 17th-21st & replays are available if these dates have passed)
- Join our close friends list on Instagram
- Our Templates & Courses for Designers
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:42 What’s the tea at Foxtrot
13:03 Challenges our design community is facing
22:44 Tips for preparing for and navigating hard times
32:49 Creating diverse and recurring income
34:30 A great free event for designers
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Foxtrot Branding
00:00:00
Speaker
You know, we are like ah a successful studio and we've been around for a long time, but that doesn't mean we're like always booked consistently. Like we're we're still having to work for it. It's not just, it doesn't just fall in lap all the time. We're really good about just pushing forward with our marketing and what we're putting out on social media. Like just because we're continuing to market really strongly, you know, doesn't automatically mean we're not having some challenges, you know, behind scenes sometimes.
00:00:25
Speaker
Right. Welcome to Spill the Tea. We're Cass and Amanda. We're the co-founders of the creative studio, Foxtrot Branding. In these episodes, we share about navigating our lives as designers and business owners and the challenges and rewards that come up along the
Handling Tough Times in Life and Business
00:00:40
Speaker
way.
00:00:40
Speaker
So today we're going to be talking about how to survive tough times in life and business. I think this is going to be a really helpful topic just with... everything that's going on in the world, especially in America, and how that affects being an entrepreneur.
00:00:56
Speaker
And also some how do you deal with life and just personal things that kind of um may throw you off when it comes to business? how do you manage that when you work for yourself? Yeah, I think it's kind of just universally in our community. We've been hearing a lot of designers are going through some tough stuff and addition to ourselves. So it felt relevant. It felt right. And um hopefully it will be, you know, helpful at least just to hear that other people are experiencing some tough stuff along with you, you know, if that's the case for yourself too.
00:01:27
Speaker
And before we dive in we do want to remind you that if you enjoy this podcast, we really appreciate it. If you could leave us a rating or review on either Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you're listening. And if you're watching on YouTube, if you could give this video a like, that really does help us out a ton.
00:01:43
Speaker
So what's the tea at Foxtrot? Let's start with that. Let's do a little update on things. And then we'll dive in to our topic, which I think it'll be a natural progression because a lot of what we're talking about what's been happening at Foxtrot is directly related to our topic today. Yeah.
00:01:58
Speaker
So you want to start us off, Cass? Yeah. So we didn't post a podcast episode last month because um things got crazy. Basically, I had um a sudden death in my family. My mom passed away in January, which was just really shocking and overwhelming. And i was just out dealing with that for pretty much a month, um a little bit less. And Amanda really carried while that happened, um which was just amazing to have somebody have a partner, you know, who could help do that in business. um Which Cass has done for me before too.
00:02:34
Speaker
I want to say like, we've both had the opportunity to do that for each other, which has been like, honestly, like life-changing to be able to have that support. And yeah. Yeah. it It makes a huge difference. It's given me a whole new level of empathy for, you know, just ah people in general that have, you know, losses in their family, but especially business owners, because, know,
00:02:55
Speaker
you know, you don't have built in bereavement time with your, when when you run your own business, like you might add an employer and it it's, it's hard both ways, whether you are employed or you work for someone else. But um yeah, that was basically what I've been dealing with for the past month. And um obviously like it's still affecting everything in my life and and affecting my ability to be full-time back at work. But yeah,
00:03:24
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. Like, what what do you say? Like, it was a very life altering month for me. um And yeah, it's kind of just been affecting everything else. But I am feeling like it's um March now, the beginning of March, and I'm feeling ready to come back and do a podcast and I don't know just just slowly reintegrating back into everything, but kind of taking it slow.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, kind of take it day by day for sure. Because it's like, I feel like, which I don't want to speak for you and your experience, but I think thinking back to my own too, like there's going to be days where you feel like you can work and like be like a normal person. And then there's days where you're like, I just cannot.
00:04:06
Speaker
More like you have like very real like logistic things you need to go do, you know, because you're still dealing with like the aftermath of all of that and how that impacts you. your life and your family and all of that. So on top of all the the grief, you know, it's, yeah, it's tough.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's been it's been a crazy month and we'll kind of talk about how that leads into like um just some of the other difficult things that I know a lot of other designers have have talked about that they're dealing with right now. And I know, you know, this happens to to everybody at some point in their life, but so we'll kind of get more into that. But what about you, Amanda? How has your life been at Boxtrot, especially without me, you know, for a little bit?
