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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk
Speaker:Day. These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions
Speaker:and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small
Speaker:business. If you'd like to submit a topic DME over on
Speaker:Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped,
Speaker:gosh, this year I've rolled out a number of new opportunities
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:Here there are the bashes where you have a chance to
Speaker:showcase your business to this entire listening audience.
Speaker:There's the new Owl app.
Speaker:When you have a quick question where you'd like my input
Speaker:and now I'm excited to bring you Gift Biz boosts,
Speaker:think of these as free strategy sessions,
Speaker:leaving you with a clear action plan to boost you forward.
Speaker:Whether you're at the beginning of your business journey and need
Speaker:concrete steps on how to start,
Speaker:or you've been doing this for a while and could use
Speaker:a fresh approach,
Speaker:these boosts are for you.
Speaker:You'll know a podcast is a boost.
Speaker:If you see that word in the title.
Speaker:Want to get your own free boost?
Speaker:I'm taking these on a first come first serve basis.
Speaker:Head over to gift biz unwrapped.com/boost
Speaker:and sign up for your session today.
Speaker:Ever since I can remember,
Speaker:I always like to dream up and create little side ventures.
Speaker:When I was really little,
Speaker:I was the doctor in my pretend veterinary clinic.
Speaker:My patients were my stuffed animals who had terrible ailments,
Speaker:broken legs,
Speaker:bite wounds,
Speaker:and sicknesses of all sorts.
Speaker:Every morning and throughout the day,
Speaker:I'd check in on them and check their progress charts.
Speaker:I'd give them their medicine,
Speaker:which was little rolled up papers stored in real leftover medicine
Speaker:bottles, and I wanted to always ensure that they were on
Speaker:the road to recovery.
Speaker:This was my little baby business for I'd say well over
Speaker:a year.
Speaker:My first money making venture was the traditional lemonade stand and
Speaker:later selling Girl Scout cookies.
Speaker:I even tried my hand at creating and selling a woman's
Speaker:fashion accessory very early on,
Speaker:but even through all that,
Speaker:I really never thought I'd seriously start a business of my
Speaker:own. After college,
Speaker:I had my share of a few short term unsatisfying jobs
Speaker:where I put in my time,
Speaker:learned what I could and moved on.
Speaker:My significant corporate career actually came about pretty quickly.
Speaker:About two years after I graduated there,
Speaker:I learned sales,
Speaker:marketing, and management skills.
Speaker:I consider myself wildly fortunate to have been intimately involved with
Speaker:many small boutique shops and quite a few,
Speaker:few big brands too,
Speaker:like Osco Drug,
Speaker:McDonald's, and a company which was called Main Street that's now
Speaker:Kohl's. I had an up close and personal look at things
Speaker:I never realized would serve me so well when I did
Speaker:start my own businesses,
Speaker:and they often now pop up in my coaching discussions today
Speaker:too, traveling,
Speaker:working with fabulous people,
Speaker:finding out that strategic business planning was a passion and building
Speaker:a dynamic sales team,
Speaker:if I must say so myself,
Speaker:all got checked off my list.
Speaker:As I climbed the corporate ladder,
Speaker:I found myself in the running to head up one of
Speaker:our 20 nationwide production facilities.
Speaker:It was then that I realized that if I continued on
Speaker:this path,
Speaker:a path that I loved,
Speaker:it would also keep me away from my young children,
Speaker:and this was time I could never get back.
Speaker:There's no pause button on children and they are my priority,
Speaker:so no matter how sad I was to walk away from
Speaker:a very fulfilling career,
Speaker:that's exactly what I did.
Speaker:I spent five wonderful years at home as a full-time quote
Speaker:unquote traditional mom.
Speaker:I headed up Creation Station,
Speaker:a publishing department for students writing in the grade school.
Speaker:I took positions on the pta.
Speaker:I coached my children's a Yso soccer teams and was fully
Speaker:integrated into their childhood.
Speaker:These were the most amazing years,
Speaker:but even so,
Speaker:my love of business kept buzzing around in my head.
Speaker:For a moment,
Speaker:I thought of going back to my past company because they
Speaker:kept calling me and checking in to see when I'd be
Speaker:ready to return.
Speaker:That however would put me back in the same place of
Speaker:being away all the time,
Speaker:so not an option cuz I was talking all this through
Speaker:with my husband.
Speaker:One night he said something to me that changed everything.
Speaker:He said,
Speaker:Sue, why don't you start a business of your own?
Speaker:You've been telling everybody else how to be successful and grow
Speaker:their business for years.
Speaker:Why not do it yourself?
Speaker:Omg, instant light bulbs.
