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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped,
Speaker:before we get into the show today,
Speaker:I want to make sure that you know about the newest
Speaker:thing happening over here.
Speaker:It's called the gift biz bash a zoom party that turns
Speaker:into a podcast episode.
Speaker:Several weeks later,
Speaker:the party consists of a short training with Q and a
Speaker:from yours truly.
Speaker:And then an opportunity for you to give a shout out
Speaker:about your business.
Speaker:You can tell us about a promotion you currently have going
Speaker:on or share a collaboration that you're considering so that you
Speaker:can find a perfect partner for the event.
Speaker:A little bit of learning and visibility for your business.
Speaker:What could be better?
Speaker:There is a catch though spots are limited to keep the
Speaker:party to about 45 minutes or so.
Speaker:That means you should grab your spot right away.
Speaker:It's totally free to make sure you're included.
Speaker:Why not do that right now?
Speaker:Pause this episode,
Speaker:go to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash to sign up and then come back
Speaker:and listen to the show.
Speaker:I'll see you at the bash.
Speaker:We're conditioned this way.
Speaker:Of course you hear there's been an accident and your mind
Speaker:automatically goes to the worst.
Speaker:After all an accident is defined as an unfortunate incident that
Speaker:happens unexpectedly and unintentionally typically resulting in damage or injury.
Speaker:Yikes. We've all experienced this personally and hear about accidents on
Speaker:the news all the time.
Speaker:I, by no means intend to discount the devastating effect an
Speaker:accident can have on your life today,
Speaker:though, I'd like to talk about accidents as they apply to
Speaker:your business.
Speaker:It's going to be a radical thought,
Speaker:but I want you to open your thinking to consider how
Speaker:some accidents can make way to new opportunities.
Speaker:Okay? Okay.
Speaker:I know I have a little bit of explaining here to
Speaker:do. It's so easy to get set in our ways and
Speaker:see things only from the perspective that we've always had or
Speaker:the trained expectation about what an outcome should be like when
Speaker:the clay goes in the kiln and it should come out,
Speaker:just so albeit every piece is unique,
Speaker:but you've done this so many times that in your mind's
Speaker:eye, you already know what you're going to see until it
Speaker:doesn't happen that way as a best practice when you're in
Speaker:production, there's a process,
Speaker:certain formulas,
Speaker:paint, mixtures,
Speaker:temperature settings,
Speaker:and drying times as an artist,
Speaker:do you have set procedures for the creation of your product
Speaker:procedures that you've perfected over time?
Speaker:The ones that produce the extraordinary final product that you sell,
Speaker:when things don't go as planned,
Speaker:they become an accident.
Speaker:Here's the twist.
Speaker:It's possible that this accident you've encountered could present a new
Speaker:way of thinking that was invisible to you up until now.
Speaker:It doesn't mean your past processes.
Speaker:Aren't still to be followed,
Speaker:but when encountering an accident in your business,
Speaker:what new idea does this prompt?
Speaker:It's a mindset switch for sure,
Speaker:but could be a playground for new opportunities.
Speaker:One of my favorite examples of this is from Tim of
Speaker:Burton, Maplewood farm.
Speaker:You can hear the whole story back in episode 91,
Speaker:a summary of it goes like this.
Speaker:Tim is a producer of maple syrup.
Speaker:And as part of the process,
Speaker:the syrup is aged for six months in wooden barrels.
Speaker:It comes to be that the barrels that we make here
Speaker:in the states for bourbon,
Speaker:Brandy, and the like are of superior quality and get repurposed
Speaker:after liquor production.
Speaker:Those are the barrels that Tim uses for aging,
Speaker:his maple syrup.
Speaker:Well, one day he was reorganizing the maple house.
Speaker:When he came across a barrel that he thought was empty.
Speaker:As he tried to move it,
Speaker:he found that it held 30 gallons of maple syrup.
Speaker:This is a barrel that once had been used for apple
Speaker:Jack Brandy.
