5 Ways I Messed Up Launching My Business
Today we welcome Sheila Smith, author of The Birthday Dragon, which she proudly self-published this year. Sheila candidly shares her experience of launching her own business, and the mistakes she learnt from along the way. Thanks for joining us, Sheila! Emma 
As I prepared to self-publish my first book, The Birthday Dragon, I thought (rather smugly) that the business side would be easy. Experienced in publishing and in business generally, I wasn’t going to do anything silly. Yes, that’s the sound of my forehead hitting the desk.
Not only did I do it all wrong, I didn’t even do what I already knew! What was I actually doing when I should have been getting the business side squared away? Well… mostly coughing while I formatted until my eyes bled.
As a one-person business, there was only me to get things done. And I simply wasn’t all there. I’d come down with the flu, which was the topper to a ghastly six months for me. So, right as I published my book (in a fever-dream), I spent a couple of weeks in a state of semi-collapse.
If I could do it all again, I’d do plenty of things differently. Here’s my top five mistakes.
1. Don’t forget your launch plan. You need it where you can see it. Consider having it tattooed inside your eyelids, or on the forehead of your beloved. I forgot to look at my plan. Completely.
2. Emotions are great fuel, but don’t leave your brain behind. Someone bought a copy of my book, emotion took over and my mind went completely blank. I forgot I was even launching a business.
3. Don’t be vague. I was planning to launch sometime in June, thinking I was avoiding pressuring myself. But sometime on May 30th, while in a flu haze, I became obsessed with publishing on June 1st. This is probably how the first edition ended up with an entire scene accidentally deleted from chapter one!
4. Even no-budget launches need marketing and PR. I made a few semi-hysterical tweets about my book’s debut. Sales went into double figures on the first day. I thought this might happen in a few months. In shock, I was convinced (in my delirium) that it would be arrogant to note who mentioned buying it. I did thank them though!
5. Without my support systems, I was fail. I ignored my friends. Several marketing and PR lovelies sent long thoughtful emails, to which I said mostly “Argh no!”. Instead of figuring a way to use what they suggested, I had knee-jerk reactions based on my current (ill, over-emotional, reclusive) circumstances. Part of my problem was an inability to see even simple solutions, and my plan – that I wasn’t looking at – needed an escape clause written in.
It’s my own fault. Excuses are symptoms of a deeper malaise. When I planned my book it was done with flexibility in mind. I even shifted my narrator from one character to the next, and the plan (with the flock of attendant spreadsheets) took it all. With inflexibility, and by ignoring good advice, I lost that golden period where a book has the gloss of ‘new release’ shining on it.
I’m confident about overcoming this shaky start, but I’ve made it hard for myself, and where’s the sense in that?
What lessons did you learn along the way when starting your own business?
Sheila Smith, Author, The Birthday Dragon
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Thank you so much for joining us Sheila!
I’d also like to introduce everyone to Emma Mulquiney, our new Online Editor – News & Social Media for MYOB. I will still pop in to the blog here and there – but the fabulous Emma is now in the Editor’s driving seat!
Thank you everyone for being so friendly and sharing so much!
Welcome Sheila and Emma!
Thanks for the warm welcome, Naomi! And a big thanks to Sheila for the great first post. I think I’m going to like it here…
I sure am glad I’m not the only one who stuffs things up. Many thanks for your brilliant share, Sheila.
Naomi, you’ve been a beaut handler. If Emma is half as good, we’re in safe hands. Best regards all.
Thanks Paul and Naomi, especially for the opportunity – i enjoyed writing the post, and you’ve all made it a great experience so far. Full points to Emma,
she’s the kind of editor all writers should have.
I watched your book release and saw only a dazed and happy author. There are always lessons to be learned, but I don’t think your start was nearly as shaky as you think it was! Everything looks good from here.
Ha, yes, i was dazed and happy
– still am. Thanks for the kind words, and i’m so glad it looked better than it felt!
Great post Sheila.It has sparked stacks of thoughts for me.
Firstly – I don’t think launches are necessarily necessary. Yes – they can be an opportunity to garner some media attention but in the most part they just mark the end of the preparation/planning/producing stage and the commencment of the selling bit…
For Birthday Dragon (which is an outstanding tale) I think there are still heaps of marketing opportunities in the future – including the celebration of the 100th book sold, the exhibition of original artwork produced in collaboration between an artist and you; the release of the second book in the series…
A first book, a new brand, a piece of art is a slow simmer – you create the initial spark and then just keep fanning the flames until your have a roaring fire.
Whether it be a book or a new small business I see over and over again an expectation by the business owner that they will “build it” and “we will come”. They’ll run an ad, send out a few tweets, do an email….and then sit back and wait for the sales.
It doesn’t work like that.
You also have made me think about how even as a solo operator it is really important to get other eyes (eyes that are not as closely focused as your own) to look at the bigger picture for you.
What I am the most thrilled about is that you do look upon this as a business – you don’t just have romantic notices of sitting high up in a garrett with an old black Remington creating history (and in your case with the Birthday Dragon mob….the future).
