Behind the Build
The focus this week has been optimizing the feature-set for our digital storefront. Since the only business template that we are going to launch with is for home bakery businesses, I need your help!
If you are currently using a tool or a set of tools for operating your business, what is one awesome feature that you could not live without? Is there anything else on your feature wishlist?
Naturally, every digital storefront will have the nonnegotiables:
- Business Profile / Page
- List Products / SKUs
- Payments / Transactions
- Pre-orders
- Subscription Offers (if you don’t have a subscription offer as a small operator, you need one)
What else comes to mind? This helps ensure that we are building in alignment with your needs come go-live!
This Week’s Lesson
The demands of operating your own business or side-hussle is not for the faint of heart. We, as humans (especially as entrepreneurial humans), have a tendency to over-extend ourselves for a number of reasons:
- We want to live up to our perceived potential.
- We want to provide for our family, and ourselves.
- We strive to reach the “status” of someone we respect.
I could go on, but I would just be recycling different ways of stating a uniquely human trait for wanting more.
More freedom, more money, more respect…
This pressure is all around us, and even within us, as it’s deeply rooted in how humans are wired. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, explaining behavior, models this well:
Physiological needs: survival basics
Food, water, sleep, shelter, warmth.Safety needs: stability and protection
Physical safety, financial security, health, predictable housing/employment.Love & belonging: relationships and community
Friends, family, romantic relationships, connection, feeling part of a group.Esteem: achievement and respect
Confidence, competence, recognition, status, independence, feeling valued.Self-actualization: reaching your potential
Purpose, creativity, personal growth, building something meaningful, becoming who you want to be.
As we make our way through the world, Physiological needs, Safety needs, and Belonging are staples in life. If those needs are not met to some degree, then we typically don’t have the liberty of thoughtfully prioritizing Esteem and Self-actualization.
For those of us with a strong pull towards entrepreneurship, we likely view the pursuit in alignment with one, or all, of Maslow’s prescribed needs.
All this to say, it’s normal to want more.
The key is identifying what need you are trying to further meet with your side-hussle or business, and understanding the trade-offs, as everything in life has a cost.
There is no right answer here, as every person feels a different magnetism towards furthering each seperate need.
Yet the beautiful thing about a home-based business or side-hussle that YOU CONTROL, is that YOU make the rules. You decide how much time you want to spend operating the business week to week. You decide if you want to offer more products. You decide your growth targets. You decide who you sell to. You also have the freedom to decide when enough is enough.
For some people, the perfect balance will look like a small $500/month side-hussle. I’m here to tell you, that is a GREAT business.
For others, the perfect balance looks more like a $100K+ annual baking operation. I’m here to tell, that is a GREAT business.
….and if you want more… that’s natural.
Set a goal. Understand the tradeoffs. Live your life, by your design!