Speaker:The barrel had been in its spot now for roughly a
Speaker:year, right near a huge rums for fireplace.
Speaker:Tim tasted the syrup,
Speaker:not knowing what to expect much to his surprise.
Speaker:It was delicious.
Speaker:You see the heat from the fireplace had released the alcohol
Speaker:that remained in the walls of the barrel and that Brandy
Speaker:merged with the syrup in the most wonderful way.
Speaker:This led to a whole new production technique that Tim has
Speaker:since coined fire infusion.
Speaker:And it resulted in a new,
Speaker:very special product line.
Speaker:You can hear all the technical specifics about the barrel and
Speaker:its transformation effect on syrup and about the 14 and a
Speaker:half minute mark of the podcast that I just referenced if
Speaker:you're interested.
Speaker:But the point is this accident resulted in something big.
Speaker:It's an accident turned into an opportunity.
Speaker:Now I understand that not everyone has a giant floor to
Speaker:ceiling fireplace or some similar production setup that can yield these
Speaker:accidental results.
Speaker:Sometimes a product idea can come from an accidental observation.
Speaker:That's how brownie brittle came to be.
Speaker:Sheila started a brownie business in the traditional sense of the
Speaker:product, delicious square,
Speaker:moist chocolatey desserts in all sorts of varieties.
Speaker:One day she went out onto the production floor,
Speaker:as things were being cleaned up and closed down for the
Speaker:day. What she saw changed the course of her business,
Speaker:all the crunchy outside pieces that were left over from production
Speaker:were being eaten by the employees.
Speaker:Sheila came to discover,
Speaker:this is one of the most tasty parts of the brownie
Speaker:and could be turned into a product unto itself.
Speaker:You got it.
Speaker:Brownie, brittle,
Speaker:more detail behind this story can be heard in episode 1
Speaker:0 1 accidental opportunities.
Speaker:Don't have to even be on that grand a scale like
Speaker:Sheena from Lula's bath and bombs.
Speaker:She has a special place for any broken bombs or less
Speaker:than best products.
Speaker:Instead of disposing of them,
Speaker:they're offered in a special Bennett shows or marked down so
Speaker:that they can still bring in revenue and are like a
Speaker:product unto themselves.
Speaker:We've taken this approach over at the ribbon print company,
Speaker:too. For those of you who may be less familiar with
Speaker:this, I have my own brand of ribbon called a pretty
Speaker:print that is formulated specifically to be used with our ribbon
Speaker:printers. It's manufactured overseas.
Speaker:And I don't have to tell you how long an order
Speaker:takes to receive.
Speaker:Plus with minimums,
Speaker:each order includes thousands of roles.
Speaker:Sometimes we find roles that are cut short of our 55
Speaker:yard spec.
Speaker:As long as the ribbon quality is to our standards,
Speaker:we sell these off-spec rolls to our customers.
Speaker:A win-win,
Speaker:our customer gets a discount.
Speaker:We recouped some of our costs and free up space in
Speaker:our warehouse.
Speaker:And there was a time when we received replacement product.
Speaker:That was a color we don't even stock nor ever would.
Speaker:We, I wish I had pictures of our faces when we
Speaker:opened these boxes,
Speaker:that ribbon turned into a promotion that we called never again,
Speaker:neon pink.
Speaker:And it's sold out in just a few days as you
Speaker:go throughout your business day,
Speaker:when an accident happens.
Speaker:I want you to remember this podcast episode,
Speaker:instead of immediately jumping into frustration mode,
Speaker:take a minute to contemplate.
Speaker:If there's a hidden opportunity in the accident,
Speaker:can it lead to a new version of your existing product,
Speaker:a new product design?
Speaker:Does it offer the possibility of rewarding,
Speaker:your most loyal customers with something special and in limited quantity,
Speaker:who knows what it could be?
Speaker:You might just find that the day of an accident can
Speaker:turn into the most amazing of days.
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 go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours,
Speaker:share your handmade products with us.
Speaker:We want them,
