Keeping your business moving forward is a challenge for anyone venturing into the world of self-employment. It’s one thing to come up with an idea, make it successful and sell it. It is another thing to come up with an idea, make it work, and then keep it sustainable over time. For those of us who have chosen to start our own businesses and make them our profession you need to keep evolving both yourself and your product line. I have done this many times and looking back if I had not done so we may not be here today. I would like to think that I was smart enough each time to evaluate my market and shift products or services as needed, but I can’t give myself that much credit. Many times the change came after many clients asked if I provided a certain service, or new of someone who provided a certain product. Many times those questions came out of people not really understanding what we do because we offer so many different services.
As much as the many marketers will tell you to do one thing and do it well, and I must say I agree to a point, you have to have a strong core product or service. I do believe it is okay however, to offer affiliated services to help expand your business. For instance our business is illustration and design specializing in caricatures and cartoons. So many people would say I am a caricature artist or a cartoonist. Those services are promoted 75% of the time and are our strong core services. That being said our other services bring in a certain amount of traffic and income. Additionally we offer art instruction, logo design, web design, video services, photography services, social media programming and so on. That is also not including our own product development such as our comic books, art videos, etc. Take art instruction, that was our one of our core services in 2006, it is now an affiliate service.
If you are smart with your business you will hold onto your core services, but always be looking for ways to expand. Many times these have come through client requests. It may be the trigger that takes your business to the next level.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is an illustrator and business consultant from Canada. For more information on his products and services please visit his website at www.bruceoutridgeproductions.com
