How To Grow Your Business: The Best Things I Did For My Small Biz
Feb 21
I don’t know about you, but I always like a little sneak peek behind other entrepreneurs’ businesses (especially if it’ll help you grown your own business!).
I find small business owners I admire and often wondering… how do they make it work? How are they so successful? What are their secrets?
Which is why I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek into my own business!
How To Grow Your Business This Year
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Welcome back! If you’re new here, I’m Moriah, the owner and creative director of Moriah Riona Branding — helping creative female entrepreneurs build brands with confidence and success.
If that’s something you’re interested in, then be sure to subscribe—and click the bell icon—to make sure you’re the first to be notified when I upload new videos!
Today I’m sharing the Best things I did for my small biz in 2019–so let’s dive in!
How To Grow Your Business: Invest In a Coach
It can be scary and overwhelming as an entrepreneur—especially because you can feel like you’re all alone! Even though I’m the “boss” of my small business—I often found myself craving guidance.
Which is why I invested in a business coach.
No, it’s not cheap—but it has definitely been worth it!
Since starting my coaching program, I have seen my business grow, I’ve seen my profits grow, and I’ve seen myself grow as an entrepreneur.
That’s why it’s my first tip for how to grow your own business!
Invest In Your Education
Along the same lines as investing in a coach—I also invested in my education in 2019.
I spent thousands of dollars on courses, workshops, classes and more in 2019—and it paid off!
Again, because of these investments I’m making in myself—I’m seeing huge growth in my business. I made more last year than I’ve ever made, and had some of my biggest client projects to date (including multiple 5-figure contracts).
I think it’s so important to constantly be learning, growing, and bettering yourself, not only as a business owner, but also as an artist, a creative… and just as a human being in general.
Which is why I will continue to invest in my education—and I encourage you to do the same!
My Morning Routine
A big change I made in 2019 was establishing (and really sticking to) a solid morning routine—before I begin my workday.
I actually shared my 5 am morning routine with you all several months ago—so go check it out.
I had had set office hours for quite a while—and always appreciated the structure and consistency it allowed me. But I noticed that while my work days were very structured… my mornings could be pretty haphazard… and that wasn’t setting me up for success.
So, this last year, I decided to do something about it!
I sat down with my notebook and a pen and wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish BEFORE my work day began.
Then I figured out how much time it would take… for me, it meant getting up at 5am!
While I’m not a morning person (at all!) I decided to just go for it. And it has made such a difference for my business and my overall happiness.
So if you haven’t already, be sure to check out that video!
How To Grow Your Business: Passive Income
I have had “passive income” on my to-do list for yeeeeears… but I never really followed through. Because I always felt like my client projects were so much more important.
For those of you who don’t know, Passive Income is where you invest your time “up front” in creating something of value (like downloadable products, or online courses), then once created, you make money by selling it.
I know this can be really hard for a lot of creatives, and it was for me… because we’re used to working with clients one-on-one. We’re usually paid up-front for our services, then we provide those services.
For me personally, it was hard to find the time to invest in creating passive income, because I was so busy with paid client work.
But this last year, I finally made a commitment to myself, to work on some passive income.
And I started small.
I created an online store, on my website… which still only has one product in it—my client onboarding email template.
And I created my first online course—Brilliant Social Brand.
And honestly I can not wait to create more!!
Now that I’ve had my own (small) taste of passive income—I’m hooked! I can’t tell you how thrilling it is to wake up to an email that says “you’ve made $X.”
Literally, making money while you sleep! It’s amazing—and I plan on creating a lot more! I’ll be expanding my shop this year, and also relaunching my social media course.
Speaking of—make sure you get on my email list, to be the first to hear when Brilliant Social Brand re-opens for enrollment! You’ll also get a fabulous free social media guidebook to work on while you wait!
Raised My Prices
As I mentioned, I had always been so busy with client work, that I never had time to work on other projects in my business—like passive income.
So at the beginning of 2019 I raised my rates for my brand design, website design, and brand photography services.
And was I less busy? Yes!
I had priced myself over a lot of people’s budgets.
But I still made more money than I did the previous year—and continued to book bigger and bigger client projects!
It really became a quality over quantity thing. I was able to do so much more for fewer clients, and also work on other projects.
I know raising your rates is scary—but I truly believe that you need to be charging what you’re worth. And with the right branding and marketing, the right clients are going to find you… and pay you what you’re worth.
How To Grow Your Business: Saying ‘No’
I truly believe that in order to say ‘yes’ to growing the business you want, you’re going to have to say ‘no’ to a lot more!
And I really embraced this concept in 2019.
Raising my rates was just one way that I said ‘no,’ in 2019. I was saying ‘no’ to “busy” and burnout by taking less clients at at higher price.
I also was saying ‘no’ to clients who didn’t value me or my work, because they weren’t willing to pay my rates. It’s that simple.
I also said ‘no’ to…
- Projects that didn’t fit my brand
- Promotional opportunities that came my way (but weren’t on brand)
- Travel for work — because I don’t want to be away from my family
- A 5-day work week—I take Wednesdays off to be with my kiddo
- A lot more
And now, I am all about the ‘no.’ If it doesn’t fit the business or the life I want… it’s a ‘no.’
How To Grow Your Business With YouTube
I’ve mentioned before, that when I started my YouTube channel last year, I really hated it.
I hated talking on camera.
I would literally get sick to my stomach before every video shoot.
So why did I do it?
Because I knew that I needed a platform to share my branding and business expertise and grow my audience. And I felt like video was the way to do that.
Not because it was easy. Because it was hard.
And I knew I’d become a better entrepreneur in the process.
Since starting my channel last year, I’ve seen my brand grow in new and exciting ways. I was invited to my first podcast interview by the lovely Jen Obermeier of Pro Organizer Studio, as well as numerous invitations for speaking engagements and teaching opportunities.
But more than that I’ve seen my confidence grow—which I really think is the most important thing.
I won’t say I never get nervous in front of the camera anymore… but I rarely feel like I’m going to throw up these days! In fact I actually look forward to video shoots.
I feel much more confident speaking on video and don’t really worry about making everything “perfect” anymore. And that’s really crossed over into other areas of my business and my life as well.
So, that was my advice for how to grow your business, and peek into the best things I did for my small business in 2019! What did you think? Did anything on that list surprise you?
Well, now I’d LOVE to hear from you! Let me know in a comment down below: what is one game-changer idea you implemented last year (or are implementing in your biz this year)?
