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Growing a business or brand isn’t easy. It can feel especially hard if you feel unsure of your next move or you don’t have peers to lean on for advice.
To help fill that gap, we surveyed more than 2,000 entrepreneurs selling physical products, digital downloads, or service offerings to identify trends in what helps them succeed. We heard from both Squarespace and non-Squarespace users, and additional details were pulled from separate interviews with service providers using Squarespace.
Here are 6 common practices that help these business owners build and scale their passion projects and brands.
1. Charge more than you think you should
How much you earn is one of the simplest ways to measure your success, but the gross income from your business isn’t the only thing you need to consider. Some successful business owners wish they had charged more for their products from the start.
It’s easy to second-guess your pricing—maybe you want your products to be accessible to bring in customers, or don’t feel comfortable charging what bigger or more established brands charge. But underpricing or discounting by too much gives you less profit to invest back in your business, or leaves you in the red.
Successful Squarespace entrepreneurs recommend starting with a price that's 3x times the cost of your materials and services and pricing in line with your peers.
2. Stay customer-obsessed
Interviews with business owners on Squarespace revealed a common thread among the entrepreneurs: a deep investment in their client or customer experience. Those surveyed felt similarly, with 68% of entrepreneurs on Squarespace citing customer satisfaction as a key sign of their success.
Staying close to customer experience—whether through feedback and reviews, testing your workflows from a customer point of view, or interviews and discussions—ensures you’re delivering the best experience possible. That pays off in building brand loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations, which help you stand out and get more business.
Seek feedback quickly and often, when someone’s interaction with your brand is still fresh in their minds. Consider automating requests for reviews or feedback forms as part of your standard workflows.
3. Social media grows your reach
More than half of entrepreneurs with a business on Squarespace cited attracting new leads and building a customer base as some of their top challenges. The good news is that this generally became less challenging the longer they were in business.
One of the most popular ways to get your brand or business in front of more people is with social media. Almost 90% of the Squarespace users we surveyed use social media to support their business, with almost three quarters saying it helps them reach more people.
Social media has the added advantage of being no- or low-cost, and there are many tools to help you scale on social. For example, Squarespace users can sync their store with Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook to encourage social shopping. Or they can add a link in bio with Bio Sites for easy access to products and services under one URL.
4. It’s OK to start small
It’s important to remember that many of the businesses you admire started in a very different place than you see them now. 70% of entrepreneurs surveyed started their business as a side project or secondary source of income.
The users Squarespace interviewed emphasized that entrepreneurship is a slow burn—it takes time, consistency, and trial-and-error to build something lasting. Setting realistic goals can help you stay motivated when you’re starting out. Begin by figuring out how much time and money you can invest in your business and slowly scale up over time.
5. A website legitimizes your business
Unsurprisingly, most sellers on Squarespace—91%—consider a website legitimizing. But 73% of entrepreneurs not using Squarespace agreed, including 65% who don’t currently have a website.
Many business owners start selling organically through other platforms, like marketplaces and social media. But most cite a website as essential for building a brand and customer base, and a convenient home base to showcase everything they offer.
6. Grow by selling in multiple ways
When you’re ready to grow your business, one of the most common ways is to scale up by adding a new revenue stream. A third of people selling physical products on Squarespace book services or sell digital products too. More than half of service providers and people selling digital products sell another kind of product.
If you’re selling physical items, consider whether a service or content might be complementary. A baker could sell a recipe ebook or online course, for example. Someone selling art prints could offer creative services.
Online courses or paywalled videos and blogs are a good way to expand into digital products. For those looking to explore physical items, print on demand is one way to get started without needing to handle production, inventory, or shipping.
Ready to grow your own business or brand idea?