00:04:50
Speaker
I know it feels weird to talk about my stuff because it's like my life is like doing like I'm doing well right now and it feels like such like a ah a strange contrast to you know to what you're going through yeah um but I know like yeah we all have like our different seasons in life like I've had really hard difficult times too you know and it's like it's just the phase you're and this is a phase I'm in. Luckily, I'm glad that we're not both in a terrible at same time. I going to say, like, I'm glad you're doing relatively well. Our business would not be running we were both going through hard stuff right now.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah. That'd be insane. So I'm so glad that, you know, we have had each other and at our difficult moments, the other person has been able to, like, carry the the weight for the for the company, you know, which has been a great. Yeah, like true partnership in that way. Like, whether it's business partnership, I've experienced similar similar things and, like,
00:05:42
Speaker
my partnership with my husband too you know hope most of the time you balance each other out which is nice right because it's like you're never going to be able to provide like a hundred percent each person so it's like you kind of like help I don't know how to word it but you kind of help like just pick up the this the slack you know where the other person just can't provide in that way and and that's something we're both like totally happy to do for each other you know obviously like in any situation that's needed so Yeah. um So in my life, I mean, I feel like things have been pretty good recently. Like I definitely like burnt out last fall and winter. i was having a really difficult time.
00:06:17
Speaker
um So I think now like my focus this year is like, let's make sure that I don't get to that point again because it was like really bad. Like I was, I laugh now. It was not laughable then.
00:06:28
Speaker
um I was trying so hard to like be in a good place. so I was just like mentally, like I was just, pretty down and stuff. Because I think like work got kind of stressful for a point there.
00:06:39
Speaker
i was trying a ah medication for ADHD that just like didn't sit well with my body and that kind of thing. So now I've been just really trying to focus on doing my best, but not overdoing it, which I think could easily happen in a time where you have to step away from the business and I'm doing a little more work.
The Role of Hobbies and Community Support
00:06:59
Speaker
But luckily, i think this like past like couple months this year haven't been too overwhelming. And I've also just like set different expectations for myself. Like I'm not going to be able to do 100% my job and 100% your job while you're gone too. It's like I'm just doing the best that I can with the energy that I have.
00:07:16
Speaker
I'm not trying to overdo it. I'm not trying to burn out. Like I'm trying to really take good care of myself. And I think part of that has been and just in like maintaining my routines and um doing things I enjoy too. Like I'm in the six week pottery course, which like honestly has been really helpful because I have friends in that class too. So it's been really nice to have that kind of grounding activity. That's like, I'm doing that every week.
00:07:38
Speaker
I'm making something with my hands instead of just on the computer. So it feels more real. It feels more like nurturing. It feels like I have like community and friends around. So I just feel like I've been able to like maintain like a better level of like happiness and energy and been able to do okay in the business, even when you're not here, you know?
00:07:56
Speaker
That's a really good point about resetting expectations because we were, we had some very ambitious plans and like we had a big, always do. Always. Yeah. We're always trying to do everything and we're like, but we can't all the time.
00:08:09
Speaker
Yeah. We were like really maxing out on all these refreshes and and things we wanted to do on our new year's to-do list basically. And we were kind of like getting through the majority of it And then everything happened for me and I had to take a step back. So I think weve we've definitely just had to release a lot of these goals we had had for at least specific timelines that we had them on and reset those expectations. Because i like you know life happens, shit happens. You can't always just...
00:08:37
Speaker
keep and pushing for the same plans you had. So we've reset those. And I think that's important just emotionally to let ourselves be like, that's okay. let's We're going to get to it at some point, but right now we're just going to navigate the here and now and lower our expectations in some areas and also set some new baselines for success and happiness, which is probably a good thing to like come back and do regularly just based on how things are actually playing out. And I love that you're doing like your pottery class I've been doing, um or I had a knitting class and I'm hoping to start like a knitting group out of that.
