Not much can guarantee failure more than a disorganized brand message and an undefined target market. Even the most terrible products that seemingly have no purpose can attract a niche customer. When a business has no target market in mind, it's very clear. There is no focus. It's awkward to experience. No demographic-specific language. Or worse... conflicting wording. Language that speaks to everyone usually attracts nobody.

Narrowing in on your desired reader, client, or customer requires a really good understanding of your brand. If you haven't solidified this, then you've got to reel it in, honey. 

We small business owners are hard workers. It comes from being truly passionate about what we do, as well as that nagging thought that we need to prove ourselves.

The problem comes when creatives hustle too hard. When you stop working out and eating properly to meet deadlines. When you can’t fathom booking social outings until you finish a major project. Okay, that isn’t always the result of hard hustle, but it can happen to the best of us!

I've run businesses as a solopreneur since I was 15. It's always been my thing, although it took me until university to really figure out what direction I wanted to go in. From those early days to today, I've seen it all and dealt with a ton of common realities of working for yourself. Luckily, I grew up with a mum who was also an entrepreneur, so I somewhat knew what I was getting into. But for other people, you might not be aware or ever thought about these things. Solopreneurship is often romanticized as having incredible freedom and short work hours, and while in a way you're given a lot more control over your daily life, in others it's far more challenging than you can imagine.