Speaker:Yes, that fit into my mind perfectly.
Speaker:To this day I still can't even believe.
Speaker:I never considered it myself.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:really, why did it take someone else to suggest it in
Speaker:a way?
Speaker:Give me permission to even consider it.
Speaker:Now, this was almost 20 years ago and back then times
Speaker:were different than they are today.
Speaker:Today starting your own business,
Speaker:the whole entrepreneurial thing is much more widely accepted than it
Speaker:was back then.
Speaker:Once this idea of my own business was in my head,
Speaker:it wouldn't go away except now what type of business should
Speaker:I start?
Speaker:Once again,
Speaker:Michael to the rescue with some great advice.
Speaker:He told me to consider the qualities my business needed to
Speaker:have and then list 10 types of business that would fit
Speaker:the bill.
Speaker:The most important thing for me was that I could still
Speaker:be available when my children were home and to participate in
Speaker:their activities.
Speaker:Definitely no travel,
Speaker:something that was fun and had the potential to make decent
Speaker:money. Of course,
Speaker:I don't remember all the types of businesses on the list,
Speaker:but the final two were a gift basket business and investing
Speaker:in a wine shop franchise that I envisioned would be on
Speaker:Central Avenue in our downtown community.
Speaker:At the end,
Speaker:I chose the gift basket business because that I could do
Speaker:out of the house with that basket.
Speaker:Time was born when this decision was made.
Speaker:I'd never built a gift basket in my life,
Speaker:but I knew my strategic business angle.
Speaker:I wanted to target small businesses and use these gifts as
Speaker:a way to recognize and show appreciation leading to higher retention
Speaker:of employees and customers that is trackable in the numbers.
Speaker:Nobody else in the industry had this approach and I was
Speaker:able to use all my corporate training to become more than
Speaker:a vendor to my clients.
Speaker:That was the vision and how I would set myself apart.
Speaker:I had a lot to learn about the gift basket business.
Speaker:It was such fun researching,
Speaker:developing professional building techniques and sourcing product that probably was my
Speaker:favorite. Lots of tasting and sampling.
Speaker:Once I was ready to flip on the switch to be
Speaker:open for business,
Speaker:I immediately went into my community to get my new business
Speaker:known. I joined the Chamber of Commerce,
Speaker:several actually and BNI Group.
Speaker:My very first sales were from these organizations and also my
Speaker:first large corporate contract,
Speaker:which came through connections from networking.
Speaker:This corporate account eventually kicked me out of the house.
Speaker:It became too big to manage from home,
Speaker:so I moved into a production facility and brought on employees
Speaker:and it was up from there.
Speaker:Basket time was a fabulous business that was growing and making
Speaker:great money as I phased it out.
Speaker:That sounds crazy,
Speaker:doesn't it?
Speaker:But I found something else that sounded like even more fun
Speaker:and even more challenging,
Speaker:and boy was it ever.
Speaker:I'm referring to the Ribbon Print company,
Speaker:which is one of my businesses up and running today.
Speaker:In addition to Gift Biz Unwrapped,
Speaker:I wanted to share my experience with you today to point
Speaker:out five significant things.
Speaker:One, you don't need to wait for anyone's permission to start
Speaker:your business,
Speaker:and if you are,
Speaker:I give you that permission right now.
Speaker:Two, before you start,
Speaker:think of what you want in a business and consider multiple
Speaker:options before making a final decision.
Speaker:As a handmade product maker,
Speaker:this would be selecting only one type of product so you
Speaker:become known as a specialist in that craft.
Speaker:Three, the easiest way to get your first sales are at
Speaker:in-person events.
Speaker:Craft shows,
Speaker:festivals and farmer's markets are perfect for this and also help
Speaker:you validate that what you're offering has a market and people
Speaker:who will buy it.
Speaker:Four, think about your past experiences and how they might add
Speaker:value to what you're doing today.
Speaker:If you make lotions,
Speaker:do you have additional knowledge from the time you were a
Speaker:nurse? If you make jewelry,
Speaker:can you apply experiences from your time in the theater?
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:it was merging my strategic business knowledge to help other businesses
Speaker:grow through gift baskets.
Speaker:Who would've thought and five,
Speaker:your business may morph into something else over time,
Speaker:allow room your brain for that expansion,
Speaker:even if it's a complete change like mine was.
Speaker:Perhaps this review of my past has you thinking about what
Speaker:you do in a whole new way.
Speaker:Maybe there's another angle you can add.
Speaker:Having listened to me,
Speaker:each of us is an original and applying that to your
Speaker:business makes your company truly one of a kind.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl,
Speaker:and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn.
Speaker:Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
Speaker:We want them and they bring us both.
