When Big Risk is a Big Reward

Your business is at tipping point. You have a great idea, brilliant execution, and lofty goals.

It’s time to take a risk. It’s time to go out a limb. It’s time to take a leap into the great unknown.

Earlier this year, I wrote a post on knowing when to take a big step forward in your business. And – as I am today taking a big step forward in my own business – I wanted to revisit those ideas. I stand by everything I said in that post but at the same time, I want to offer you more. I want to offer you a look at business risks, how you can prepare for a risk, and how to plan for the time after taking a risk.

These are the areas I see micro businesses fall short on most often. It’s not a lack of passion, it’s not short-sighted vision, it’s not a limited skill set that makes a micro business fail. It’s not preparing for, tackling, and following through on business risks.

What a Business Risk Looks Like

In my own business and those I observe, risks have almost always presented themselves as opportunities.

My biggest business risk came when presented with the opportunity to purchase Scoutie Girl as an existing blog business. It required me to plunk down a sum of money that my family did not have. There was no guarantee that I would be able to continue the success the site had enjoyed thus far. There was no guarantee I would have the resources to put in the time to grow the site as it needed. Purchasing Scoutie Girl was an opportunity but a financial risk – and a risk for my family in general.

What does your business risk look like? Is it the opportunity to do a wholesale show? Maybe your risk is renting studio space or moving to a new house with a home office. Maybe your risk is a partnership or collaboration. Perhaps your risk is learning a new skill or raising your prices.

These things are all opportunities but they are risks because they take time. Time you don’t think you possess. It takes time to find out if a new idea works or if a new business is going according to plan. A business risk is an investment in time, money, and resources. I just don’t think you can have it any other way.

Preparing for a Risk

Sometimes risks come out of thin air and materialize quickly. Most often though, you see them coming – you visualize them – you create the opportunity yourself.

If you are visualizing taking a risk in your business, you should have started preparing yesterday. Before I purchased Scoutie Girl, I had already been blogging at Handmade in PA for 6 month. I blogged every day, 5-6 days a week. I was writing, networking, designing, and consulting before I even knew that that’s what I was doing! My preparation helped to create the opportunity that I was presented with. It also nearly ensured my success.

If one day, you dream up a big idea – one that is covered from head to toe in big risk or big opportunity – but you haven’t prepared for its execution, you will feel like you’re constantly struggling to keep up with it. Excitement will transform into stress. Success gives way to coping, coping often leads to quitting.

When you’re prepared to take a risk, when you take baby steps towards creating your own opportunities, taking a big step forward is [almost] easy. It feels natural. And what feels even more natural is the success that follows.

You’ve Taken a Risk, Now What?

Congratulations. You’ve created your opportunity, you’ve planned, you’ve executed, your risk is taken. Now what? Planning out your success is just as important as planning to take the risk itself.

Your great idea or big opportunity is nothing if there is no great plan for success.

Before you take your risk, consider how it will change your streams of revenue, how your marketing efforts will change, how your internal business structure will change. Will you need an assistant? An advertising budget? Time off from other endeavors? A change in family dynamics? People to outsource work to? A business partner? A few business partners? I ask you these things because these are just a few of the things I have had to plan for and execute as a result of taking big risks with my business.

Taking a big risk with your business requires more than just your big ideas. It requires a plan, other people, and a clear vision of what success looks like. It also requires an idea of what the next big risk might be.

My Next Risk

Next week marks one year of blogging at Scoutie Girl for me. Today marks yet another big step forward in my own business.

Today, I’m announcing that my boutique web design business is growing & changing: I’ve brought a graphic designer on board to create an unstoppable team – if I do say so myself. Grace Lee, the designer behind ceramics line eikcam, will now be working with me to create web sites that are as beautiful as they are functional. She’s a seasoned graphic designer & art director who shares my vision of creating design that drives results.

You can now procure branding, graphic design, image consulting, photography, and web design services all from our design studio. This is big, people. I’m excited – and I think you should be too!

We are booking design projects for August. Interested? Drop me a line. Let’s talk. Let’s think big and act big. Let’s take risks together – visualizing success, opportunity, and making stuff happen.

{image credit: Grace Lee}