Now I am creating a new bag with the help of a pattern, which is a paper template of fabric parts. In other words, I am sewing based on the blueprint.
However, I realized that I could not build exactly as designed, even with a blueprint, due to my poor skills. It was shocking and stimulated my competitive mind. Let’s talk about it.
How to make money calmly
Sometimes, we want to make a profit calmly without being emotional.
However, we often focus on only skills due to an inferiority complex. That delays the development of our fan base and sales for an extended period.
One solution is to act based on a strategy. That can free us from focusing on trivial matters and give us the balance to develop. Today, I will explain it with my experience.
Why strategy matters
If you want to make money and build your business calmly, create a strategy. That will prevent you from continuing to stick to the trivial matters emotionally, including pursuing unnecessary skills.
For example, if we recognize that identifying the profit points matters, the detailed skills become unnecessary. We can create simple products that are strategically and moderately diversified. Since we don’t know exactly what will sell well, we have to verify that first.
That awareness allows us to apply a simple blueprint for each production. Otherwise, we tend to pursue unnecessary skills due to our inferiority complex.
My experience
I realized that tendency from my recent experience.
When confronted with our skill gaps, we often become eager to acquire them. In other words, we end up competing with others.
In my case, I applied a pattern for the next bag creation, as I said above. Despite having the pattern, I was unable to create a bag that resembled the examples made by a professional. My bag ended up misaligned and distorted, even though I thought I had placed and sewn the parts correctly.
Perhaps you have experienced such a feeling when you learn to use a sense. Examples are using brushes in painting, singing in tune, acquiring sports form, and using a knife skillfully in cooking. Although it seems easy, the body doesn’t get used to it in the short term. It requires continuous practice.
At first, I lost myself when I realized my lack of ability. The comparison of the difference between my sense and that of a professional stimulated my inferiority complex. That irritation made me focus on skills.
Some might be discouraged. Either way, we lose our composure.
Returning to a strategic perspective
The trigger that freed me from that obsession was knowing about a designer. I learned about the bags of Marc Jacobs, who is a bag designer in the U.S. He mainly creates tote bags—they are one of the simplest kinds of bags. His works were simple but elegant. Look at his remodeled-style works (jump to his denim tote bag products).
That told me that a bag with a complex structure is not necessarily superior. Even a first-class designer creates a simple bag.
That brought me back to a strategic perspective. I realized that identifying the profit points matters. I can develop the detailed skills later based on the profit point. That would be more efficient than trying to be perfect in all areas. Until then, it would be better to create simple products that are strategically and moderately diversified.
In other words, I have stopped worrying about my lack of skills.
Conclusion
That is why strategy frees us from focusing on trivial matters and gives us the balance to develop.
We can develop the detailed skills later based on the profit point.
That would be more efficient than trying to be perfect in all areas.
This perspective might provide you with more efficiency in building your business.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
