Fast-growing apparel businesses differ from stalled ones in five key ways: they treat their work as a serious business rather than a side hustle, creating systems and consistency; they focus on a specific customer niche instead of trying to serve everyone; they prioritize speed and simplicity over perfection; they build genuine customer relationships rather than just completing transactions; and they track what's working and adjust quickly based on real data. These businesses make intentional decisions about how they operate every day, rather than relying on talent, equipment, or luck.
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Deep Dive
Why Growth Feels Hard for You (But Easy for Them)
Added:Hey. Well, look at that. It worked. It worked. All right, we're set and rock and ready to go. And guess what? You know what? Growth isn't about working harder. That's what we're going to talk about today. Seems like this is still a little wonky. There we go. I whacked it as I was moving cables around this morning. So, how is everybody doing on this fine fine June 12th edition of Makers of Movers podcast? It is Friday.
It is Friday. It is the end of the week.
And for some, it's Friday. It's just another day because you're going to work today, you're going to work tomorrow, you're going to work Sunday. I typically try and take Sunday off this weekend.
I don't think we have any any big things going on. So, I'm able to as time's got set aside to actually work on the business. And that's what we're that's what we're talking about. It's your first time here, a long time here. And you know who you are, where you're from, what's in your cup, what weather is like in your area along with five things.
What are five things that you are going to accomplish today?
So, for us, we've got lots uh because we've got a store that needs to be built out. We've got supplies that need to be ordered. We've got meetings and then working on the business. We've got apps that we're building out. We got systems that we're developing. And we've got a few other things we need to test out.
So, that's what it is and that's what's going to carry into this weekend. We're going to we're going to really roll through with that. As far as what am I drinking this morning, I don't know what this is to be honest with you. The Electric Vibe Celsius Live Fit. It's not bad. It's not bad with that. It's got what it was tropical freeze. It's not bad. It's all right. It's all right. And um I think was it was pretty decent out.
70s this morning when I let the dog out.
I'm not sure where it was, but it is after the, you know, the week of storms that we've had. It's great to, you know, kind of not have that for now. And let's see what see what the the temperature is out there. 70° 70° under flood warning.
So, we'll go check that out today. All right. Let's see how everybody is doing here. Keith Behe from the Space Coast.
Good morning to you, Keith and Barb.
Good morning. North Central Florida. 58 and Cloudy. Mocha iced coffee in the cup. Five things. Or water supplies.
Customer pickups and burger beach towels. Sewing and gardening. Very nice for Barb. Hey Barb from Renee. George, good morning to you. George, how'd that project work out for you last week? Did everything turn out the way we you hoped it would? I know we were crossing our fingers on it. Pasha, good morning to you. Renee, greetings from Chicago where the air temp and humidity levels are almost the same. Gross. Yeah, welcome to We're getting close to summer in the Midwest, right? Water in the bottle, tea brewing. Morning, George. Hi, Renee and Mr. Dewarte from Barb. Beautiful weather here for next week's low 60s to 70s. And George says, "Designs, pressing shirts, coffee, a must." Yeah. Oh, yeah. George.
Yeah. I'm glad it worked out. I know you were stressing over that, so I'm glad it all worked out for you. Now, as we get going into this, let me pull this stuff over here so we can get going. And like I said, there's more people come in.
Sharing is caring. Get the information out there. We're talking about, you know, how growth isn't about just working harder today and why some, you know, it feels like some apparel businesses grow faster than others. I'm telling you, it's not what you think.
you know, there, excuse me, you know, there's there's moments that every apparel decorator hits, right? if they stick with this long enough. Um, you know, you're scrolling through social media, uh, you know, maybe you're at a local event and you see another shop that you know started at the same time around you or even after, but somehow they feel like they're just flying by, like they have way more orders than you, that their customers are way better than yours, and they have much bigger opportunities than you did.
and then starts messing with your head, you know, a little bit because you start asking yourself, you know, what do they have that I don't? What are they doing that I'm not doing? And, you know, let's face it, most people just jump to the obvious answers, right? Well, they assume they they must have better equipment than me. They have way more talent than I have. They have better employees. They they just plain luckier than I am. and and they think that that maybe, you know, the that the other shop, you know, got in early on something or they had connections, you know, endless bank account or they just happen to be in the right place at the right time.
