When growing your business, depending on one revenue stream or product can sometimes not be enough to get the business to where you want it to be. You might need to diversify for a number of reasons. But how do you go about doing this? You may have an idea of what you want your next product to be, or you may be in the early stages of brainstorming. Wherever you are in the process, you are not alone! Today, we talk to Dawn Jarvis, a photographer and educator from Oregon. Dawn successfully diversified her business’ revenue and  we are super excited to have her share her WHY and HOW today on the podcast!

1. Identify the gaps

When you are planning on developing a product or service  to diversify your revenue streams, identifying a gap in the market is a good place to start. Dawn noticed that there was a gap in the photography education market when she launched her workshops back in 2016. At the time, there was an opportunity for her to be the first mover and capitalize on a market that was hungry for resources to learn more about photography. Identify the gap in your industry’s market and design products or services to meet that need. Not only will you be able to diversify where your revenue comes from, but you will also be able to see traction with your new product or service sooner.

2. Know your goals 

As with most new products or services, you should know your goals before you introduce it to the market. The reason that you are probably reading this is because you want to diversify your revenue. That is a good goal! But let’s go a little deeper. Why are you using this specific product to diversify your revenue? Is it going to speak to a new consumer in your market? Is it going to add value to existing consumers in your market? By introducing photography education products and services, Dawn’s goal was to reach a brand new consumer within her industry that had not been tapped into at that point. Photography was all about serving the client, the person in front of the lens. But what about the person behind the camera? Dawn was able to see a need and set an intentional goal, targeting a specific audience with her new product. 

3. Be Intentional

In support of knowing your goals with your new product or service, being intentional with your new revenue stream before you go live is very important. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, resources are sometimes limited. This new revenue stream may take a portion of your time away from other things you were doing. You may not have the capital to hire another person to manage this new stream of revenue. Be intentional about your choices here! This will help you decide what is right for your business AND your personal life. Dawn was intentional with her choice to enter photography education as she knew it would mean that she could work from home more often as she and her husband had goals of starting a family. 

Diversifying your revenue streams as a small business owner is one of the most helpful things that you can do for your business as you grow. The pressure for one product or service to do well can be spread across a family of multiple products, lessening the load on just one singular income stream to support the company. We hope you enjoyed today’s podcast with Dawn Jarvis! We hope that you were inspired by her journey and confidence to diversify her business.

Check Dawn’s work out at: https://dawn-photo.com/ and https://dawn-photo.com/education-home . 

As always, head to http://Lets-venture.com for all sorts of financial resources for your small business!