A Giant Flop: On Expectations and Pivots

Self-confidence, belief, and a general expectation of good don't always equal a desired outcome!

This week I had a major fail in an offer: D.A.Y. Maker--Dance, Art, Yoga, the in-person experience.

The concept is this: artists and writers have the tendency to sit too much and need movement.

Movement can feel like a waste of time when so much can be painted or written! So...let's do movement that inspires creativity.

D.A.Y. Maker begins with 10 minutes of dance followed by 40 minutes of making and ends with 10 minutes of yoga.

Simple, coherent, and I had a lot of people saying it was a great idea.

I advertised for a couple of months via paid ads, email, groups, in-person talks, etc.

Two paid.

No one showed (well, I made my sister come so I wouldn't cry).

This gave me pause.

One, the class was a major part of my Christmas push (presents are feeling sparse this year).

Two, the in-person class was a feeler class for an online course I plan(ned??) to offer--a way to get testimonials, ask questions about the process, and validate the idea.

So does the outcome of this invalidate the idea?

I honestly don't know. But I plan to pivot.

First, I'm going to offer a D.A.Y. Maker Jr. the week after Christmas to parents who don't know what to do with their kids that week before school resumes (and I'm offering it on a Wednesday!).

Second, I'm going to be more specific with my target audience. Those who take my belly dance classes aren't really the demographic for D.A.Y. Maker, so I need to hone in on the artists and writers of Greenville.

Third, I'm going to offer it on a Friday evening or Saturday mid-morning.

We'll see what happens! That sinking feeling of failure is harder to bear when my expectations of success are high, but I'm not willing to feel defeated longer than necessary, so optimism is still the way I'm playing the business game.