Maximizing Momentum From Small Business Season

December 18, 2023

Movie franchises, sequels, and prequels are all the rage in Hollywood these days—and for good reason. They make money. They’re a known commodity. If you’re an entrepreneur who’s thinking about launching a second business, a spin-off can be wildly popular. Before you decide to go after a brand-new market, consider the opportunities you might have with your existing audience.

 

There’s no better time to do this than during Small Business Season. Keep reading to understand how you can use your current business as a springboard to launch a new, exciting venture.

 

Launching a Spin-off Business During Small Business Season

First, we’re not telling you to launch the spin-off during the remaining weeks left in the year. There’s too much to do. But we are suggesting you look at some of the data and actions of your target market now that could help you shape a spin-off in the coming year. If you do, by this time next year you could be sitting on a very lucrative undertaking.

 

Identify Opportunities

Before diving into the spin-off venture, it's crucial to identify opportunities that align with your current business. Assess market trends, customer needs, and emerging technologies to pinpoint areas where your expertise can be leveraged for maximum impact. Look for gaps in the market or areas where your unique strengths can be a game-changer.

 

Small Business Season tip: If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, pay attention to the bags and cups people are carrying when they enter your place. What do they have in common and what do those places sell? Your target market is buying from them. Take notice.

 

Another good idea is to look for trends in your business as to what products or services are bought together, what questions are asked at checkout, and what items are returned. This data also reveals hidden desires and purchasing patterns.

 

Leverage Existing Resources

One of the key advantages of launching a spin-off business is the ability to leverage existing resources. Utilize the knowledge, infrastructure, and customer base you've built with your current business to give your new venture a head start. This not only reduces startup costs but also accelerates the growth of the spin-off.

 

Small Business Season tip: if you already know what you want to sell in your new undertaking, provide a sample in your current business and share those with buyers and/or visitors. You can also charge for items as a trial run. For instance, if you own a bookstore, and you’re thinking about creating a coffee shop nook, give away a few samples or do a poll on your audience’s favorite types of coffee drinks. Note: if you decide to sell something, be careful you’re not breaking any laws about food and beverage sales and licenses in your area.

 

Ask Your Audience:

Let the proverbial cat out of the bag and tell people (in store, on your website, and those following you on social) what you’re considering. Ask them what they think.

 

Small Business Season tip: Create an interactive display of 1-3 things you’re thinking about for a new business. Create voting boxes and let customers have a say as to which idea they like best. You can also give them a little something for their opinion. For instance, if you’re trying to decide between launching a coffee business, bookstore, or wine bar, and you have a brick-and-mortar store front, buy 3 types of stickers. Explain to each customer that the stickers are a vote for a new type of business and encourage them to “cast their vote” by taking a sticker. At the end of the day, see which category has the least number of stickers left.

 

Listen:

What questions do you get asked most frequently regarding your offerings? What are people asking for that you don’t sell? Consider how you might meet those needs in the future.

 

Small Business Season tip: when the next person asks you if you carry an item that you don’t, make a note of it. If you get several of the same request, this is a good indication that your customers want that item or service. It’s possible their request would fit into your current business, or you might decide to launch a side project to address their desires.

 

Also, pay attention to how customers navigate your store, what products they linger on, and what questions they ask employees. This reveals their unspoken needs and interests.

 

Consider How You Will Maintain Brand Consistency

Maintaining consistency in branding is vital when launching a spin-off. Leverage the positive reputation and brand recognition of your current business to build trust in the new venture.

 

Small Business tip: The brand for your new business doesn’t have to be the same as your existing one but there should be a close enough resemblance that you build on your other business’ recognition. After all, in a spin-off business, your target market is likely to be the same as your current one.

 

If you’re a little farther along in your business ideas, you can use Small Business Season to get people excited about your upcoming spin-off.

