Know-How Exchange : Branding

You could position Sew At Seams as a "division" of NE Custom Equestrian, and you may be able to leverage some recognition that you're good at non-equestrian tailoring as well. However, in doing so you may create confusion. Sew At Seams clientele may not care you do equestrian, and vice versa. That means if people visit the "other" business website, then they're likely to be confused. And confused visitors do not translate into customers.

From a Positioning and Marketing perspective, you will probably do more harm than good if you combine the two businesses in any way that's apparent to your customers or prospective customers.

That doesn't mean you can't hire a person to work half-time for each of the two businesses, and let that person deal with the customers for both businesses.

It would be a shame to hurt both businesses in order to simplify your life.

I agree that from the branding and positioning perspective, the two businesses would seem to have distinct customers, image and pricing structures, so combining might hurt them both. BUT...that doesn't mean you can't create some efficiencies behind the scene.

An accountant experienced with multiple businesses might be able to simplify the accounts, although you do want to preserve the separate tracking of expenses and cash flow.

If you buy media or indeed other supplies for both businesses, you may be able to win some volume discounts by combining orders. This would free up cash, if nothing else!

Telephone: you can set up a good telephone system so that both phone numbers ring into the same instrument, with distinctive rings so you'll know how to answer the phone.

Facebook/Twitter: Are one or both of these channels really helping your businesses? That is, bringing one or both new clients, increased repeat business or higher margins? Don't think the number of likes or followers important in itself.

If you're confident that they are, then you can save a lot of time by using a scheduling and cross-posting tool, like hootsuite. That alone will make your life easier. Then analyze the content of the posts and tweets. Are some of them or could some of them be of more or less equal value to prospects/customers for both businesses? I can imagine that might be the case. Using at least some of the content for both businesses will save time and effort.

Time management: it is very hard for anyone to manage multiple tasks efficiently, much less separate businesses. Breaking as much as possible of your day into blocks can do wonders for productivity, since the mental transition from one task to another and back eats at your brain, and your time. So devote a half hour (say) to writing tweets and FB posts just for one business, and load them into hootsuite to be parsed out over time.

Even answering the phone should be cut up into time blocks. Most calls are not urgent to the minute, so as Tim Ferris suggests in the 4-Hour Work Week, don't answer the phone! Instead set up outgoing messages that say you will return calls for Seam/Sew... between 1 and 2 pm (say) and separately for Equestrian between 2 and 3. (Or whatever time blocks work.) If the caller believes her call is urgent, she can press a button to ring through. Then you have to be polite but firm in ending the call quickly if it is not urgent -- and call back at the appointed time. Customers will respect you for your time management.

One way to help you concentrate on one business at a time during its appointed time block(s) is to change something physically -- move to a different desk -- or put on your equestrian helmet! This will actually ease the back of the mind distraction of the other business, and let you get and stay focused, until it's actually time to switch. I think you'll be amazed at how much these habits will save you in time and mental stress.

You mention hoping to hire an assistant, which makes it sound like you're doing everything yourself. I would think deeply about what work is work that only you can do, or that you enjoy most. A lot of it is important, but a specialist could be better at it than you. You probably already know that's true for bookkeeping, say, but it's probably true for other aspects of your business too. Then hire someone who is really good at least one of the things you don't want to do. And accept that even if you are really the best at every aspect of your business (best if you can accept or at least act like that is literally not true), that if you want your business to grow, you have to accept work from someone else that is 80% of what you would do...and done differently, to boot!

Best of luck,

Michael