This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome to Psilocycle School. Thank you so much for joining me today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. The topic of this show, what it's about from day to day, the stated topic at least is making money. And I don't apologize for that, nothing wrong with making money, but ultimately it's actually about freedom and creativity.
Like making money is the vessel for freedom and creativity. And furthermore, if we go even deeper, it's about joy and meaning. That's really what we're trying to do here, increase your joy and meaning and the form of freedom and creativity through the strategy or the day to day activity of a money-making project. So from time to time, I just like to kind of reframe that. I do it for myself as much as for you.
It's good to make money, but ultimately that's freedom and creativity. That's what that allows you to do, have more options in your life, feel more secure. And furthermore, what most of us really want is to live a life of joy and meaning. So anything we can do to get closer to that is always good. I'll say more about that as we go along throughout the series.
Today though, a listener has started a new business selling handmade knitted items. She's enjoying it, but wants to change the name she's been using. So you'll hear more from her, but the short version is, she's wondering about the timing of such a process. Question is, is it too early to change my business name and brand? This business name is also pretty cool, I think, but we'll come to that as well.
First, a shout out to our sponsor, then the question and my answer. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Jules from Somerville, Massachusetts. I've been listening to the show for a few years now and I've actually started two side hustles in that time. My latest side hustle is selling handmade knitwear accessories like beanies and ear warmers. I came up with the cute quirky name of Cottie Wampel Craft Co.
and started selling in August of 2020. But it turns out, I just don't love the name. The branding doesn't fit my personality and Cottie Wampel is a lot harder for people to spell and pronounce than I thought. My question is, is it too early to rebrand? I have an idea for a new name that I'm really excited about, but it's only been a few months since I launched.
I have less than 200 followers on Instagram and I only have a few sales on Etsy. I find I'm just not motivated to build my shop because I don't identify with the branding and it feels inauthentic to promote it. I'm just worried that it's too early to rename the shop and people will think I'm flaky or inconsistent. What do you think? Should I stick it out with my current name for a while longer or cut my losses in rebrand now?
Thanks for all the insight over the past few years and I'm looking forward to hearing your answer. [Music]
Hey Jules, thank you so much for the question. Thank you for listening. Congratulations on starting two side hustles during this time. Maybe more to come, we'll see.
This might be more of a side note, but I actually think Cottie Wampel Craft Company is a pretty cool name. I just like saying it. I was practicing it in my notes. So it's like Cottie Wampel. And it is spelled more or less like you would imagine, but I understand.
Like ultimately it's your name, you have to love it. Like that's what matters most. So if you don't love it, if you've got another idea, as you mentioned, just be sure to redirect the websites that anybody who does go to that original cottiewampelcraftco.com domain can find the new one. Now your direct question is, is it too early to do this? I thought that was interesting.
Usually people ask the other way around. Most of the time it's like, is it too late? You know, like if I have this established brand and I already have built up name recognition or some other intangible asset, might I be giving that up by changing names? So if that were the situation for the great Cottie Wampel Craft Co, then that might be a different conversation. But in the beginning, that's not a problem at all.
And so to Jule's concern about like, well, people think she is flaky or inconsistent, I think they probably won't care. They probably won't care one way or another. I think it's always good to remember this old saying of how you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you once you realize how seldom they do. That quote is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt and David Foster Wallace and probably Oscar Wilde and a few other people. So who knows who first said it?
But I think it's a good principle to just realize, most people don't really care what the name of your side hustle is. They're more interested in, what does it do for me? So if Jule's originally liked it but now has something better, I don't think it's a problem at all to change it. And also even on Instagram and such, you can just change your business name usually and keep the same follower base. So that's my suggestion.
Do what's good for you and fear not. Listeners, if you've got a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We're gonna continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners, perhaps new names, new branding, new rollout. We'll see how it goes. All kinds of fun stuff coming up, so be sure you're subscribed.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the "Onward Project."