 

Building Buzz for Your Spin-off During Small Business Season

  1. Host product demos, sample services/items, or consultations. Listen to the conversations that happen around your stations.
  2. Set up interactive displays and feedback stations. Create product displays with touchscreens or feedback boards where customers can share their opinions and ideas.
  3. Host a "customer appreciation day." Unveil the new undertaking and invite customers to meet your team, ask questions, and share their thoughts. Let them be the first to know.

 

In-person interactions during Small Business Season offer a unique opportunity to connect with customers on a deeper level and understand their needs in a more nuanced way. By being creative and proactive, you can turn these interactions into valuable insights that drive growth and strengthen any new undertaking.

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This article published by the Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce with permission from Frank Kenney Chamber Pros Community.

Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce Appoints Shawn Carns as President/CEO

May 19, 2026
Introducing our new President/CEO Shawn Carns

Are You Accidentally Killing Your Business’ Unique Value Proposition?

May 18, 2026
Most businesses don’t lose their edge in one dramatic, cinematic moment. They lose it quietly. A tweak here. Following a trend there. A consultant recommendation that sounds smart but doesn’t fit. A few AI-generated ideas pasted into the marketing plan with the confidence of someone assembling furniture without looking at the directions. Before long, something feels off. The business’ personality is flatter. The message sounds like everyone else’s. The thing that made people choose them has been polished, sanded, and lacquered in beige. That “thing” that makes you who you are is aptly called your unique value proposition (UVP). It’s the combination of what you offer, who you serve, how you serve them, and what you share about the “why” behind what you do. It’s what sets you apart and entices people to buy from you or visit your business over others. A strong UVP breeds loyalty. And yes, businesses kill it by accident all the time. Here are some of the most common ways it happens so you can watch out for it happening to yours: Listening to Advice From People Who Don’t Understand Your Market Marketing experts and business consultants can be incredibly helpful. Fresh perspective works because outside expertise can uncover problems you’ve been too close to see. But a consultant who doesn’t understand your audience can accidentally steer you away from the very thing that makes your business special in the eyes of your customers. A trendy, high-end rebrand might make sense for a luxury market, but it could alienate customers who love you because you’re approachable, familiar, and practical. A polished “curated experience” might sound sophisticated on paper and what “everyone is doing” but if your customers come to you because they feel known, welcomed, and part of a family, removing that warmth isn’t a strategy. It’s a fast train to “It’sJustNotTheSameVille.” Good advice should sharpen your difference, not erase it. Chasing Trends That Don’t Fit Your Audience Every industry has trends. Minimalist branding. TikTok-style videos. Subscription models. Luxe packaging. AI chatbots. “Experiences.” Founder-led content. Ultra-casual copy. Ultra-polished copy. Whatever LinkedIn is currently pretending it invented. Some trends are useful and some are noise. The danger to your business comes when you adopt a trend because everyone else is doing it, without asking whether your customers want it. For instance, if your audience values speed, don’t make everything more elaborate and wordier. If they value personal service, don’t automate every touchpoint. If they value affordability, don’t redesign your offer to feel exclusively high-end and then act shocked when your regulars disappear. A trend should serve your customer relationship. It should never become the new boss of your brand. Using AI Randomly Instead of Strategically AI can help a business get smarter, faster, and more consistent. It can help draft emails, organize ideas, summarize customer feedback, outline campaigns, brainstorm offers, and speed up routine tasks. But randomly asking AI questions is not the same as making AI part of your business. If you use it without teaching it your audience, offers, tone, standards, objections, FAQs, and customer journey, you’ll get generic