Hi, you're listening to gift biz on wrapped the milestone episode.
Speaker:Number 100,
Speaker:take action.
Speaker:Be courageous.
Speaker:Go do it.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but you just can't get yourself to do it because it's
Speaker:scary. Are you afraid that you might walk into the room
Speaker:and not know anybody or that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to
Speaker:be scary.
Speaker:If you know what to do to help you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a coffee chat for the
Speaker:price of buying me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down through an online video and I'll tell
Speaker:you everything that I know about networking and how I have
Speaker:personally built two multi-six figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to Bitly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi there it's Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrap
Speaker:podcast, whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am behind the mic all by myself,
Speaker:because I wanted to share with you what I've learned over
Speaker:these last 100 episodes.
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:you guys are a hundred.
Speaker:I cannot even believe it seriously.
Speaker:It feels like just yesterday when I was figuring out how
Speaker:to do all this podcasting stuff.
Speaker:But since then,
Speaker:almost two years later,
Speaker:I have interviewed so,
Speaker:so many awesome people from people who own businesses,
Speaker:large and small,
Speaker:and every single person has come to us with this golden
Speaker:nugget of information that we can all learn from.
Speaker:And I have to say every single time I turned off
Speaker:the recording,
Speaker:I'm always so proud because all of my guests have delivered
Speaker:great content and great information for us all to learn from.
Speaker:So as I reflect on these last hundred episodes,
Speaker:which really come out for me is that there are some
Speaker:common threads that weave through almost every single person's experience.
Speaker:And that's what I'd like to share with you today.
Speaker:These three common threads and then a little of detail underneath
Speaker:each one of them.
Speaker:These three commonalities,
Speaker:if you will,
Speaker:are number one,
Speaker:what do you do when you decide you want to start
Speaker:a business for yourself,
Speaker:but you have no idea what it should be.
Speaker:How do you come across and decide on what your business
Speaker:should be all about?
Speaker:That's number one,
Speaker:number two,
Speaker:once you've had the idea,
Speaker:once you know exactly what you want to do,
Speaker:how do you get started?
Speaker:What are those first steps?
Speaker:And then also success traits.
Speaker:Boy, a lot of people who want to start a business,
Speaker:or like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I just don't know if I have what it takes.
Speaker:And I'm seeing that there are certain traits that people keep
Speaker:talking about that they call upon time.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:that are repetitive over the course of all the people that
Speaker:I've interviewed.
Speaker:So that is number three.
Speaker:And those are the three common threads that we're going to
Speaker:dive into right now,
Speaker:as we're going through each of these points,
Speaker:I'm going to be bringing up people who have been on
Speaker:the show,
Speaker:different episodes that have come up that make the point in
Speaker:the best way.
Speaker:I'm not going to be able to put all 100 guests
Speaker:on here.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:And I want you to know if you have been one
Speaker:of my guests,
Speaker:I appreciate each and every one of you,
Speaker:I'm only selecting a couple just to make sure that I'm
Speaker:driving the point home with each of these.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So first off,
Speaker:what do you do when you want to start a business,
Speaker:but you don't have any idea and you're like,
Speaker:what should it be that I start,
Speaker:I've seen three common areas of identification of what a business
Speaker:should be.
Speaker:One is,
Speaker:it seems like a lot of people go back after they've
Speaker:had their career,
Speaker:let's say,
Speaker:and they're ready to go onto their second career.
Speaker:They revert back to things that they used to love as
Speaker:a child.
Speaker:Things that just really in their soul,
Speaker:in their spirit,
Speaker:as they were developing when they were young are things that
Speaker:just brought such passion and carefree joy to them.
Speaker:Two of these guests are Donna with Royal cookies and Ronda
Speaker:with Coco cabana cookies.
Speaker:Both of them loved cooking with older relatives and just had
Speaker:that love of the kitchen and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:mixing the dough and getting everything together and then producing a
Speaker:delicious result.
Speaker:So both of these wonderful women resorted back to what they
Speaker:enjoyed so much in terms of the time in the kitchen
Speaker:of their youth and built businesses around them.
Speaker:So think for yourself,
Speaker:if you're in this situation where you're thinking,
Speaker:I want to do something,
Speaker:but I'm not sure what it is.