Toula over at http://www.digitalkulcha.org is setting up a Business Agency for creative types, so that they can focus on creating and get others to help with all the biz stuff….I see a huge need for this, as your post demonstrates.
Thanks for sharing – and as Johanna said…it looked fine from the outside looking in!
Thanks Bambi, what a thoughtful comment – i do feel this slow build is part of the process – and as usual you’ve set my brain going
100th Book celebrations are on the list!
You’re right – a second pair of eyes would have helped. I used editors (and betareaders) for the book, so I could have used someone doing the same for the business side. My usual real life mentor was distracted, but again – i needed something in the plan that said, if they were, i had to consult someone else.
I can see for a lot of writers it would be much easier to use an agency – what a lovely thought – and yes, it’s most definitely a business, and one that doesn’t stop with publication. With my previous experience, i’ve still been on a steep learning curve, on top of the editing required.
Beginning to feel my launch wasn’t that bad
I was the first to finish your book, and was so excited to get my hands on it that I didn’t notice you’d done anything wrong. I still don’t see any horrible mistakes; just some areas where you can focus better going forward.
I agree with Bambi – a book launch isn’t really necessary. It’s more important to get a few people to read the book, talk about its awesomeness, and get a few more who will do the same. You can build your fan base as you encourage your readership along the way, and do things to keep the fires burning. However, I think you’re off to a good start. And, since you’ve come to see the “error of your ways,” I see even bigger and better things in your future. Don’t let me down. I am rooting for this book to be wildly successful so you can get to the task of publishing volumes 2, and 3, and 4…
I think Johanna, Bambi and Barbara have hit the nail on the head here, Sheila – we’re far more critical of ourselves than others are! And I think this applies to everything, I’m sure you could come up with a long list of ‘Things I’d Do Differently Second Time Around’ for even the most successful venture. The important part is your ability to learn and adapt – which you clearly have down pat!
Thanks everyone for the great insights and comments!
Hi Sheila,
Well done – your comments certainly made me stop and think again. And yes, as mentioned above, it is easy to get overly critical of ourselves. From what I can see you have a great product and that will see you through, in my humble opinion.
Son’t give up. Never.
All the best,
Stephen
Thanks Barbara – and yes, people talking about the awesomeness is worth a thousand adverts, i think
Book 2’s coming along, trying to get that out and keep up the impetus on Book 1 is making me feel a bit like an octopus 
Heh, I was very lucky with the mistakes in the published version, fortunately none of them actually broke the plot
You’re so right, Emma – i’ll happily give other people leeway, when it comes to myself, if it’s not perfect, i get twitchy.
20:20 hindsight’s a wonderful thing to learn from, but we mustn’t flagellate ourselves
Thanks very much for the nice words
Thanks for commenting Stephen – and how lovely that i made you think. Exactly what i was hoping for
And i will not give up
Also, marketing is an on going process – While a launch is a PR opportunity, to be in it for the long haul it now needs to be steadily maintained ~
As Bambi suggested tweeting and announcing, for example, the 100th sold, or when you get feedback – RTing what was said… etc –
Even well know products like Coca Cola keep waving their flag lest we forget.
Congratulations on getting it past just being an idea and getting it out into the real world – A mammoth achievement, not to be sneezed at – flu or no flu
Well said, Linda – i’ve been RT’ing comments and bits of reviews, figure every bit helps – i must be getting balance alright on Twitter, no mass unfollowings yet. I find blowing my own trumpet hard, but it does get easier
Thanks for the comment and congrats, very much appreciated.
I found you, Sheila, via your fascinating Twitter updates on the process of writing your book. I thought your launch was great fun too. And from the visits your guest post is generating, I think your future is very bright!
Oh Sheila, you articulated the fuzzy process that grips and disorients us when running our own small business. As a fellow creative I hear you loud and clear about that naive smugness that can delude us into thinking that the ‘product’ will speak for itself. Just because we know the business of our art does not necessarily translate into knowing the art of business. I work alongside many creatives and in talking to them, they too suck at embracing what needs to be done to make their art work for them.
The first incarnation of my business did not necessarily ‘fail’ (or maybe it did). It kinda just whimpered to a simpering halt, as did I. I was a bit lonely till I bared all on twitter, where I found many, many people just like moi. Business is often an alien concept to a creative, so with Bambi (sorry for outing you) my no-nonsense business mentor (also a fabulous artsist/creative), I’m setting up an agency for creatives, a business that I wish I had access to when I was floundering in my creative, whimpering corner.
This time all the checks and balances are being put in place and I will be chiseling Bambi’s and Sheila’s advice on a stone tablet and gluing it onto the flap of my laptop.
Deeply appreciated your post Sheila
Thanks for saying so, Paul
I am remaining Zen. Or trying to. 
On subject of Twitter, I would advise people to think deeply before they hashtag their book or project. I called mine #TheThing (in a fit of pique with it), then had people not realising i’d published it when i started talking about “The Birthday Dragon”.