output. Generic output leads to generic messaging. Generic messaging makes you sound like every other business trying to “elevate solutions.” AI works best when it’s treated like a trained assistant, not a slot machine for copy. Don’t use it hoping it will yield million-dollar results. Give it context. Build repeatable prompts. Feed it examples of what you like/want. Review the output. Protect your voice. Otherwise, you’ll sound like a bot and cost yourself additional time editing. That’s not very efficient. Becoming More Generic to “Grow” As businesses grow, they often try to appeal to more people. Cast a wide net, catch more customers, right? While that makes sense to a point, trying to attract everyone can make your message so broad and bland that it speaks to no one. For example, a business known for serving busy parents may water down its message to reach “families, professionals, individuals, and the community” because it seems like there are only a limited number of “parents.” A boutique service provider may stop naming the exact problems clients bring them because they don’t want to sound too narrow. A restaurant known for its decadent sausage gravy may redesign its menu because they realized heart disease is the number one killer in the US, and they thought they should remove the fat and switch to a healthier menu. While it may attract new customers, it will lose those who love their comfort food. Growth should expand opportunity. It shouldn’t require a personality transplant. Copying Competitors Too Closely Keeping an eye on competitors is smart. Copying their offers, language, pricing structure, content style, and customer experience is where you’ll run into trouble. You don’t know why a competitor is doing what they’re doing. Maybe their strategy is working. Maybe it’s failing loudly behind the scenes. Maybe they copied someone else because they “had to do something.” Maybe this is a Hail Mary pass in the last few seconds of the game and they’re just hoping to move the marker. Competitor research should help you find gaps. It should help you understand where you can stand apart. If it turns you into a slightly different version of another business, you’ve traded distinction for something else entirely. Forgetting to Talk to Real Customers Your customers will tell you what makes you different, but only if you keep listening. Businesses often make changes based on internal opinions, industry chatter, or the loudest person in the room. Meanwhile, customers are giving clues every day. They mention why they came back. They name the employee who made the experience better. They compliment the thing you barely noticed. They complain when something meaningful disappears. Pay attention to repeat phrases in reviews, emails, conversations, referrals, and testimonials. Your strongest positioning and ideas to meet customers needs are often hiding in plain sight. Over-Professionalizing the Brand There’s nothing wrong with looking polished. But polished should never mean sterile. Some businesses scrub away personality because they think professionalism requires sounding bigger, colder, or more formal. They replace specific language with vague industry terms. They remove humor. They bury warmth. They stop sounding like humans and start sounding like a committee circling back and drilling down because bandwidth requires a game-changing pivot—a bunch of empty, overused words. Professionals and brands have personalities and the best brands feel trustworthy and recognizable. Your unique value proposition is not a slogan you write once and tape to the wall. It should guide your decisions, messaging, customer experience, hiring, technology, partnerships, and growth. Before you follow the next trend, hire the next expert, or hand your voice to AI, ask one question: Will this make us more clearly ourselves to the people we’re here to serve? Read More: Are You Accidentally Repelling Perfect Clients? Embracing Imperfection to Strengthen Your Business The Hidden Shift Every Growing Business Owner Faces Your Business Isn't Too Small to Build a Brand ------------------------- Christina Metcalf is a writer and women’s speaker who believes in the power of story. She works with small businesses, chambers of commerce, and business professionals who want to make an impression and grow a loyal customer/member base. She is the author of The Glinda Principle, rediscovering the magic within. _______________________________________ Facebook: @metcalfwriting Instagram: @christinametcalfauthor LinkedIn: @christinametcalf5