Speaker:Go back to your childhood,
Speaker:to the little you view.
Speaker:Well, and think through what made you happy.
Speaker:What made you carefree,
Speaker:maybe it was being out in the garden or sewing with
Speaker:your grandmother or something like that,
Speaker:and consider that as a potential opportunity for your new business.
Speaker:The second thing that I continue to see is that people
Speaker:have had something trigger a real passion in them,
Speaker:real desire and a real cause,
Speaker:which is the sole basis behind the business.
Speaker:A few examples here are Mike from Rwanda bean.
Speaker:Mike is from Rwanda and he knows very well.
Speaker:The farmers plight there with all their coffee farms.
Speaker:And so his mission is to integrate that within obviously our
Speaker:love for coffee clearly in the States,
Speaker:and I know elsewhere.
Speaker:And how can he then help farmers back in his Homeland
Speaker:in terms of producing and sharing their product?
Speaker:Tracy from icing smiles is another,
Speaker:how can you bring joy to families who have a child
Speaker:in the hospital for one reason or another,
Speaker:or the siblings of those children.
Speaker:And she's created a whole business around making cakes and integrating
Speaker:in local bakers into the cause to bring joy and peace
Speaker:and happiness to the lives of families who have a young
Speaker:one in the hospital.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:under this category,
Speaker:someone who always is near to my heart and comes to
Speaker:mind is Stacy with shopping for a change.
Speaker:She on a trip to Peru,
Speaker:saw all these beautiful products that people were making and mothers
Speaker:who were working so hard to provide for their families.
Speaker:And she wanted to help some of these third world countries.
Speaker:If you will be able to improve their quality of life,
Speaker:she came back from that vacation and just felt like she
Speaker:couldn't just sit back.
Speaker:She had to jump in and do something to help those
Speaker:people. So these are all,
Speaker:again, passions that have come up and truly starting a business
Speaker:takes a lot.
Speaker:It takes a lot of work.
Speaker:It takes a lot of courage and you've got to have
Speaker:that deep down passion,
Speaker:but that might just trigger a thought for you in terms
Speaker:of what your business should be.
Speaker:And number three,
Speaker:under this whole question,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what do I start as a business would be?
Speaker:I've had some guests who say,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I wasn't even expecting it,
Speaker:but there was this one single event that came up.
Speaker:It does one thing that happened that started the whole idea
Speaker:and the whole concept of having a business Claudia with exclamations
Speaker:gift baskets in San Diego,
Speaker:she was out shopping with her mom one afternoon.
Speaker:She walks into a shop,
Speaker:turns around and all of a sudden what catches her eye,
Speaker:these beautiful red and gold baskets from there has developed one
Speaker:of the biggest and most successful gift companies in all of
Speaker:San Diego.
Speaker:Another one that comes to mind is bill from cookies in
Speaker:a snap.
Speaker:He was just walking through the kitchen,
Speaker:watching his wife,
Speaker:do some cutouts of cookies and out sparked this brand new
Speaker:idea for a product that is now cookies in a snap.
Speaker:Amy marshmallow MBA was sitting with a friend over a glass
Speaker:of wine and they were talking and all of a sudden
Speaker:her friend is like,
Speaker:you ought to start this business with marshmallows and you got
Speaker:to go check out what that product is all about.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:another one is Kathy from Cathy Nolan art.
Speaker:She was young.
Speaker:I want to recall properly and say she was in high
Speaker:school and she's going through an amusement park.
Speaker:And she ran into some characteristics and she was so enamored.
Speaker:Everyone wanted to have her,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:Kathy, Kathy let's go.
Speaker:We wanted to go on some rides,
Speaker:but she loved so much what she was seen with the
Speaker:characteristics that she stayed there.
Speaker:And she watched almost the whole day.
Speaker:And now what does she do?
Speaker:Kathy Nolan,
Speaker:art characteristics and her stuff has been recently up in times
Speaker:square. You guys,
Speaker:she has done characters of the most recent elections.
Speaker:Both sides are not being partial here,
Speaker:who would have thought this was a high school trip to
Speaker:an amusement park.
