If you’ve been following along for the past few months then you may have some idea of all the changes that are underway behind the scenes here at Raspberry Creative.
We still have a way to go, but the light is finally visible at the end of the tunnel
RC officially turned 17 last month and with so much going on personally and behind the scenes, it sort of passed quietly. Since then however, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about all the changes, ups and downs and huge wins we’ve seen in those 17 years. Have I reached my goals? No way, but with each new chapter, I find that my goals aren’t always the same and that’s OK.
As I look to the future and think about the goals that I have for RC now, one thing is very certain. I want to open up a bit more about what goes on behind the stationery. I know that not everyone that lands here on raspberry-creative.com is a bride looking for wedding stationery. Some visitors may be aspiring stationery designers, creative entrepreneurs, or someone that simply loves pretty paper.
So, today is the first of my Behind the Scenes series. Unlike the new Etiquette series, this one will be less structured and won’t be part of the regular lineup every month, but I really want a place to expose more of what’s behind the curtain so let’s get going!
A Brief Look Back
To understand where things are today, it’s important to understand a little bit about where RC has been. When I launched RC in 2005 (had a different name back then) I wasn’t planning to design wedding stationery, in fact, it was purely by accident that this all came to be. I also didn’t really have much of a big picture plan especially after I made the pivot to designing stationery.
In 2014 I made the leap from solopreneur to boss. I didn’t really know what I was doing as far as managing employees but after a few slow months in the beginning, things started to settle in. I also got really lucky with my first hire because she quickly went from my assistant to more of an operations manager. She had strengths where I was weaker so she was the perfect compliment to me and together we did a lot.
A Brief Look Back
To understand where things are today, it’s important to understand a little bit about where RC has been. When I launched RC in 2005 (had a different name back then) I wasn’t planning to design wedding stationery, in fact, it was purely by accident that this all came to be. I also didn’t really have much of a big picture plan especially after I made the pivot to designing stationery.
In 2014 I made the leap from solopreneur to boss. I didn’t really know what I was doing as far as managing employees but after a few slow months in the beginning, things started to settle in. I also got really lucky with my first hire because she quickly went from my assistant to more of an operations manager. She had strengths where I was weaker so she was the perfect compliment to me and together we did a lot.
All good things come to an end eventually and in late 2016/ early 2017, my assistant / operations manager and I parted ways. This departure came somewhat at a surprise though it was obvious for some time that there were cracks in the relationship.
This departure was hard on me; I often joked that it felt like a bad breakup and I guess in many ways it kind of was. I made a lot of mistakes back then and blame myself for not handling things differently before, during and after. The outcome wouldn’t have been different but I would have been able to move on quicker.
For nearly a year after this happened, I was going through the motions aimlessly. After a short 8 month stint with a replacement assistant that wasn’t a good fit, I was back to solopreneurship and felt very bitter about hiring anyone else. I was determined to keep RC small enough to just do it all myself. I lost ties with my networks, Social media went dormant, I went through the motions, cut back, and then cut back some more until eventually RC was a shell of what it used to be and I lost my passion.
I sold enough to get by but I never pushed too hard, never set new goals and so many times debated on closing the doors for good. In 2019 things started to shift a bit for me mentaly. I was getting into a more positive mindset, I began to think about a future again and I started making changes to my day-to-day to include more time working on the business rather than just for the business. I was starting to feel the passion return, the excitement and desire to really work hard again and push outside my comfort zone again.
Then the Pandemic happened.
The one good thing the Pandemic did for so many of us is help us prioritize differently. I decided during that time to expand our digital templates for more passive income. This would allow me to put more time into the things I’m most passionate about both at work and at home while still having money coming in. .
I also put a lot more energy into expanding revenue streams for RC. I started looking at new products, new outlets to sell, started considering opening the studio back up to retail or at least appointments. The wheels had begun turning again on all the ideas, new hopes, new dreams and a new vision.
Fast forward to this year. This year started with a really solid plan. I thought I had a pretty strong set of goals that centered around going back to the basics to make sure RC’s foundation was strong so that I could begin to go after some of my bigger, more long-term goals. What I didn’t realize is just how much things would change.
RC’s Complete Business Overhaul – Part 1
In a nutshell RC’s goals this year were about establishing a Social Media strategy for consistency, brand recognition and growth; a less frequent but more consistent blog and email marketing schedule, fewer but larger product launches, outsourcing more so that I could free up valuable time to spend with clients and working on the business, just to name a few. It was basically about establishing a solid foundation to set the stage for growth in the future.
Things were going Ok until I stumbled into a community of stationery designers from across the country and then everything changed. In June, just as the wedding season was really ramping up, I was also in the midst of completely reevaluating my yearly goals based on things I was learning in this new community. Much of it wasn’t really new information, but more of a change in perspective and I began rethinking EVERYTHING.
I knew almost immediately that I was closing the cover on the story I’ve been in for the past several years and opening the book on an entirely new adventure. Everything felt new again.
It started with rebranding the visuals; logo, revising our color scheme and rethinking our graphic for a more refined, classic and elegant look that still felt fresh and modern and even a little minimalist. The idea was for our stationery designs to take center stage, not our logo and branding.
This process went quickly and smoothly because I had a pretty clear vision for where I wanted things to do.
Once that was done, the next big step was to take a look at our entire business process. From the way we funnel our leads, to the way we work with clients once they book with us. The client experience has always been at the top of my priority list but even this took on a whole new life.
The biggest shift was moving my entire business process into Dubsado. This has been a monumental task that I can happily say is almost complete. You’ll be hearing more about Dubsado next year for sure, but for now let me know just that it has revolutionized how I run RC.
Not only does Dubsado give me a place to organize all of my proposals, contracts and pricing, it also allows me to save and organize all of the emails that seem to go out to every client, manage client projects and handle invoicing and payment, just to name a few. Dubsado will no only save me time but give my clients a much better experience on their end. I cannot say enough about Dubsado even in these very early stages.
Taking such a deep dive into every aspect of how RC runs business also got me thinking about the types of projects I want RC to be doing and the kinds of clients I want to work with. This point will take us to Part 2 of the Behind the Scenes Complete Business Overhaul coming soon.
Things have been rolling out slowly with the goal of having most everything complete to start 2023.
The journey of the last five months has been overwhelming yet exciting, it’s renewed a passion in me that I thought I’d lost and for the first time in many years, I’m dreaming about even bigger things again.
Every business has a story with highs and lows, wins and losses. I haven’t always loved or felt in control of my business but I’ve learned so much about myself, about business in general and I am so proud of all that I’ve accomplished.
I hope you’ll stick around for more behind the scenes topics as RC enters into this new chapter. It is such an exciting time!