00:09:11
Speaker
i think that is so important to leave that time for creative energy and then also connection. And if you can can do both at the same time, I think that's essential, especially just considering how dark things are politically in America right now. And with everything going on, like people,
00:09:29
Speaker
I really appreciate when people talk about and align with when people talk about how important it is to have community events. um And a lot of times so it's going to be like cra crafting stuff for me personally, because that's just what I'm interested in. I think a lot of people- probably our audience too, just being creatives in general. yeah It seems like a lot of us are very like multi-passionate. Like if so, I want to do all the crafts, you know, to do everything.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah. I love knitting, crochet, that art. I don't know. we We both are so similar in that way. If we love to dabble and all this stuff, I'm sure, you know, both us and anybody that's lets listening or follows us, we all have like extensive craft collections of yeah all the crafts we've tried to do over the years.
00:10:07
Speaker
But yeah, I think that's been something I'm trying to prioritize as I can is just keeping – those creative hobbies and connections with people. Cause I really think that is going to, that can carry you through some, some really hard times and as things just feel like they're going to get even harder, you know?
Economic and Political Impacts on Business
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think on kind of that same thought of, you know, what's going on in the world, what's going on in America, the kind of like sense of like impending doom kind of thing that I think a lot of us are feeling, which I also know that a lot of our community is feeling too. We have a lot of designers we're regularly talking to in our, um you know, in our DMs and stuff. And recently we were posting on stories about how we had had kind of a dry spell um of and inquiries at the start of this year. I think we only had like one new client inquiry in like between January and February or whatever the time slot was we looked at the other day.
00:11:02
Speaker
And then all of a sudden we had like a bunch and we had like four sales calls last week, you know? And so we were like really hoping that those go through. and so anyways, i had posted about that and I was like, wish us luck, you know, after this dry spell. And then we had so many people responding to that. They're like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad to see that it's not just me who's having a dry spell.
00:11:21
Speaker
And so that kind of just spurred this conversation of like, why do we think that is what's going on? Cause historically like the start of the year had tended to be like a fairly busy time for inquiries for us. So we're like, that's kind of weird. What's going on?
00:11:33
Speaker
um But honestly, I think it's because of like the political climate and the the economy. Like I think people are like, everything is super expensive. Businesses are kind of holding onto their cash a little more.
00:11:45
Speaker
and think we're all kind of holding our breath because it's just like, what's going to get shut down next? What's going happen next? is my Is my friend, is my partner, whoever who isn't in my design industry and not an entrepreneur, are they going to lose their job? Like,
00:11:59
Speaker
It's just there's so much going on. So I think in times of like instability, I think people are a lot less likely to spend their money, especially when things are so expensive. It's just it's harder to want to like say, yes, I'm ready to spend, you know, thirty five hundred, five thousand, ten thousand for Weber brand design project. Right. Like I think businesses are just holding on to their money a little more.
00:12:20
Speaker
And it does seem like maybe now with like the the new season, i think maybe there's a little bit of renewed energy. and going around, I think maybe people, i think politically still things are like insane, but maybe people feel like they can like breathe a little more after just like the insane quickness of just all the things happening in January.
00:12:40
Speaker
um So I think it was just helpful for designers to see that like, it's, it's not just them. There's nothing wrong with you. If you're not getting client inquiries right now, um or if they've been slow, there's nothing wrong with you. It's likely what's going on. Just in around us in the world.
00:12:57
Speaker
I hope that that helps to hear. um But I think there's also that kind of leads us into like talking about our topic today. Like what do you do in times of stress and struggle or like whether it's in your personal life, whether it's in the whole world?
00:13:12
Speaker
Like how you're feeling emotionally. um Maybe you've had a loss recently. Maybe you're you know your sales are down. like How do you manage? How do you survive through tough times in life and business? So that's what we want to talk about today.
00:13:25
Speaker
want you to know that like it's it's not just you. You're not alone. Even though we've been in business for... you know We're going to be hitting our seventh year this fall. like We still have slow seasons. We're still struggling occasionally. like We're still going to hit burnout sometimes. As much as we try our best, it's still sometimes things are just out of your control.
00:13:43
Speaker
And I know that we're not alone in that. I know other businesses of the same age or even... a little bit beyond that are experiencing that too, which can be hard because I think I have a mindset of like, well, you know, the longer you're in business, the more stable you should be. And in a lot of ways we are. yeah And I think there's truth to that, but also just in entrepreneurship and running a business, things change so much and evolve so much, especially when the economy is really unstable um and unpredictable. And also there's just so many ways that it's like, yeah, you've been doing really well
00:14:17
Speaker
for X amount years, but throw in these changes and that can really change your current setup. And you're going to have to probably like evolve it to continue having the level of stability and success that you've had, which can be exhausting. And I think that's something we've heard people talking about in some of the communities we're in of like, I've been doing this for so long or like for X amount of years and it's gone pretty well, but like I'm tired, you know, just because like it is so much to keep up with, to always evolve, to always be trying to stay on top of trends and the economy and you just can't stay stagnant if you want to continue to be stable and successful.