Speaker:And that sparked an idea for her,
Speaker:for her lifetime.
Speaker:So if you're in a situation where you're pondering,
Speaker:what should I do to start a business?
Speaker:Think of these three things.
Speaker:Is there a childhood love that you just had so much
Speaker:passion for and made you feel so free?
Speaker:And so tiled,
Speaker:like if I dare say that could be one,
Speaker:is there something else there's a mission or a passion that
Speaker:sparked by something that you've seen or a cause that you
Speaker:want to support?
Speaker:Or is there just a single event,
Speaker:keep your eyes open.
Speaker:As you go through your daily life,
Speaker:there might be something that's going to happen right after you
Speaker:listened to this show.
Speaker:That'll spark an idea for you.
Speaker:So keep your eyes open and go and identify what it
Speaker:is for your business.
Speaker:If you've already got a business and all of this has
Speaker:already been figured out,
Speaker:and of course you're starting,
Speaker:this is great information for your about us page on your
Speaker:website. So think about that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:To all my newbies,
Speaker:you identify a business or you might already know what you
Speaker:want to do,
Speaker:but you're not sure how to get started.
Speaker:What is the first action you take?
Speaker:How do I build from this idea that I have?
Speaker:That seems like nothing right now,
Speaker:but just thoughts in your mind to actually establishing a business.
Speaker:Well, honestly,
Speaker:and truly it is super simple.
Speaker:You just need to get started.
Speaker:There are lots of resources that can help you with this.
Speaker:I have a course called gift biz builder that walks you
Speaker:through every step of starting your business.
Speaker:And I'll link that over in the show notes.
Speaker:That's a paid course,
Speaker:but I also have a free 12 step guide on the
Speaker:different steps that you need to take to get your business
Speaker:started in the right way.
Speaker:So you're profitable because one of the things that we want
Speaker:to make sure to talk about is it really continues and
Speaker:stays a hobby.
Speaker:If you're not making any money,
Speaker:it flips over to being a business.
Speaker:Once you go into the black,
Speaker:you actually put money into your wallet that you have made
Speaker:from your business.
Speaker:It can be just a penny,
Speaker:but once that happens,
Speaker:it's such a great rewarding feeling.
Speaker:And you are now a business.
Speaker:So getting started,
Speaker:let me talk about a couple of people here,
Speaker:Kara of Caras vineyard wedding.
Speaker:You may not think that you could turn something like this
Speaker:into a business,
Speaker:but she focuses on weddings obviously.
Speaker:And she started making wine cork wedding decor.
Speaker:Okay. Think about that one product,
Speaker:one initial audience focus people with weddings and she started a
Speaker:business just right around that.
Speaker:So don't think that you don't have enough of a product
Speaker:or the breadth of the range of your product offerings is
Speaker:too small.
Speaker:Kara is very successful and she's proving that wrong.
Speaker:Just with one wine cork.
Speaker:She started her business.
Speaker:I'll also bring up Karen of a little pink ladybug.
Speaker:Karen makes Bows,
Speaker:well, I should say she started making hair bows,
Speaker:but since then,
Speaker:one thing has led to another.
Speaker:She got her hair bows in some local shops and on
Speaker:and on,
Speaker:you can hear the whole story,
Speaker:but now she actually provides patterns.
Speaker:So other people can make hair bows just like hers.
Speaker:She is so talented.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:she makes hair bows of flowers,
Speaker:giraffes, popcorn boxes with popcorn,
Speaker:coming out,
Speaker:all these crazy fun,
Speaker:beautiful designs.
Speaker:She's an artist.
Speaker:And she puts all this together and it started from just
Speaker:one hair bow.
Speaker:The point is just get started again.
Speaker:I'll link my free 12 steps to getting started in the
Speaker:show notes.
Speaker:So no excuses.
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:if you have your idea,
Speaker:take action.
Speaker:Be courageous,
Speaker:go do it.
Speaker:You hear in every single podcast that I have done thus
Speaker:far is people just decided to Go forward and it's action.
Speaker:That is important.
Speaker:It's not just telling people you want to do something.
Speaker:It's actually getting out there and getting going.
