Fashion Entrepreneurs, Learn from My Mistake

“Okay, so! We’re going to publish three episodes a week… I mean, they’re less than 10 minutes long… so we need to keep up the frequency… otherwise people won’t be engaged… it won’t be that bad… we can probably keep this up for months…” 

This is what my inner dialogue sounded like as I was getting ready to launch The Clean Living Podcast back in October.

At the beginning of February, when I released the finale of season one, my best friend texted me:

“Only an INFJ would commit to 35 episodes in a single season.”

(She was referencing my personality type on the Meyers-Briggs.) 

But do you want to know a secret?

I never planned to have seasons of the podcast, or a season one finale, or a break in episodes at all…

So, why the change?

I burnt out.

I ignored my own advice, I overcommitted and it came back to bite me.

If I had planned out the podcast like a normal person, I would have 35 weeks of episodes lined up.

And truthfully, my listeners would have probably appreciated the time lapse in between episodes instead of being bombarded with three every week.

I’m constantly telling my entrepreneurs in Factory45 to SIMPLIFY.

Instead of developing a collection of 12 pieces, simplify to five pieces.

Instead of trying to be on every social media platform, start with Instagram and do it really well.

Instead of trying to source fabric for five different colorways, start with two.

Because this is what simplifying does:

  1. It lowers the barrier to entry. That means the likelihood of you actually getting the project off the ground is significantly higher. It also means you’ll do it quicker and more efficiently.
  2. It reduces the chance of decision paralysis — for you and for your customers.
  3. It saves you MONEY and time.

In fact, it’s very rare that simplifying isn’t the right answer.

So, the next time you set out to design a 12-piece collection, or dominate TikTok, Clubhouse, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or try to meet the MOQs of five different fabric colors…

Think of me.

Think of me sitting on the floor of my dark closet, chugging water and recording my fifth episode of the day…

It’s true that diamonds are made out of pressure but when it comes to entrepreneurship, you really only need a very solid rock.