And yes, all of those things can play a small role in it, but they're not the reason that one business pulls ahead of the next, you know, while while you just stay stuck.
And and what I've seen, you know, over and over again, you know, working with that grades from just starting off, like I said, seven figures through it is that fast-paced the the fastest growing businesses are are just making different decisions. you know, they're not necessarily working harder, you know, and they're not always, you know, way more creative, but they're just operating with a with a different mindset and a different approach on how they run their business. And so today, I think we're going to break down, you know, exactly what I feel those differences are. And so hopefully that you can start applying them today, right?
Well, start with the biggest one. I feel like, you know, number one, you know, tip one here, they treat it like a business, not a side hustle. I think one of the biggest differences between, you know, that that slow growth and fast growth really comes down to how seriously you treat what you're doing.
You know, uh let's face it, a lot of us, you know, we started it as a side hustle. It was just, you know, the the play money, every stuff, you know, like, oh, here this pays for the vacation. uh this pays for me to to still have fun with stuff and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because very few people just woke up in the morning and said I'm going to be an apparel decorator today you know it just kind of happened but the problem is is when you're when you stay when you your mental capacity right when you're sitting there and you have this categor categorized as that well this is this is just my side hustle you know that that's the problem. You know, even if you you want to grow to something bigger, you're still stuck in that this is just a side gig for me. And that mindset, you know, that that affects every decision that you make in the business. You know, from pricing to customer communications to how you spend your time.
But when someone treats their shop like a business, you know, they start thinking about systems and margins and long-term sustainability. you know, they just they don't just take orders whenever they come in and figure it out on the fly. You know, they create structure around how, you know, the orders are processed, how artwork is approved, and how production is scheduled, you know, and that that structure might feel totally unnecessary at first, but that structure is what allows them to handle more volume without feeling overwhelmed. Let's face it, we have all felt overwhelmed at one point or another, right?
You know, and for those that are doing this as a side hustle, you know, you got to you got to remember your time is limited, you know, especially when you have another job or or other things going on. you know, if if every order is handled differently, if every customer interaction is reactive, you're going to hit that ceiling really fast. But when you operate like a business, you know, you create consistency and consistency, well, that's what's going to allow you to grow without the chaos. You know, it's allow it's also going to build trust with your customers because, you know, they can rely on you to deliver that same experience every single time.
And then another important piece of that is just decision- making. You know, businessminded decorators, they don't base decisions on what feels easiest in the moment. You know, they think about what will move the business forward over the next 6 months or year, you know, and that means saying no to certain orders, means raising prices when necessary, and then it means investing in tools or processes that are going to save you time. You know, it it's not always comfortable, but it is what separates growth from stagnation.
So, some examples of this, you know, Sarah runs a small heat press setup out of her spare bedroom and mostly does shirts for friends and local schools.
For a long time, she quoted prices through text messages, kept orders in her head, and worked whenever she had free time. Once she decided to treat it like a business, she created a simple order form, set up standard turnaround times, and started tracking every order.
And within a few months, she noticed that she could handle more orders with way less stress. Another example, Mike.
Mike's been doing screen printing out of his garage for many years, but always just felt stuck. And he realized he was underpricing everything because he didn't think of himself as a real business, but he'd been there. You know, after sitting down and calculating his cost and time, he adjusted his pricing and created a consistent quoting process. Not only did his revenue increase, but he started attracting better customers who respected his work.
So for this action step, just take one hour this week, next week, this month, just take one hour soon and look at your business like an outsider, right?
Identify one area where you're, you know, operating casually instead of professionally. You know, whether that's in pricing, order tracking, or customer communication. And then, you know, create a simple system, you know, for that area. Even if it's just something basic, you know, you don't need perfection, you just need consistency.
You know, that one shift, well, that will start ch that will start changing how both you and your customers view your business.
All right. Number two is they focus on a specific customer instead of everyone.
