Biz Talk: Identity Crisis

I've spent the beginning of 2014 trying to figure BGD out. Am I a wedding designer? Am I a stationery designer? Am I an online boutique owner? How do I define my business? Who is my customer? Where do I need to go from here? What has my blog morphed in to? (Answer: a blog with zero content, that's what.) And on. And on and on and on.

I'm exhausted.

I've come to realize that while, yes, some of those questions are valid from a business standpoint I don't have to have everything answered right this very minute. There are some facets of this venture that will be learned along the way and that's ok. I'm trying not to get caught up in the who/what/when of it all and just take it in stride. In order to do this, I vow the following:

Create, create, create. If a brilliant idea strikes me I immediately write it down or go sit down at my desk and sketch it out. In the past I would let it stew in my head until I either forgot about it or got sick of hearing it bounce around in my brain. This way, it gets out of my head, onto paper and I can carry on about my day. No information overload allowed.

Learn to say no. This is so tough. One of my biggest goals for BGD is to make it my full-time job so I've always had it in my head that saying no to any client was pushing me farther from that goal. I've realized, after taking on a few difficult and draining clients, that the opposite is true. When you do the work that makes your heart happy everything else will fall in line. It's not doing me any favors if I dread the work I have to do that day. I become such a better designer and all-around human being when I'm excited to do my work every day.

Stop taking things personally. As an introvert, I pour my hear and soul in to just about everything I do. When a client takes to something I've created as not good enough, I tend to internalize it. I feel it right in my gut. This is a real problem for someone whose business is run by other peoples' tastes and critiques. I've made big strides in this department but still have some work to do.

Just write. I opened up blogger and tried to write a post more times than I could count. I think, stemming from this identity crisis, I was worried I wasn't defining what BrittanyGarner.com really is. Which is what? It's me. My goal is to post twice a week with a mix of design, business, and life. It will take form and I don't have to control every aspect.

Have you ever gone through a business or blog identity crisis?