Hello! My name is Gabriel, and I’m not here to give you all that “how to survive AND THRIVE as a small business owner” bullhump. I’m an actual small business owner, cooking, jarring, marketing and selling (hopefully!) homemade artisanal jams. And other bottled goods, of course. #diversity. In 2025, that’s not easy to do, especially after a very poor season of fruits and vegetables.
In April of this year, an unexpected, single night of low temperatures froze the cherry blossoms, the prunes, most of the figs and even a few strawberry plants, which are grown on the ground and supposedly never affected by a one-night stand with the below-zero temperatures. This has impacted our first test year of production for Gem Boss (Jam Boss for you English-speaking work sufferers) greatly. Yet we decided to move along and continue with the test, making preserves only with what our garden has given us.
It’s all in our brand statement and all that. I’ll send you a link.
Now, if you really want to survive as an SBO in 2025 and beyond, you need to break the norms. There’s no more “this works 100%” or “that is tested and proven”. All that you will find out there, no matter what your business does, is a jungle.
So how do you survive?
Short answer is, you don’t.
Long answer is, you do, but you have to:
In this guide:
1. Get A Second Job
Told you, I’m not here to sugarcoat it, nor to make motivational claims. I’m not Daniel Goleman. For me, getting a second job, or a gig, should I say, fits perfectly with the jam-making business. I can do a news report or two while the jams are boiling. Also, I can work on a freelance writing gig while the rest of the crew puts the goods into the jars. And then, I can take a quick call for a video editing one-timer while I write a few orders up.
PRO TIP: If your business allows it, at least until it really takes off, get a second gig, a third side hustle, a fourth bingo bango. Make some money… while you grow the thing that will make you real money.
2. Calm The Fuck Down
I had a crazy day yesterday. The phone wouldn’t stop ringing. Yet nobody I had to actually interact with ever picked up their phones. Nor answered any emails, messages, you name it. A girl from the local administration nagged me about an article I’d published, out of the blue and very rudely. Clients would not pay for my delivered goods/services. And on top of it all? My lunch was a small portion of bland, soggy fries.
If that were to happen 3 or 4 or even 5 years ago? I’d have ended up screaming, beating a defenceless desk chair, or biting my cat (she gets enough food so that she doesn’t have to bite me, so why wouldn’t I do the same to her?!) in the process. Yesterday? I kept my calm, I was as calm… as a psychopath, basically. In fact, I was so calm, I scared my own self, to be 100% honest.
I stopped and took a breath. I did nothing more than necessary after everything that was poured over my head yesterday. And today? Everybody paid for their things, people answered the damn phone, I published another article about the terrifying state of the city I’m living in, and nobody asked me to read a journalism manual, and, out of the blue, an old client came back and paid me upfront for an entire project.
PRO TIP: Calm the fuck down. It’ll work. But you literally need to calm down and act calm. It’s easy. I know, it seems hard, but it’s not. Just. Calm. Down.
3. 90 Minutes On, 30 Minutes Off
You know all of those online people who’re like “do this, do that, improve your productivity, grow your presence online”, and so on? Those things don’t work. At least not in the way they’re presented. Why? Because we’re different. I know, the shocker of your day. And since we are different, your proven and tested productivity hack will NEVER work on me.
Sure, I can still tell you what worked best for me, and still does, which is the 90 minutes locked in, no Instagram, no mindless listening to music or anything, just work, followed by 30 minutes of pause and whatever floats my personal boat.
I don’t own an actual boat, or any floating devices.
And you can try that, and maybe you’ll love it. What you need to do is find the system that works for you, not for Tim Ferris.
Screw Tim Ferris.
And his book.
Once you find your system, you get into your flow more easily. And naturally work better and with more productivity. And no, as a small business owner, you can’t work 4 hours a week. Nobody can. Not even that guy.
PRO TIP: In reality, a 9-to-5 on your terms? Best of the best. Do them as you please, take breaks, have a big lunch in the middle, but don’t believe in gurus.
4. Word Of Mouth Marketing
My jams business would be dead by now if I had only marketed my products online. Truth is, online marketing is kind of… not dead, but in a coma. Nothing works, basically. Luckily for me, I sell jams. And if one person buys my jams, they are hooked.
They just taste homemade because they are.
No funny business, no industrialised processes, no nothing. Just homegrown fruits turned into jarred goods.
90% of the people who got a jar from me bought at least another one. Actually, more than 50% of the people who bought jams have had more than 2 additional orders put in by now, one year into this adventure. And those people are responsible for most of the clients I’ve had afterwards. As a small business owner, that’s the dream.
PRO TIP: Word of mouth is powerful, especially for small to medium home businesses. Facebook ads are crap. Ask people to 1) give you feedback for your products, and 2) tell their friends about it. No marketing beats that.
5. Talk To People
Speaking of word of mouth, you need to take care of the customer service part of your small business. Be there for the people, talk to them, be polite, explain things, tell them when you’ll be delivering the products, let them know about the ingredients, the processes, everything. You’d pe surprised just how much you can achieve with a quick phone call.
PRO TIP: As a small business owner, spend a decent portion of your working hours talking to the people who pay you. Show them you care, and not just out of politeness or greed… but actually care about them. Even though you make the jams, they’re the ones who actually feed you.
6. Show, Don’t Tell
It’s a visual world out there. You’re one Story, REEL or photo away from success. Keep things simple and bet on honesty while showing your products online. And yes, storytelling, be it in a post or a newsletter, is still “showing”, even though the text should be your main weapon.
When I say “show”, I mean it.
Take them inside the cauldron where you boil the figs. Film the process of jarring the jams once they get to the optimal consistency. Video a Delivery Saturday, when you take the goods out to your precious clients.
PRO TIP: Invest time in showing your story, your mission, your processes and your results to the people. Don’t overcomplicate it. Just be honest, as it’s becoming scarce these days.
7. Quit
There’s no fine line between failure and success. That’s bullshit. If your business is successful, even if you don’t get stupid rich, it’s worth going for it. We’re at peanuts in terms of actual profit with the jams business. But the business is, without a doubt, working, and will continue to grow because despite my height, I’m playfully determined!
If, for me, as a small business owner, the gig had made 10 bucks the whole year, and the inventory would not fly off the shelves?
Quitting is no shame.
Being ashamed has no business, in business.
Wow, I should sell a course!
The Smallest Financial Guru in the World.
I’m 5’4″ but I am very determined!
So quitting is, in my opinion, the sole differentiator between real life and fantasy. If the business is working, you’re selling. If you’re not selling, it’s crap, either because of product or marketing, processes or whatever. Revisit them one by one. If, when you’re done and improved on all of these, the business is still not working? Quit.
You’re putting lipstick on a pig. Quitting is the smartest thing to do when your business is not getting anywhere.
Again, stop listening to gurus and inspirational course-sellers, like I may be someday. They’re not in debt. And you should not become a debt payer either. Plenty more business opportunities out there.
You quitting the one that doesn’t work is not failure, but a chance to actually succeed with the next one.
Okay, this is SURELY good enough for a course, people!
PRO TIP: If I had a dollar for every business idea I’ve ever quit on… I’d be stupid rich! Knowing when to quit is as valuable as knowing when to keep going. Be smart, not emotional. I know it’s hard to be logical when your heart is on the label of a jar of strawberry jam but… it’s healthier that way!
P.S.: If you’re looking for some creative written content like the one above (maybe on a more serious note), shoot me an email and we’ll do some magic together.