Speaker:And that is what we're here to support your activity,
Speaker:your action and your Success.
Speaker:Speaking of success,
Speaker:Let's move on to success traits.
Speaker:I'm seeing that there are really four traits that continue over
Speaker:and over and over again throughout all of these hundred shows
Speaker:that I've done.
Speaker:Now, the first one is resourcefulness.
Speaker:You really need to rely on yourself to solve any problems.
Speaker:You are the boss.
Speaker:Now, when you own your own business,
Speaker:it is up to you.
Speaker:Lucky for us.
Speaker:We don't have to run to the library.
Speaker:We don't have to go through.
Speaker:Encyclopedia is the internet and Google are right at our fingertips
Speaker:and there's virtually all the information you need to get any
Speaker:answer right online.
Speaker:I love the story of Janet at Alden's kennels.
Speaker:She was running she and her husband,
Speaker:an older fashion kennel business,
Speaker:if you will.
Speaker:And they were seeing the business declining and she knew she
Speaker:needed to save the business,
Speaker:but she had no idea how to use computers,
Speaker:none, zero zilch.
Speaker:What did she do?
Speaker:She started Googling and figured out how to build a website,
Speaker:how to go on social media.
Speaker:She's a pro now on YouTube videos,
Speaker:not with tons of investment,
Speaker:not with lots of money for fancy cameras,
Speaker:but the courage to go ahead and learn it and do
Speaker:it. And now not only is her kennel going fabulous.
Speaker:She now hosts a four state networking event every summer where
Speaker:hundreds of people come and share their businesses with each other.
Speaker:So she has taken that business and really turned it around
Speaker:because she was resourceful.
Speaker:I'll also talk through both Jen of Abby farms and Teresa
Speaker:of bear Creek design.
Speaker:Both of these women live on farms and being able to
Speaker:stay within that farming community.
Speaker:And most importantly,
Speaker:being home with their children,
Speaker:for schooling and activities and events and all of that is
Speaker:so important.
Speaker:They've been resourceful and being able to grow their companies as
Speaker:well, right from their homes and off of things that their
Speaker:land produces.
Speaker:Again, being resourceful now for your product,
Speaker:versus as Janet had been doing,
Speaker:being resourceful for getting her name out.
Speaker:So different types of things,
Speaker:but resourcefulness,
Speaker:this isn't something you have to learn.
Speaker:It's just something you have to do because when you go
Speaker:online and you Google,
Speaker:one thing leads to another leads to another,
Speaker:and eventually you find your answer.
Speaker:The second thing is determination.
Speaker:Really important.
Speaker:You have to be.
Speaker:So, and this speaks to a little bit to the passion
Speaker:we were talking about earlier.
Speaker:It has to be such a part of you in such
Speaker:a drive within you,
Speaker:that you are determined to be courageous,
Speaker:okay? Because some of these things we do let's face.
Speaker:It are a little scary,
Speaker:but you're determined to be successful.
Speaker:And you are going to find the answers to any challenges
Speaker:that you encounter.
Speaker:Tom was kind of funny.
Speaker:He's with squirrel away bird cafe,
Speaker:he was determined to make a bird feeder that the squirrels
Speaker:weren't going to be able to get into because when he
Speaker:retired, his designated job was to keep the birds fed and
Speaker:the squirrels kept stealing all the food.
Speaker:And so what happened?
Speaker:He made this new bird feeder,
Speaker:and now in retirement,
Speaker:he has this whole business popping up.
Speaker:And then we have Shelly of Luxe bloom.
Speaker:Shelly's product are roses that last 60 days without water because
Speaker:of this beautiful and interesting product,
Speaker:she's putting installations in some of the country's most prestigious locations.
Speaker:And you've got to believe that she's had to have a
Speaker:lot of determination that she was going to be able to
Speaker:pull this off.
Speaker:Then we've got Ray of Dr.
Speaker:Ray's tophi who started off with small batches,
Speaker:but his product is just so good and so popular.
Speaker:He had to find a way to mass produce.
Speaker:He searched high and low for options could not find a
Speaker:solution here in the States.
Speaker:So had to cast a wider net.
