Hey everyone,
I’m feeling a bit stuck in my business journey and could really use some advice. Here's my background:
I started making music and producing beats in 2010, and I became obsessed. I would create multiple beats every day, learning everything I could about music production, sound design, and all the tech involved. From 2014 to 2018, I took a break, but after that, I got right back into it. I’ve dabbled in a lot of areas since then, like 3D modeling (using Blender), programming (which is now my full-time job), and more.
From 2022 until the end of 2024, I ran a small studio as a side business, recording and producing for artists. In 2023, I shifted gears and created a sonic branding project (audio logos, commercial music, phone jingles, etc.) for a company. That’s when I realized there’s way more money to be made in B2B than working with individual artists (minimum 1k per project, and companies have better budgets). Since then, I’ve closed the studio (I only work with a few loyal clients) and have done sonic branding for 4 companies. For one of them, I also designed and animated a 3D logo using Blender, and I’m currently developing warehouse software for them.
Given the link between sonic branding and marketing, I’m taking courses on Coursera about digital marketing to potentially expand my services. I’m also an avid reader of entrepreneurship books, trying to learn as much as I can to grow.
The Problem: I have no clear USP, no strategy or structure, and no idea which direction to take. Right now, I’m just taking on whatever projects fit my skill set, but I have no plan for scaling. I’m not sure what exactly I should be selling, what makes me stand out, or how to build a scalable business model. I feel like I’m just drifting from one project to the next.
I’d love some guidance on how to identify my USP and develop a strategy for growth. What do you guys think? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
I feel lost – No clear USP or direction, unsure how to scale my business (Help needed)
byu/smolecc inEntrepreneur
Posted by smolecc
2 Comments
What’s your Revenue, Gross Profit, EBITDA, & Net Profit goals? (1,3,5 years)
What customer paid you the most? What customer did you enjoy working with the most?
I’d start there.
based on what you said, your USP is based on the skill set that define whatever projects you take on (as a function of skill set)
Based on the identified skillset, you can figure out what aspects have scalability (a youtube course, a written guide, paid teaching courses, stuff likke that) where you can get superlinear returns for your previously identified skillset.
Once you have this, you can build a strategy where the clients and projects you take on as a function of skillset can fit into a wider profile about your skills, and build in a direction making it easier to both profile yourself as well as to gear up a platform against which you can start pushing the courses or whatever you’ve decided is most profitable.
The strategy should be such that you don’t take on projects that don’t align with this overarching vision so you’re working in aligned ‘vectors’ of effort based movement rather than random disconnected projects which it seems is the current problem. Returns, Profits, costs and identifying the most profitable aspects (both on lump sum basis and also time/effort and returns, sometimes it’s worth working a large high return project and sometimes it’s worth working something that requires low effort, low returns and higher volumes of client)
Goals or targets should be defined in now and you should use a kind of logarathmic granularity to this (one day, one week, one month, one year, 3 years, 5 years for example)
Don’t forget, you are getting projects, so you do have a ‘plan’ it’s just not a well structured forward looking one. The fact you’re able to put yourself out there and gain projects, clients and work means that you have a plan / USP that you haven’t introspected and refined.