How to Turn One Happy Customer Into Three New Leads

May 11, 2026
Hopefully, your happiest customers are already doing some marketing for you. Maybe they’re mentioning your business to a neighbor or tagging you in a post. Perhaps they’ve told a friend, “You should call them.” The problem is that most small businesses leave those moments to chance and probably don’t even know about them. That’s why you must make referral marketing part of your marketing goals. Referrals are powerful because they come with built-in trust. A stranger clicking an ad may be curious. A person recommending your business to a friend is handing you a warm lead. That’s worth building a simple system around. You don’t need a huge budget or a complicated referral program. You just need a few repeatable habits that make it easy for happy customers to send more people your way. Ask at the Right Moment Start by knowing when to ask. Timing matters. The best moment is usually right after a customer has had a positive experience. Maybe they compliment your team. Maybe they leave a great review. Maybe they reorder, renew, rebook, or tell you how much something helped them. That’s your opening. Instead of saying, “Let us know if you know anyone,” which puts all the work on them, be specific. Try something like: “If you know another business owner who could use help with this, I’d be grateful if you’d send them my way.” Or: “We love working with customers like you. If you have a friend or colleague who needs this, feel free to share our contact info.” Specificity helps people think of someone. Or tell them the why you need referrals. People are more likely to help when you tell them why you need it. “We’re a small business and we get most of our clients through referrals. We would appreciate you telling your friends and family about us.” This helps them understand how important referrals are to you, but it also tells them that many people have referred you (“We get most of our clients through referrals.”)—that’s social proof. Make Referrals Easy to Share Next, make referrals easy to share. Create a short blurb customers can forward by text or email. Keep it conversational. For example: “I’ve been working with [Business Name], and they’ve been great. They help with [specific service/product], and I thought of you because [reason]. Here’s their info.” You can also create a simple referral card, QR code, or web page with your contact information, top services, and a clear explanation of who you help. If someone has to hunt for your phone number, website, or booking link, you’re making them work too hard and few people will do that. Turn Conversations into Warm Introductions Another quick win is to ask for introductions in person, especially at events. If a customer, vendor, or fellow business owner says they know someone you should meet, ask whether they’d be comfortable making the connection. A warm introduction is stronger than a cold email. It gives the other person context and makes the conversation feel less transactional. This is where your chamber can become a practical business development tool. Chamber events aren’t only for showing up, shaking hands, and collecting business cards you’ll later find in your purse, car, or desk drawer like tiny rectangles of guilt. Used well, they can help you build a smarter referral network. Use the Chamber as a Connection Partner Before attending an event, think about who you want to meet. Are you hoping to connect with real estate professionals, restaurant owners, nonprofit leaders, healthcare providers, employers, young professionals, or city leaders? Reach out to the chamber and ask which events tend to attract those groups. Many chambers know the personality and audience of each gathering. A morning coffee may draw a different crowd than a women’s leadership event, an industry roundtable, a ribbon cutting, or a large signature event. Your chamber may also be able to make direct introductions. If you’re looking to meet a certain demographic, ask. That’s part of the relationship-building advantage of membership. Chamber staff often know who’s growing, who’s hiring, who’s collaborating, who’s new to the community, and who might be a strong connection for your business. Follow Up Before the Lead Goes Cold Once you make a connection, follow up quickly. Within 24 to 48 hours, send a short note. Mention where you met, reference something specific from the conversation, and suggest a next step if it makes sense. Don’t overcomplicate it. A good follow-up might be: “It was great meeting you at the chamber event yesterday. I enjoyed hearing about your expansion plans. If you ever need help with [specific need], I’d be happy to be a resource.” Track What’s Working Finally, keep track of referrals. A simple spreadsheet or notes field in your CRM is enough. Track who referred whom, when you followed up, and whether the connection became a customer. This helps you thank people properly and see which relationships are generating real business. The best referral strategy isn’t pushy. It’s prepared and focused. You’re making it easier for people who already trust you to open the next door. Take the Next Step Look at the chamber calendar and see what’s coming up next. Then reach out to the chamber before you attend. Let them know who you’re hoping to meet. The right event, the right introduction, and one happy customer can turn into your next three leads. Read More: How to Stop Being the Best-Kept Secret in Town How to Turn Small Talk into Big Opportunities The Referral Engine: How to Get People Talking About Your Business The Referral Revival: 5 Proven Ways to Get More word-Of-Mouth Without Ever Asking -------------------------- Christina Metcalf is a writer and women’s speaker who believes in the power of story. She works with small businesses, chambers of commerce, and business professionals who want to make an impression and grow a loyal customer/member base. She is the author of The Glinda Principle , rediscovering the magic within. _______________________________________ Facebook: @metcalfwriting Instagram: @christinametcalfauthor LinkedIn: @christinametcalf5