What Not to Do When Starting a Business
With inflation, everyone is taking on extra side hustles or picking up second jobs. After having two children back-to-back too, I’ve realized I need a side hustle. I wanted to create a digital product I only made once, but residually profited from. I have no skills it seems, so I came up with creating digital art and then having a third party put my art on a product. The third company stores the product in their warehouse and then prints my design and it is shipped out. Now that I’ve started Rebekah Dang LLC, I feel I may be way over my head. I really wished I didn’t dive head-first into this. I will advise you not to do the following based on my experience:
Do Not Choose Any Product to Sell
What I’ve found out is that if you want to sell retail, make sure to research your products. I chose digital design for iPhone cases, but I learned the market is saturated. My website is never found by online traffic and only the top-indexed companies on Google are viewed. Check to see if there is a market for your product.
Do Not Mismatch Your Web AND Legal Entity
Business is streamlined and clear when your website matches your company name. I dove headfirst into starting a business and created my website first. It was a sole proprietorship with the dba, Rebekah Dang Design. Later, I thought about where I wanted my brand to go. I want it to become a prominent digital fashion label. So later as I was registering my company, I decided to change the name to Rebekah Dang LLC– just that. Now the names didn’t match, and I had to revise my website. Be definite in your company name and then start your web.
Do Not Try to Figure It Out on Your Own
After I started my website, I found out I should keep track of my web analytics to stay ahead of the market. I’m not tech-savvy, know code, or am trained in marketing and advertisement. My web host company sent me links and emails on how to make certain changes and how to code some sections. I had no idea what to do and I destroyed my website. Now I’m going to hire a company to do this for me. I recommend hiring a web designer and SEO consultant. Get help instead of compromising your website.
Starting a business is difficult. If you can avoid what I did, you will save yourself a headache and time. Research the best products for the market, decide on a definite name before you create webs and legal entities, and consult professional help. Overall, do not be like me.