Balancing Work, Income, and Fulfillment
00:14:54
Speaker
I think a few like other specific just kind of struggles that we've we've heard in some of our communities from designers are feeling um either like feeling like they don't have a good balance of the amount of hours they're putting in at their business versus the income that they're making and versus how they feel emotionally. like I think those are the three big things that really help you feel secure and content with a business. And it's so hard to find the balance of not overworking, but having you know a solid stream of
00:15:26
Speaker
bookings and projects going to where you're financially consistent and then also feeling like emotionally fulfilled and happy by it. and i don't think you can find a perfect balance all the time of those three things, but it's hard when one feels like really out of whack.
00:15:39
Speaker
I think that's kind of just the nature of like anything that you are monetizing, I think is not always going to be perfectly fulfilling. Yeah. And then it's kind of a bigger topic. Not under capitalism. Yeah, like under capitalism, like, I don't think that like, I think we try our hardest to really make it be like my dream job. And in many ways it is, but it's also a job. It also is just work that I have to do. Like, I have to work to make money.
00:16:05
Speaker
And I'm so glad and so lucky that like we're able to do it this way and do it our way. um But it doesn't mean that it's always going to just be easy either. um But of course, like your goal is to make it like be the most supportive to your ah to your life and your needs as possible.
00:16:21
Speaker
I think another big issue we see in design communities that we're a part of is that, you know, uncertainty and inconsistent work is really stressful for a lot of people. which understandably so.
00:16:33
Speaker
i think there's ways to help mitigate that a bit in business. There's different strategies. There's different ways to really prioritize like recurring revenue, which side note, that's actually something like we're going to be part of a summit that's launching later this month, the Simply Profitable
Financial Strategies for Designers
00:16:48
Speaker
Designer Summit. And it's all focused on like recurring revenue in your business.
00:16:52
Speaker
So I think if you're interested in learning more about that, that would definitely be really helpful for you. So definitely check out the the show notes. We'll have links to the summit there. It's a free summit for designers. um But it seems like that is just like a really big issue that a lot of designers face, whether you're newer, whether you're more advanced, like we all have to constantly be chasing revenue, right? So if there's ways that you can build up like a more supportive cushion with any kind of recurring revenue, or if you can find ways to help just kind of like track your revenue and like predict your income, that's something that we're going to be talking about at our session. Um,
00:17:26
Speaker
I think that can be really helpful and really supportive for a lot of people. Yeah, just to balance things out. So it's not like you're always, you're either feeling really overwhelmed by the amount of inquiries and work you have, or you're feeling like it's crickets, you know, trying to even even those two out. So you feel a bit more balanced in your workload.
00:17:44
Speaker
Something else we've seen designers talk about, which is very relatable, is just feeling some creative frustration and mismatch mismatching with the type of client inquiry inquiries you're getting or even the type of clients that you're working with just based on what you need to take on for your workload. Maybe it's not like a perfect project, but a lot of us, I think, feel like um we're seeing a lot of clients who need something with a really quick turnaround and they have a really low budget. That's like kind of a common thread. um We've seen some inquiries of, and then I know other designers have too. And that can be frustrating when you feel like it's just not the quality of leads that you're looking for, but it's like, well, I need the business, you know, so I'm going to try and make this work.
00:18:32
Speaker
It's what's in front of me right now. I think sometimes it's like, it's important to look at that and see, okay is that a result of um like what's going on in the world? Or is that a result of like my messaging, my content that I'm sharing, that kind of thing.
00:18:47
Speaker
So I think we've had a mix, like we're, we're getting like regular inquiries too, and like really good fits, but then those people still kind of trickle in. um But I think if in your business, you're like only getting the low budget inquiries and never anything that you're really like wanting to work on, then that might be something just to look at and make sure that you're your messaging is clear, make sure that your portfolio is attracting the right people, that sort of thing. um Because I do just want to be careful that it's like, you're not always like trying to blame an outside source.
