This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Listeners, what's up? Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for joining me. Wherever you are in the world, whatever you're up to, what a journey it's been. And I'm sure a lot of stuff has changed in your life since you first started listening to Side Hustle School, unless you just started listening today.
Because even if you started listening a few days ago, you know, a lot of stuff changes in a brief period of time. And I kind of see my role as a bit of a cheerleader for you. I want to provide some practical help, logistical help, answering questions and such like we're doing. But also just kind of letting you know that you're not alone, that there are a lot of people out there who are all trying to start little businesses, create extra income, sometimes a lot of extra income. You know, when I say little businesses, a lot of businesses that we feature become multiple six-figure businesses, seven-figure businesses, sometimes, you know, go on to employ a lot of people.
But even if yours doesn't get to that point, there is something that you can do to create more economic security for yourself. So that's what it's all about. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and today's caller from California started her Sadasil last year, and it was going well. Recently, however, business has taken a turn for the worse. How can she get out of the sales slump?
Now, naturally, she's trying to figure out the answer to that question, and I'll do my best to help her. But I also have at least one more question that I think might be even more helpful to consider in this situation. So that's what we're gonna talk about in this episode, how to break out of a sales slump and more. It's all coming up in just 30 seconds. [Music]
This is Elizabeth from La Habra, California.
I've been a fan of yours since 2018, and was finally able to work on my side hustle in 2020, thanks to being able to work from home. By the end of the year, early this year, I was experiencing some pretty decent growth. I was going to regular pop-up events to get my name out, my social media following was growing, and I was even getting the occasional order online, either through Etsy or through my website. However, I'm starting to come across a lull in business. I still post regularly and try to update my shop listings and launch new products.
However, that doesn't seem like it's enough. Is there some way I can get out of this slump? Also, I've been trying to get into the wholesale game. Do you have any suggestions? [Music]
Elizabeth, thank you so much for listening.
Thanks for being out there, and congratulations on moving forward in 2020. I've heard from so many people who've started businesses out of the pandemic, just from having to adjust from working at home and such. So good work. And also what you're experiencing is completely normal, very common that something takes off and then you experience this slump or lull. And so what do you do?
First things first, might sound a little bit counterintuitive, but I would ask, is it really a slump? And when I say that, like what do I mean by that? My first comment is that your conversion rate, your overall sales record, it's not entirely up to you. Okay, and this applies to every person in the world who is selling anything. Like we sometimes attribute the outcome of something to our own actions, when in reality there's some circumstances, external circumstances that have had a stronger effect.
I think there's something called the fundamental attribution error that describes this effect in more detail. And so it's like, if we do something that works out really well, we're like, oh my gosh, I'm so smart. And if we do something and we're not succeeding, we fail, we're like, oh gosh, I must've done something really wrong. When again, in reality, there's all kinds of circumstances that are outside your control. So the point there is to look as objectively as possible at what is really happening.
And secondly, whatever the cause of the decline is, rather than think, what caused the slump, like what caused something to change, I would ask what caused sales to rise earlier, like when Elizabeth started her business and she was getting some sales, the occasional online sale and she was doing the events and such, what caused sales to take off in the beginning? Was she perhaps reaching different people? And I think for anyone, specifically over the past year, a lot has changed. People have changed their habits, the way they shop, what they're looking for, both in terms of specific products and also their emotional needs. And so on.
And often we kind of simplify these things and we're like, oh, look at what has changed. Online sales are way up. Or remote work has changed life in lots of ways. Or now that pandemic restrictions are lifted in some places, there's a lot of demand for in-person events. And all those things are true, but there's also a lot of nuance within them because some online sales are way up, some in-person events are popular, and so on.
It doesn't mean the same thing is true across categories. In fact, there's a great deal of differentiation. Lastly, I would just keep trying different things. And Elizabeth is already on the right track there by thinking about wholesale. In a story I recorded a couple weeks ago, there was a couple offering relationship advice and they had a few different products that were all doing kind of okay.
And what I suspect will happen with them, maybe with Elizabeth here as well, is that one thing, one strategy, one tactic, one product line will end up working much more than the others. And so whenever that happens, that's your answer. Focus on that thing. And don't necessarily try to bring everything up to the same level because it's much more common to have a breakout winner. So overall, I think Elizabeth's on the right track.
We all have these slumps and lulls. Try to figure out what is the cause, not just of the slump, but of the early rise. And what can I do next to experiment? So good luck, Elizabeth. Keep going, let us know how it goes.
Listeners, if you have a question, sidehustleschool.com/questions. Thank you for joining me. Thank you for tuning in. I hope you'll come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School.
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- From the Onward Project.
