So, starting a home business always feels like this tiny, cute thing at first. You get to define your reach, you get a few orders here and there, a few labels, and it looks like this is pretty manageable, right? Well, when you have a small business, things be get complicated surprisingly fast, so then you might have to deal with a day where orders double and then it’s like the dining table feels like it’s fighting for its life because it’s just covered top to bottom with packaging material and everything else in the world (well it feels that way).
It hits you like this might actually be turning into something real, and now the house looks like a warehouse that never signed the lease. But jokes aside here (relatable ones at least), growth is exciting, but yeah, it can also be a bit “oh no, what now.” Just generally speaking here, a little planning stops the whole thing from feeling like it’s spiralling into something that you just can’t handle, like your whole house being this cardboard kingdom sort of a thing.
You don’t need a giant office, sure, that’s great, but that’s too expensive for the average person here. So it might help to make some tweaks here and there instead.
Make Space that Doesn’t Ruin Your Actual Life
Well, this one might be the most obvious, right? Now, a corner, a shelf, a trolley, literally anything dedicated to the business helps. It’s wild how fast packing supplies and product samples spread across every surface. And of course, it always lands in the one spot needed for dinner. For your average person, at least, this is the biggest table/ piece of furniture in the whole house. But ideally, don’t have it there, get a piece of furniture that is strictly for your business, even better would be
Have You Considered a Printer?
Well, a printer, scanner, copier, something that literally does all of it (which thankfully is common nowadays). So, in the beginning, printing one label here and there is fine. You barely think about ink. Then growth hits, and the printer can be a whole giant mess. Like, you can expect paper jams, faded labels, and the stress is a lot. Plus, you might need to scan stuff, reprint stuff, and you might need cardstock (and not all printers can handle that).
But having backup supplies is honestly one of the best little hacks. Well, it’s not even a hack; technically, it’s common sense. So, it really helps to stock something reliable like Xerox cartridges just keeps everything running without having to stress over running out of something (during your busy days, that will cause a full-blown meltdown, it really will). Now, printers aren’t always easy to deal with, but if you’re wanting to prep for growth, well, growth means buying extra for the whole “just in case” sort of situations.
You Need the Tools that Stop You from Losing It
Well, meltdowns were just mentioned above, and yes, they honestly can happen. It’s so much about emotional maturity; it’s just hard days building up, and small annoyances that build up. So that’s why you need to have the right tools to get by. Little upgrades feel magical when things get busier. Some examples might include a label printer, a paper cutter, and extra packing bins. But stuff that speeds up those annoying little tasks you do on repeat. Plus, just tools in general mean you’re saving some time, sometimes, a lot of time (and you look more professional too).
LL x
*This is a contributed post. As ever, all opinions are my own.
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