My perception of how the launch went (and how to prepare for the future, building as i go), has changed as others gave their insights. One thing i didn’t mention is how supportive Twitter people have been – and how inspiring. People felt involved in my struggles with #TheThing (as it will always be), they still do – which is stunning and deeply touching.
i know exactly what you mean, Toula – there is the pervasive myth of the overnight success who is discovered without any real effort – talent alone will be enough. Having worked on the business side of publishing and in the music industry, the successful artists i’ve known all worked very hard for years to get where they were, and a fair number had someone pushing them, running a concerted campaign, along with their own efforts.
As i discovered, when all you can do is grin from ear-to-ear, and suck a butter menthol, it can be hard to flip to being a sensible person who asks for an email or notes twitter names, so those who liked the book can be told about the next one, and asked personally to do a review.
It’s all a learning experience.
I worked in the non-profit, community sector for over 20 years. Whilst it was non-profit it wasn’t for loss either. It had to run on small business principles to survive. But it’s success was due to all it’s endeavors being underpinned by sound community development practices. Why did I think ‘for-profit’ businesses were any different. In this new incarnation of my enterprise not only am I going back to Business 101 (Bambi Gordon style) but Community Development 101 as well. We ignore nurturing our communities at our peril.
Once again thank you for being so open about your experiences
Hope you slay that business dragon.
well said, Toula, completely agree – profit shouldn’t be a dirty word in the NFP sector – profit (the kind our moral code can cope with) is money to put back into that community.
thanks very much for the good wishes
There is much to be said about rushing or not rushing on ideas. Even if businesses haven’t been launched this way, certainly projects or campaigns have.
Atleast you didn’t procrastinate till July 1 or August 1 or never. On the other hand it could have been a whole lot better. It always can be and that is the only way you learn. You could have spent $50,000 on marketing the launch and it could always have been better.
The positive is that you have identified how, so next time it should be.
Even if it doesn’t get off on the right foot (ie PR wasn’t there or it failed) remember that much of this fan far can be very short lived. It is the marketing that goes on afterward that keeps the customers coming. It is also the quality of the product. Whilst you may have missed certain scenes in chapter one, did anyone notice other than you?
Being self critical can be great and can deliver constructive advice for yourself and others as you have done, but the hard part of launching your book is done. With this stage out of the way, the real work begins (not that I know much about selling or launching books specifically).
Surely you will continue to make right and wrong decisions. Just keep refining, it is the only way to improve.
thanks for your thoughtful comment, Carbonite – i’m feeling more relaxed about my mistakes by now, much more positive. The various comments above, and comments to me privately, have made me realise that as you say, one can always do better, but nobody does it right first time.
I think that’s something for anyone trying to launch a business. When you manage your time, you don’t schedule every moment, you have to leave a margin (say 20%) completely free (separate from your ‘me time to do nothing or whatever’ or ’sleep time’) for errors and problems. Because stuff happens.
Everything you did think of and a bunch of things you hadn’t planned for are going to happen – try to plan for that (impossible though that may sound) with some kind of contingency planning.
The numbers saying “wow, you actually finished and published a whole book!” are rather heartening
– from my outpost here in the #editswamp i’d forgotten that just writing a book was quite hard.
I’m looking forward to more refining and improving.
Wow Sheila, you should have called this ‘The Crack Addicts Guide to Starting a Business’ – hazy, confused, and reaching out blindly.. I’m sure you were much more organised than this but that was the image that came together in my mind as I read your story.
I still feel like I’m in that state a bit sometimes – and when I do I just return to the core goals I have tattooed into the side of my brain, and write them onto a piece of paper so I can visualise them (since I can’t see the side of my brain) – then I work backwards through the steps I need to take to get there, and all is well again.
Thanks for sharing your story and reassuring me that I’m not the only one who feels like a crack head sometimes!
Ha, Daniel, thanks for commenting – now i’m really worried. What was in those pills?
And yes, ty for the timely mention of breaking the insurmountable into digestible chunks. Lay out goals, the steps to get there, asking the question, how do i get there from here? Then remember to read our desperate attempts to reach Future Self – so simple yet so perfect. And of course, quite tricky at times.
Thinking back, you’re right, I was much more organised than i sound – i’d spent two years building a social media presence, for one. I’d started a blog, joined Twitter, avoided Facebook. When i fell apart, my Twitter network managed to take up a lot of the slack. They retweeted the book, read it and told everyone they loved it, reminded me of the obvious (i didn’t ignore them all the time, I joined Facebook as my pen-name, Polo Shawcross), and they deserve credit for pretty much all of the sales.
I hope it’s clear that my own hangups sabotaged the launch. Recognition (and just the tiniest glimpse of success) blew me away so badly that i forgot everything i know. And i hope there’s a lesson for us all
As you say, Daniel, once you get it all laid out, it’s soothing, and you know where you are, what you have to do. I’ve been reassured by looking back over my plans, i’m not as far off-piste as i thought