You know another major difference and you know th those fast growing businesses is that they know exactly who they are serving.
You know slow growers you know they tend to say yes to everything and and anything right? You know they'll take that one shirt order for a birthday at 2 o'clock on a Saturday and the party's at 4.
right? You know, they they'll take the bulk order that comes in that they don't need for two months. They'll take the person that they never talked to. They take it all. You know, last minute rush jobs particularly is what they'll take.
But, you know, while that might feel like more opportunity because you're you're doing more, what does it actually do? Well, it spreads you thin and it makes it harder to build momentum. But when you focus on a specific type of customer, everything does tend to get easier. Your marketing becomes clear. You know, your your design process becomes more consistent and overall your production process, your communication process, communication, production, ordering process, everything just becomes more efficient.
And instead of reinventing the wheel every order, you'd start building repeatable systems around a specific niche. And that's where speed and growth really start to happen. You know, in in the Spiritware side and team appear side, you know, that's super important.
You know, those customers have recurring needs. They have seasonal patterns and they have group ordering behaviors. If you understand those patterns, you can anticipate orders, right? You can create ready to go designs and you can position yourself as the go-to person for that niche. And and that's a completely different game than just chasing those one-off jobs that are on Facebook groups. Who can make me a shirt today?
Right? Who's been tagged in those posts?
You know, and then there's the the confidence factor that comes into play.
I mean, when you specialize, you stop sounding unsure in your communication.
You know what works, you know what doesn't work, and you know how to guide your customers. And that confidence, well, that builds trust, and trust leads to larger, more frequent orders. So, some examples of this, uh, Jess decided to focus entirely on a local on local school spiritware instead of taking every type of order that came her way.
You know, she started creating designs specific for school events and reached out to booster clubs with ready-made ideas. Within one season, she became the go-to decorator for multiple schools because she understood exactly what they needed.
Another decorator used to accept any job, right? Didn't matter. uh but they shifted their their focus to small business uniforms. They created package pricing, offered consistent branding options and made reordering simple. You know, their customers started coming back regularly and his workload became much more predictable. So for this action step is we just need to choose one primary group customer or customer group that that you want to focus on and then do that for the next 90 days.
schools, team sports, small businesses.
What is your niche? You know, look at your current offerings and adjust them to better serve that niche. You know, create list, you know, one design, one product or one offer that is specifically for them. You know, the goal is to become known for something, not just everything.
You know, number three is we need to prioritize speed and simplicity over perfection.
Like I don't know about some of you, but a lot of us get stuck trying to make everything perfect before they move forward, right? You know, overthink designs, you know, delay launching products, spend way too much time tweaking small details that, let's be honest, the customer will never notice.
That's what we do. Meanwhile, the businesses that are growing quickly are just focused on on getting things out there and improving as they go. And now speed does not mean sloppy. All right?
But it does mean understanding what actually matters uh to your customers and not wasting time on what doesn't.
Most customers, you know, they care about good designs, good quality, reliable delivery. They're not analyzing every single font choice or every single shirt choice or every se every color selection, you know, the way that we are. When we simplify your process, you can produce faster and take on more orders. You know, in the apparent world, timing is everything, right? Events, seasons, and deadlines, those all drive demand. And if you're too slow to respond or deliver, someone else is going to step in and take that opportunity. You know, fast growing businesses, they understand this and they build their processes around quick turnaround times and efficient production.
You know, another benefit of simplicity is that it just reduces design fatigue, right? When you have too many options or too many variables, everything just takes way longer. But when you narrow it down to a set of proven designs, proven colors, proven garment options, you can move quickly without sacrificing quality. And then that's how you're going to be able to scale without burning out.
So, some examples of this, uh, this one used to spend hours customizing every Spiritware design for each school, eventually created a set of templates that they could quickly adjust school colors and mascots. This allowed her to produce designs in a fraction of the time and take on more orders during the busy season.
Another decorator offered dozens of garment options and struggled to keep up with inventory decision-making. They simplified their offerings to a core set of reliable products and clearly communicated those options to the customers. The ordering process became faster and their production became more consistent. So for this action step, let's just look at your current workflow and identify one area where you might be over complicating things. You know, it could be design, it could be product options, it could be communication, you know, and then just simplify it by creating a standard approach or template. You know, the goal is to save time without lowering qual without lowering quality. You know, just start small and then you'll quickly see how much easier things become. Now, before we get back into four and five, let's check back in and see how everyone is doing in here. I'm glad it worked out.
You're welcome, George. Glad it all worked out for you. Barb says, "It's beautiful out garden at 5:30 this morning. Great lower temps and peaceful.
Too bad I'm working the shop most of the day." We could all use a little nice fun days like that, right? Social media is mostly absolutely very rarely does somebody post their mistakes. I do. Oh, look what we screwed up with it. Well, it shows that I don't have a problem with it. Barb said, "My quote lately is experts started as beginners that didn't quit." Oo, I love that. I love that.
That is awesome. Barb and Kevin said, "A current customer of mine says to my face that another business is after him for his work." I was kind of surprised after the good service. I said, "Okay, how do you respond to that?" Okay.
And they they're always somebody's always after somebody else. You know what to me what they're looking for is are you going to are you going to give me a better price? Because they're giving me a better price. And that's we don't we don't we don't sell oursel on price. So if they want it, go there. He won't get a price of service, then I'm giving them bend over backwards for what? Exactly. You're not, you know, uh I'm going to no longer do rush orders uh for no rush fees and be competitive on my pricing. Otherwise, people just take it, you know, they take advantage and it's sad the truth. Absolutely. Rush fees, rush fees, rush fees. Barb said her planning started 15 years prior to retiring from corporate. It's just starting with the business plan. You can change things as improved. Yeah, because they're super fluid with it. And Kelly, good morning. Uh been there working on changing processes. No is a hard word for me. It is. And I'm super proud of you because of some of the nos that we heard. Um and raising prices is hard, but I'm looking at how much things have gone up again and again and have to and have to. Absolutely.
Parsons Kevin, I had to update all my policies and stick to them where people just want want and become very stressful. It does. You know, you will have so much stress less stress because you'll get the customers who respect you. Absolutely right, Linda. Good morning to you. And then Barb says, "My biggest issue is getting all my business forms and spreadsheets narrowed down and easier to manage through automation.
Currently learning cloud and using chat GPT to get everything coordinated." Yes, when you can put systems and it's all there in one thing. Um, you know, we'll talk about in our mentorship call creating a dashboard so that way you can kind of have everything all at once and we'll talk about that today. I think Kevin uh Pasha, I'm just starting out so hopefully starting making profit for the supplies I'm buying. I hear what you're saying, Todd. all, you know, not just talking about me today. We've all been there. We've all been there, Kevin.
That's what I'm talking about. Um, hey, Linda. Uh, Kelly, I review my pricing quarterly and adjust pricing increases as needed. Morning, Linda and Danielle.
Good morning. Sorry I'm late. Prepping for surgery on Monday. Oo, how's that turning out for you?
Everything's going to work out great.
And Kevin said, I truly thought I was building a good relationship with this guy. Why is he thinking of someone else and tells me device? No loyalty. There is there's little loyalty uh in a lot of things and a lot of people are just want the cheapest price and in other instances I talked to somebody yesterday that they just said here's what I need.
I said do you want me to and they're like just do it. Okay. Like I here's the questions I have and they're like just get it. All right. So we got it done and they'll have it they'll have it today.
They wanted transfers and we started going through it and like yep we can help you out with that. And that's the great thing is when you develop the relationships, you know, if somebody's if so if you're going to lose somebody to pricing, they were never your customer to begin with. And it's just that simple. You'll replace them with somebody, you'll replace them with somebody who is. Then he says, Kevin, don't worry. I'm prepping for anything.
If I'm prepping for anything that anyone wants at this point, right? Um Oh, no.
Good luck. Good luck. Right. Never quit.
Always learn it. That's I love that. Uh and Kendall, good morning. Uh it's my hubbub's birthday today. Well, congrat congratulations. Happy birthday to him.
And vacuuming it out of your vacuum out his garage. Don't touch a thing because he knows exactly where it is. And then I'll task towards my goals. My cup is empty cuz I drink my coffee. Well, drink it. 13th surgery in three years. It's a breeze. Oh, that does not sound like a breeze to me. See, one person's challenges are another person's breezes.
That that does not sound like a breeze to me. And she's just like, "Oh, it's another it's another day at the office."
All right, let's get back into it. Tip four is build relationships, not just orders.
Fast growing businesses, they don't just compete. You know, they just don't complete transactions. They're building relationships. You know, they they understand that that one good customer can lead to repeat orders, can lead to referrals, and to long-term growth. you know, instead of only focusing on the current sale, think about how they can create an experience that, you know, keeps customers coming back time and time again, you know, and this shows up in how they communicate. You know, they respond quickly, they set clear expectations, and they follow up the order, you know, after the order is complete. You know, they they make processes easy and enjoyable for customers. You know, you know, that might seem simple, but it's something that a lot of people just overlook. You know, especially when we're busy.
You know, in our world, relationships are incredibly valuable because many of your customers, they have ongoing needs.
You know, schools, they they reorder every season. Teams need new gear.
And businesses, you know, need updated uniforms. You know, if you build a strong relationship, you know, you're the first person they think of when that comes up. And then there's the trust component. You know, when customers trust you, you know, they're less likely to price shop or question your recommendations. You know, they see you as a partner rather than just a vendor.
You know, they tr that trust right there. Well, that trust is what allows you to grow sustainably without constantly chasing new customers.
So, some examples of this decorator made a habit uh of checking her work uh checking with her booster club customers a few weeks after delivering an order.
She asked how everything went and if they needed anything else. Those simple follow-ups, those led to repeat orders and referrals to other schools. You know, another decorator started keeping notes uh on their regular customers that included their preferences and past orders. When they came back, they could quickly suggest options that fit their needs. you know that made the process smoother and strengthened the relationships with those clients.
So for that action step is just look at three recent customers and reach out to them next week. You know, thank them for their business. Ask them how they ordered and see if they have any upcoming needs. Just keep it simple and keep it genuine. Right? Building relationships don't require big systems.
They just require consistent effort.
And then finally number five, you know, track what's working and adjust quickly.
Now the final difference is that fast growing businesses, they pay attention to what is actually working, relying on guessworks or assumptions.
You know, they're tracking their orders.
They're noticing patterns, you know, and they adjust their approach based on those real results. You know, that allows them really to double down uh on what's effective and working and eliminate what's not.
Like a lot of us will just operate on instinct alone, right? Might feel busy, but we really don't know which products are most profitable or which customers bring in the most value. You know, without that information, it is really hard to make smart decisions about where to focus your time and energy. And now tracking does not have to be complicated at all. It can be you just as simply as keeping records of your orders and noting the type of customers, you know, the product sold. And most importantly, because it is not a dirty word, profit.
You know, keeping track of the profit that was made. Over time, you know, patterns are going to start to emerge.
You'll see what areas of your business are are driving growth and which ones are slowing you down. You know, in in growth, growth isn't about doing more.
It's about doing more of the right things. You know, when you have clarity on what's working, you know, you make confident decisions and you move forward faster and that is what's going to keep momentum going. So, some examples of this, you know, Rachel started tracking her orders in a simple spreadsheet and noticed that spirit bird bundles were significantly more profitable than individual short orders. She shifted her focus to promoting bundles and saw an increase in both revenue and efficiency.
Another decorator realized that rush orders were taking up a lot of their time but weren't really profitable. By tracking this their time and income, they decided to limit rush jobs, charge for those rush jobs, focus on larger planned orders. This improved his workflow and reduce stress. So for the action step, start tracking your orders. Even if it's just in a notebook or basic spreadsheet, record the customer type, the order size, and the profit. You know, after a few weeks, review that data and look for patterns. And then you can use that information to make, you know, one adjustment in your business to make things better.
So, you know, to to recap all this, you know, if you look at all five of these ideas together, you'll see a pattern.
You know, fast growing apparel businesses, you know, they they aren't relying on talent or expensive equipment or luck. They're making intentional decisions about how they run their business every single day. They treat it seriously. They focus on the right customers. They simplify their processes. They build relationships.
They pay attention to what is really working. So, well, how are we doing that? Well, one, we're going to treat it like a business, not a side hustle. You know, growing shops create systems, processes, and consistency. They stop winging it and start operating with intention. Number two, they focus on specific customers instead of everyone.
You know, the fastest growing decorators know exactly who they serve and excuse me, who they serve. Special specialization creates better marketing, better offers, and more repeat business.
Number three is prioritize speed and simplicity over perfection. You know, successful shops, they don't wait until everything is perfect. They simplify.
They execute and they improve along the way.
Number four, they build relationships, not just orders. You know, one great customer can become years of repeat business referrals and opportunities.
Growth comes from trust, not transactions.
And then number five, track what's working and adjust quickly. Growing businesses pay attention to patterns.
They know which customers, products and services actually move the needle and focus more energy there.
Now, none of those things are complicated on their own, but they do require consistency and that is really the difference. You know any money many any money anyone can implement these ideas once but the business that grows well those are the ones that are sticking to them once you know once implemented they refine their approach they learn from their experiences and they keep moving forward even when things aren't perfect. You know if if you want to grow your business faster you know don't look for a shortcut or a secret trick. You just got to start with the fundamentals and then just keep applying them consistently. So just pick just pick one thing from today, right?
Put it into action next week. Small changes done consistently will lead to big results over time. You just got to keep showing up. You got to keep improving and things will go your way.
Now that's what we have for you today on this episode of Makers and Movers podcast. Let's check back in and see what we have.
Kevin said, uh, but building relationships doesn't always work. I guess true good customers are few and far between. They can, but if somebody is looking elsewhere, why are they looking elsewhere? That's the question you can ask. Be upfront. Be the Why are you looking for somewhere else?
What am I not doing that they are going to do for you? That's the only way to find out, right? You know, most times customers won't tell you you're doing something wrong. They just won't talk to you, right? They just won't answer you back. So, ask them. Give them free sample items. uh they can wear or use quick service, fair prices. Maybe this customer is just a bad apple. It could be a combination of things. What is their what is their goal? What are they after? Are they after cheap products?
Are they after quick turnaround time?
What are they after? You know, ask the questions and see what's going on with it. Don't feel bad. We all get that customer from time to time. Absolutely.
All the time. That's where asking the questions. You just got to keep the good attitude and move forward. That's right.
You know, when we look at look how many look how many restaurants there are, right? There's 20 different Mexican restaurants probably within walking distance of my house. You know, all of them are Mexican restaurants. They all have a little the thing. I like maybe I like their flavor of this one or that one a little better. You know, like this one for a specific thing. Maybe they're using somebody else because they have something that you don't have. You know, ask the questions.
Thanks, Danielle. Really bothers me. I thought I thought I was building good relationship. Now I just feel Oh, it it's going to happen. Remember, customers are customers. They're going to do customer things. You know, look at your own buying decisions. How do you do it? Do you buy everything from the mom and pop shop? Do you buy it from Walmart? Do you buy it from Amazon? You know, we we all fall into that same thing. Amazon can get it here same day.
Walmart can get it here same day. So, I got to wait on that. And I spend more for it. So, we're all there with it. We are powerful beyond our measure. That is right, Brian. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Barb, you too. I just like coming out asking Yeah. Yeah. Just come out and asking why. You know, not everyone has the same set of morals as we do. I learned if I never expect anything, then I never let down. Very true. Very true. And on that note, let's get you guys out of here today.
Mentorship call that'll start in about 27 minutes. Everyone else, that program will be opening, reopening at the end of the month. So, keep your eyes out for that. We do multiple calls in there today and talk a little more AI and see what we got with it. So, until next time, you guys have a great weekend this weekend. And I know there's probably tons of graduation parties and weddings.
It is that time of year. So get out there, get after it, make the most of it. Till next time, peace, love, press on. We will see
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