00:19:14
Speaker
yeah But I also want to recognize that there are outside factors that you can't always control. Like you can't always control who is finding you online. You know, we get lots of different types of inquiries, whether they're finding us on TikTok versus Instagram or versus Pinterest. Like Very different.
00:19:30
Speaker
But you just want to make sure you're kind of covering all your bases as a business owner. But sometimes you can do your best and have the best messaging. And it could just also be that people are spending less money right now. That just might be reality. Yeah, just environment is causing people to have lower budget and to feel more panicked or like...
00:19:47
Speaker
I think we've seen a lot of people making rushed decisions about things um because they're feeling like, I'm not sure if I'm going to do it. This feels like a big risk. And then when they decide they are going to do it, they're like, all right, let's just do it right now. You know, like I need it. Like there's just not a lot of... makes people feel a lot of pressure too. It's like yeah just the... I think it's just the the the vibe of the...
00:20:08
Speaker
The world right now, vibe of the country, they're like, well, I need to make money. I need to make this happen. yeah and all very high And they kind of put that like, yeah, they they put that energy onto you as a designer sometimes. So that's something we're trying to like keep an eye out a little bit.
00:20:21
Speaker
on two. Cause that's something that typically has been kind of a red flag in the past. You can kind of see sometimes in potential clients with their like a little too hasty. That's not always the best fit, but it's not all people like that, but yeah. And I get it as a business owner.
00:20:37
Speaker
Like you want to make things go fast. You want it to, yeah, you want it pay off, but they need to do a little more planning too. Yeah. I think um and just another common struggle that I've seen just in my life, and maybe it's like recency bias, what but with other designers too, is just just general burnout and like emotional exhaustion due to whatever factors in your life. I think because things feel hard economically and really scary politically,
00:21:04
Speaker
that makes your capacity to deal with other emotional issues just lower. um And it's easier to feel overwhelmed by mental health stuff. Like maybe you're just having a really bad bout of depression or anxiety right now.
00:21:18
Speaker
Maybe you had a loss in your family or your life. Maybe just like your life is exhausting. Maybe you have um kids, you know, that you're trying to take care of or you're caring for a family member or a friend.
00:21:31
Speaker
I don't know. They just, the normal emotional things that happen in life can feel more overwhelming when you're also dealing with all these other pressures in your business. Yeah. I think that makes like running a business harder too. And it's like, you do have all that emotional weight on top of like already like running a business is a big responsibility.
00:21:50
Speaker
So it's just, yeah, I can easily like be this like pressure cooker of like just too many things weighing on you. Yeah. And i like I kind of mentioned at the beginning, I have a whole new level of empathy for business owners that deal with a loss in their family or become care caretakers. Like I've stepped into a caretaker role in my life. So I just, yeah, I have a lot of respect, especially for um those that have children. You know, like that is just, that that's a lot. And that's a privilege that me and Amanda have had. We've had a lot of privileges.
00:22:22
Speaker
One being, you know, being in a partnership, having each other, but then also we haven't had, you know, kids up until this point. um For me personally, I've had my husband who has had a full-time job and has insurance. And, you know, that is a huge deal for me um to have that support. So we definitely have had a lot of privileges.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah. I think that kind of leads us into, you know, I don't want to just linger here on all the the hard, sad stuff. I do want to share some, like, what are some solutions? How can you help, like, care for yourself, care for your business, find the support that you need. um Honestly, one of the most important things, the first thing I want to mention is just the importance of not comparing your business to someone else's because you have no idea what is going on in their life.
00:23:09
Speaker
um You don't know the kind of support that they have, what privileges that they have. Do they have a ah business partner who's also splitting the work with them? you know Do they have a husband or wife or partner who is also supporting them financially?
00:23:22
Speaker
Are they working full-time or part-time? There's a lot of agencies you might see online who it looks like they're a big agency and it might be one person working part-time and they just put out amazing work. Like you truly do not know how their business is going, how they're running things and what is going on in their own personal life.
00:23:39
Speaker
So I think it's so important to not compare
Marketing and Expectations in Business Struggles
00:23:41
Speaker
yourself. And I think that's why it was like ah maybe surprising and slash helpful for like people who messaged us, and you know, after sharing that story about like, we've had a really like long dry spell. They were like, Oh my gosh, I'm so glad it's not just me.
00:23:55
Speaker
um Because I think we, you know, we are like ah a successful studio and we've been around for a long time, but that doesn't mean we're like always booked consistently, you know, like we're, we're still having to work for it.
