5 Ways to Level Up in your small business in 2022

Dear Entrepreneurs,

It's time to level up and stop playing small. It's time take bold actions towards the lifestyle of your dreams. In order to move the needle toward your dream life you HAVE to take action. We can't keep living on repeat expecting our dreams to magically come true. Here's 5 ways you can level up this year and some tools and resources to help you get started.

1- Create Your Vision:

The first step to achieving anything is envisioning what is you want to achieve. Think about who you are, who you want to become and what you see for your business. Here are a few considerations to think about when considering your vision:

What impact do you want to make?
Who do you want to reach?
What are your sales goals?
For product based businesses, which stores do you see your brand in?
Which new products do you want to release?

Vision boarding is such a low cost yet absolutely invaluable tool for achieving goals. Vision Boarding has been SUCH a Powerful to for me. In 2021 it led to actualizing countless long term dreams of mine. Including finally purchasing the car of my dreams. Last year was the first year I ever made a true vision board. I've shared my vision board process in a post from last year. You can read it here.

2- Advertise

The number one way to level up your brand is to spread the Word! No brand wants to be the "Best Kept Secret." It's time to come out of hiding and get your brand out there! This day and age ANYBODY can advertise as long as you have internet. There are several platforms for breaking into advertising including:

Facebook Advertising
Pinterest Advertising
TikTok Advertising
Google AdWords
YouTube Marketing and more

I don't have much experience with social media marketing outside of Facebook! However I've heard that Pinterest and TikTok Ads are also very powerful tools for creating, sharing and promoting (advertising) small businesses. If you're ready to dive into Facebook Ads I recommend taking The Hustle Secrets course first! It's under $300 and it is a truly powerful educational tool.

3- Collaborate & Network

Collaborate and network to reach new audiences. One of the most straightforward ways to reach new people is to introduce yourself or your brand to complimentary communities with existing audiences. Collaborate by doing a giveaway with a complimentary brand or by developing a product together. Get out and go to events to network with other founders and participate in other people's initiatives. Collaborating does not have to be scary it can be initiated by sending a friendly email or DM or by just showing up and supporting a fellow Entrepreneur/community leader. There are a number of communities that offer several opportunities for collaboration and networking all linked below:

Female Founders Collective
Create Cultivate
Girlboss
Every Stylish Girl

4- Go from URL to IRL

Do a Pop-UP 💁 Duh! The benefits of participating in a Pop-UP Shop, community event and even flea market are truly endless. Pop-Ups are a great way to both network and find new opportunities to collaborate. Plus there's an opportunity to make direct sales, gain direct feedback about products and pricing annnd meet other like-minded entrepreneurs who will naturally share other opportunities for your brand to achieve exponential growth.

Most cities have local Pop-Ups and Flea Markets which are easy to find by a simple Google Search, on Eventbrite or Facebook Events. There are also some major Pop-Ups you can join if you're ready to take that leap. Of course we recommend yours truly, ah hem, The Sip Shop Eat IRL Pop-UP schedule is live and accepting applications! Every year we level up even more so get on the train while applications are still open.

Here are few others that we've heard very good things about:

This is not an exhaustive list and if you know of any other markets small businesses should participate in, please comment so that we can update this list and share it! Also you can totally plan your own Pop-UP outside of major organized markets!

5- Wholesale

Wholesale is a key pathway for reaching more people and obtaining big orders. Wholesale used to nearly require door to door sales but now, there are so many platforms available that allow brands to enter the wholesale market with ease. Here are 5 Wholesale platforms that we've heard only good things about: