Teaching Tuesday: Should I Start A Separate Businesses?
May 13, 2008 by Michelle Waters
Pat Sandy submitted this question to our survey:
I am trying to help my mother-in-law get her business on line and I also want to do the same for myself with a different product. My mother-in-law designs counted cross stitch graphs and wants to sell them (she completes a sample of which a photo has been take). I make quilts and wall hangings. I think these need to be two separate businesses and would appreciate your advice. Thanks.
My response: Whether or not you run separate businesses, or start one business depends on a few factors.
First, do the two of you have the same vision for where you want the business go to? This is very important. Let’s say person wants to start a business, but is really just in it for fun. She just wants to sew when she can and really is interested in making some money from a hobby. On the other hand, the other person is serious about building a business, earning a profit and paying off some debt.
If these two people start one business, there will soon be friction over where the business is going to go. In many cases, this can result in lost relationships, and sometimes in loss of the business altogether.
So, my advise is to make sure you’re on the same page with your mother-in-law.
Second, are the two products related. If one person is selling baseball bats and the other person is selling baby slings, you’re going to run into trouble. Those two products have nothing to do with one another, making marketing one business tough. In this situation, I’d recommend two businesses.
Since your product and your mother-in-law’s product are similiar — handmade crafts — you may be able to get away with running one business.
Third, you need to consider the target market. Do the same people who buy cross-stitch graphs also buy completed quilts and wall-hangings? It seems to me that a person who buys a graph is not going to be the same person who buys a completed craft item. I recommend you study your target market to find out.
If you’re still not sure which option you should choose, you’re welcome to try my one-on-one business coaching services.
Hi Michelle!
From having 2 businesses, my suggestion would be to keep them seperate. There’s always such a great feeling of satifaction and accomplishment when you are able to do something on your own. There’s no reason why you can’t keep them seperate and cross promote one another. Maybe work out an affiliate/referral deal with one another??!!
Hi Jenn!
Yep, that’s an excellent idea. You can leverage the traffic on one site for the other and you can also increase your backlinks for SEO purposes.
While on one hand, you’ll have the additional costs of promoting two sites instead of one, you can also make sure both sites benefit from each promotion through reviews and upsells via your mailing list, sales process and blogs.
Thank you!