00:24:09
Speaker
It doesn't just fall in our lap all the time. We're really good about just pushing forward with our marketing and what we're putting out on social media. Like, no matter what's going on behind the scenes, we're going to be putting out content and like showing off our work and...
00:24:23
Speaker
um letting know people know like what our bookings are because that's just what you have to do as in business. But that does sometimes give the illusion of like, oh, they're super successful right now. But just because we're continuing to market really strongly you know doesn't automatically mean We're not having some challenges, you know, behind scenes sometimes.
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Because I think that's important to mention too. Like it doesn't – because I still feel like even though bookings have been low, I still feel successful. Like I still feel like we were able to pay ourselves this month. Like like that's good. Like that's – we were – you know, you were able to take off time. That's a great success. Yeah.
00:24:58
Speaker
Yeah. I was able to help support and bridge the gap a little bit. That's a great success. So it's like, I think the business is still successful just because we have a slower month doesn't make it unsuccessful. But yeah, I think just, I just want to reiterate again, just please don't compare yourself to other companies, other business owners, other designers, because you just really don't see the full picture.
00:25:17
Speaker
yeah It's cliche to say that we all have our own metrics of success and nobody can define what success is to you. But I mean, that is a core truth that what success is to you is going to be fully unique to your situation. So do be intentional to set those success baselines for yourself. And like we mentioned, evolve them.
00:25:37
Speaker
If circumstances change and you need to pull that baseline down a little bit to be like, I'm paying my bills, I am fed and I'm able to like do some creative things and hang out with my friends. And that is my baseline for like success. and like, that is enough.
00:25:52
Speaker
That is great. I'm happy right now. I think that's what most of us want right now. You know? Yeah. I like, I think my big mission this year has been like, how can I simplify my life? Like, how can I simplify it so I can maintain this like good baseline of health and happiness and success for the business, you know?
00:26:09
Speaker
We're going the opposite of like hustle culture. That was like 10 years ago, you know? Right. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's, it's like, how can I like really take good care of myself? Yeah. Is the culture.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah. I think another thing that's important to focus on in terms of surviving hard times and just having some solutions that will make it easier and help you keep progressing is just having systems in place and having communities for when times get hard and maybe you can't give your business 100%. Not everyone is going to be able to have a business partner or most people. That's not the the situation like me and Amanda have.
00:26:47
Speaker
But there are absolutely ways you can set up systems in your business so that if something comes up, it's not all just going to like fall apart or you're going to be like set back really far by it. I think it's important to have some relationships probably with like contractors for situations where you might need to have somebody help you in a design project, like maybe help you get through a design project that you've already booked to finish it.
00:27:11
Speaker
Also just have like design friends and connections that you could refer people to. If, for example, if you needed to pass a client on to somebody, Yeah, I think in our situation when, you know, your life stuff happened, um you had to take some time off.
00:27:25
Speaker
We had to kind of figure out a few project schedules. And and i think that was really important for us to not feel like you had to like come to work and do it, you know, like we're like, no, I think we need to look at this from a different approach.
00:27:38
Speaker
Can we, you know, how life or death is it that this client launches on this exact date? Could we message right message the client and, you know, ask for a week or two extension? Or could you look out for support for one of these websites you were working on?
00:27:52
Speaker
So I think like having that like grace for for ourselves. I think you even kind of still put a little bit of pressure on yourself sometimes too. You're like, I'm so sorry. I feel like I can't like help out with the business stuff. And I'm like, you don't need to. like That pressure is not there. You don't need to be doing that right now.
00:28:08
Speaker
Yeah, you definitely don't put that pressure on me at all. I just feel weird to fully step back. Because that's just your personality sometimes. is like You feel like you have to... like always be doing everything like, or like, I don't know, you you have this big sense of responsibility, which is great.
