A small business is complicated. It often involves just one or two people mixing together an alchemy of customers, processes, product, branding, funding, manufacturing and more to create this perfect little potion that resonates.

That can be really, really challenging. My client Ashley at Trade Street Jam Co. recently talked ​on her Instagram​ and on CBS Mornings about the realities of small business, and reading the comments shows just how much founders struggle with this.

Having a well-designed logo and intuitive, delightful website can feel like the Top Priority for a new brand. And, it should be a priority — I've tracked firsthand how good design improves conversion rate time and again — but it won't matter if there aren't enough customers for that impact to be felt. It's not always a "if you build it, they will come" situation (sorry, Field of Dreams fans).

Can you find enough customers who will pay you for what you made, and also tell their friends? This is where our successful founders spend all of their time — obsessively trying to answer this question for themselves and their brand.

Random Roundup

• My long-time client Core Fabrics ​launched a new website​ last week! We designed lots of thoughtful ways to shop through this enormous fabric warehouse — customers can shop specifically fabrics that work for certain garment types, get detailed information about the sustainability of the fabric, and explore corresponding sewing patterns that work well with the fabric of choice.
• I'm hosting a happy hour for my tennis team this week and would have loved to splurge on ​these​.
• I've been drinking less alcohol these days, and have really enjoyed trying new sparkling water. I had an amazing ​CBD-infused strawberry seltzer water​ at lunch last week and I'm still thinking about how delicious it was. Have you tried any you like?