00:28:23
Speaker
But yeah, like, so I think my advice to like other designers, even if you are like a solo designer, and you do not have another, you know, teammate or whatever on your, um or like co founder anything, it's still so important to be flexible with yourself and like give yourself grace. And like, you don't have to be like, as stringent as maybe it would be if you were to work at like a big design agency or Or for any other like corporation who probably doesn't have your best interest at heart, like give yourself, I think like the, the love and care that you need and you deserve in like tough times like that. Like if you cannot work, you like, you deserve to give yourself like some space. Like, can you ask, like it's, it's really not as big of a deal as you might think it is to ask a client for an extension
00:29:09
Speaker
And double check with them on the timeline. Most the time in our experience, they're pretty chill. Maybe it's different with your clients. You know the priority that they have. So you can use your wisdom there to like figure out which timelines you might need to move. But yeah, you can you should definitely move something if you have something huge and urgent come up. Yeah, like if you need to have time to grieve, like find a way to give yourself that time. You know, I think you you deserve that that care for yourself. Utilize the the flexibility that is built into.
00:29:39
Speaker
this business path that you've chosen to take. Yeah. And I'm thinking of other situations as well. Like, you know, designers who, you get sick, but you feel like, oh, you have to power through the sickness, you know? But like, I've had friends recently who like got sick they're sick for like two weeks. And it's like, that's exhausting. And that's really hard to do that plus work. And it's like, I get that like you work for yourself and you can work from your computer, but it's still work.
00:30:05
Speaker
And you'd probably recover better if you took a little bit of time off and let yourself relax. You know what I mean? Like it's, I think it's so important to really honor like what you need, and you know, ah physically, comess emotionally, spiritually.
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. and so And set up things, that have them in place so that like when something like this does come up, unfortunately, it is going to come up. I feel like an insurance salesman saying that. but like But it's the truth. As someone who just experienced that is fresh on my mind, like something is going to come up. So...
00:30:34
Speaker
do move it to the top of your to-do list to set up systems or whatever it is that you can put in place to make it easier when and if something like this does happen. Because I know we have so much shit on our to-do list and like that might not feel important, but let my experience kind of spur you on to set those things up so that you know you're more prepared and it's easier when something like that does happen. well Even if it's just getting sick, like you said.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah, maybe like we could share some ideas of like what those things to set up might be, which I know we have kind of talked about this in another episode about like ah setting yourself up for like time off, like vacation wise, but maybe like what are some other ideas of things people can do?
00:31:18
Speaker
in like a tough life situation or tough business situation, like say you're sick or lost in the family or, you know, whatever else it is, it's kind of holding you back from
Effective Client Communication
00:31:28
Speaker
working. Like, I think having, um, like a list of all your existing clients is really helpful. Cause you can like send like a mass email to them, let them know that you're out of office.
00:31:38
Speaker
That can be really helpful. You can also set like your auto send, you know, email email. what is it called? Your email responder, have it like on auto with like a message you're out of office and when you'll be back.
00:31:49
Speaker
um There's some other things that you think would be helpful. I would say working with a few contractors, like having a few contractor connections, even if you like don't feel like you're ready to hire out a lot of work right now, probably just have a few people come on a few projects with you, whether that's for project management or design help, because it could be so beneficial to have anyone to reach out to in a time when you really need help.
00:32:15
Speaker
So if you have no connections, it's going to be a lot harder. So maybe just start working with a few seats just as an experiment, you know, it doesn't have to be long-term, but make a few connections, join, um, groups of designers, whether that's like Facebook groups or Slack groups, all of our courses have a Slack group associated with it.
00:32:32
Speaker
And they're all really amazing designers. they're were I think we're all pretty similar just in terms of personality. And we all have different goals and types of businesses, but there's a lot of great people there who are super kind and supportive and you know we're there as well. So I think that's important to do to join those groups.
00:32:49
Speaker
I think there's also some longer term things you can be doing um to always just have some kind of like extra support or cushion in your business.
Diversifying Income and Community Engagement
00:32:58
Speaker
Like I mentioned earlier, just even having like just diversifying your income just in general, I think is really helpful because if you can rely a little bit less on having to like actively have projects going, um if you could have some type of other income, whether it's like,
00:33:15
Speaker
um, you know, monthly maintenance packages for your web design, always having that revenue coming in retainers or retainers. Yeah. Or if you have some kind of product you're selling or workshop you're running or whatever it is, like if you have other income rolling in affiliates, that's another one.
00:33:31
Speaker
Um, that can really help a lot. And you we always say like, we're always like, Oh, is you know, this is only like a hundred dollars here, a hundred dollars there. But like every little bit adds up.
00:33:42
Speaker
And at the end of the year, a few extra hundred every month adds up to a few extra thousand. And that might be the difference between like making your revenue or not, you know, your revenue goal or not is what I mean.
00:33:53
Speaker
So I think that's really helpful. A paycheck or not. right Yeah, for sure. So I think it's really important to just like have that kind of stuff just consistently rolling. So if you don't already have anything in your business that is bringing an income aside from direct like client projects, I would start brainstorming that like now, like I would start building that because even if it's slow and growing right now, you know, by next year, that might be something that brings in an extra like $500 month for you.
00:34:21
Speaker
So that can be a huge difference and a huge benefit to your life and your business. I would definitely recommend brainstorming something along those lines. Yeah. And if you're looking for ideas for recurring revenue, definitely recommend the Simply Profitable Designer Summit that's coming up.
00:34:37
Speaker
um Again, we'll have the link for it. It's a free summit. There's going to be a lot of great speakers covering a really wide range of topics. So you're not going to be able to like go to them all, but there will definitely be a few that stand out to you and will help you. I think have some, just come up with some great ideas for recurring revenue that you might not have thought of.
00:34:56
Speaker
We're going to be talking about the profit planner that we use for recurring revenue. We're going to show you, um the whole spreadsheet system that we use. That is our profit planner.
00:35:06
Speaker
I think that's going to be ah a cool and like unique presentation, not a style that we've done before to do like a full demo of um, the planner like any kind of product that we've not done that before. So I think it's going to be really cool.
00:35:19
Speaker
um And then if you sign up and you decide you want to get what they call a power pack um with or as an upgrade to your free ticket. That's a collection of a bunch of resources that all of the speakers have donated ah a product to basically. That is like $5,000 worth of products. Of course it's huge collection.
00:35:40
Speaker
Yeah. It's a really good deal. So we'll put the link. And that's a great way too. Cause you actually, you mentioned like, you won't be able to watch all the videos, right? Cause it's like every day there's tons, but if you upgrade to the power pack, I believe you get like lifetime access. You can like watch all those at any time.
00:35:55
Speaker
So that's definitely worth it too, I think. Yeah. Obviously, we're pushing this because we're speakers and we want you to attend it. It's summit that we used to attend before we ever became educators. I mean, I watch the presentations from other speakers too, especially on this topic of recurring revenue. I think that is something like literally everyone is trying to get more stable and yeah expand into.
00:36:15
Speaker
So if you want to sign up for that summit and get your free ticket, there's a link in the description of this podcast episode or if you're watching on YouTube in the video description and you can get that. um But I do just want to say, like as we kind of wrap up our conversation, if you're listening and you felt like anything we talked about like resonated with you, or if you just want to share any strategies that you've had, if you've gone through a tough time where maybe you had take to take a step back in business and something that has made a really big difference for you.
00:36:45
Speaker
please leave a comment on the YouTube video or you can leave a comment on the Spotify episode too if you're listening on Spotify. But we would love to hear from you. I know other people would love to just know that they're not alone too as we're all trying to survive these tough times in life and business because we it is really important to feel like we're all in it together as a community of designers and entrepreneurs.
00:37:07
Speaker
Yeah, I think we're also really trying to engage more with our community, at least on Instagram, especially like we have our close friends list that we're always growing. and We try to post more of kind of like the behind the scenes stuff for like what's really happening in our business because it's like stuff that we don't necessarily want to share, like write out their own stories to like potential clients, you know, all the time.
00:37:28
Speaker
um So if you are a designer and want to like be a little more in the know of like what's going on or like how, are you know, we share stuff like that, like, you know, we're having ah a slow time and we'll share um responses that we get from other designers. So it's just nice to have that um little group there. So if you want to join that, you can follow us on Instagram at Foxtrot Branding. And occasionally we'll send a post where like you can like like this to join it. But If you're not on there and you want to join, just send us a DM and we'll put you on the list.
00:37:56
Speaker
Glad you.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:37:57
Speaker
Okay. We'll wrap it up there for this episode. Thank you guys so much for joining us. I know this was like a little bit of a heavier, like, and don't know, not, not the most high energy conversation, but I think it's really important. And we really appreciate you guys listening to the end. So links to everything we talked about as well as links to our website will be in the description for this episode. um And if you have a question for us that you want us to answer on a future episode, feel free to send us a DM on Instagram or leave it in a comment.
00:38:25
Speaker
But thank you so much for listening and we'll see you guys in the next episode. Bye. Bye.