Speaker:And finally,
Speaker:after taking some risks,
Speaker:testing, a number of different types of products landed on his
Speaker:solution. And he was able to do that because he was
Speaker:determined not to give up.
Speaker:And then I also want to bring up Amy of cuffs.
Speaker:She has a woman's accessory product,
Speaker:and she wanted to make sure that this product was just
Speaker:right and that people were really going to be able to
Speaker:use it.
Speaker:So she tested over and over and over again and continually
Speaker:revised her product.
Speaker:She also had to learn all about the apparel industry because
Speaker:it, as every industry is,
Speaker:is a whole world unto itself,
Speaker:but she was determined not only to land the product,
Speaker:but also to become a leader with her product in an
Speaker:industry that very beginning,
Speaker:she didn't even know of.
Speaker:She also,
Speaker:I have to say,
Speaker:didn't even know how to.
Speaker:So at the time she came up with this idea,
Speaker:but what did she do?
Speaker:She borrowed her mother's sewing machine.
Speaker:And she taught herself to sell success.
Speaker:Trait, number three,
Speaker:loving people being at ease with people,
Speaker:the whole small business world succeeds because we lean on the
Speaker:shoulders of others.
Speaker:You are listening to me right now.
Speaker:I am getting new information all the time from my guests.
Speaker:I get new information and support from my chamber or other
Speaker:networking events that I'm in.
Speaker:I get support from my customers because they are buying our
Speaker:products that keep the business running.
Speaker:So we all could not do this without each other.
Speaker:And having a love for people really important,
Speaker:Eileen of Y Q I like U I Y Q U,
Speaker:like that tea room does so much to gather people together.
Speaker:And she creates programs right in her shop.
Speaker:She figures out when the services are being completed on Sundays
Speaker:and make sure she's all ready for a crowd after services.
Speaker:She does lots of events in her shop at night,
Speaker:getting people together and getting a community together has led to
Speaker:her success because she loves being surrounded by people and treating
Speaker:people to her tea and all of her goodies over there,
Speaker:Lana, another woman who loves people and she makes cheer bears
Speaker:for cheerleading.
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:she makes a year's salary within three months,
Speaker:every single year.
Speaker:She goes to these competitions.
Speaker:She has these cheer bears and she custom prints ribbon.
Speaker:The key to her success has been how she works with
Speaker:customers, how she promotes her product.
Speaker:But it's all with this love of being around people.
Speaker:It's a great demonstration of how to work things at a
Speaker:craft show.
Speaker:Moving on to number four,
Speaker:this is a little bit of a duplicate of what I've
Speaker:talked about earlier,
Speaker:but you have to have a passion for your product and
Speaker:service, and it has to be doing something.
Speaker:It has to be providing something that you are so passionate
Speaker:about that you want to share with the world.
Speaker:Marlena from love that spice and Alex from life garden farm,
Speaker:I'm going to put them in the same category as spices,
Speaker:even though Alex is hot peppers,
Speaker:but he ground his into a powder that you include with
Speaker:food, but both of them recognize the value of their product
Speaker:and how it just doesn't make things taste better.
Speaker:Or your tea be a little more flavorful.
Speaker:Both of them provide real serious health benefits by consuming something
Speaker:that's natural and consuming it in a fresh state,
Speaker:not something that's been sitting on a shelf in a grocery
Speaker:store for months,
Speaker:and then it doesn't have the potency or the healing powers
Speaker:that they do when you buy them fresh.
Speaker:Both of these folks,
Speaker:I got to tell you,
Speaker:when you listened to their podcast,
Speaker:you just can't help,
Speaker:but smile because they talk with such passion and such love
Speaker:for the products that they produce really,
Speaker:really important.
Speaker:Again, to the success of your business,
Speaker:to summarize these four success traits,
Speaker:they are resourcefulness determination,
Speaker:having a love of people and an ease in communicating with
Speaker:people and a serious deep down passion for your product and
Speaker:the results that it provides for your customers.
Speaker:Having now gone through these hundred shows,
Speaker:I've come to a couple of conclusions.
Speaker:The first one is that nobody knows for sure where they're
Speaker:going until they get started.
Speaker:And until they start walking down their path,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you start with one thing and I've talked about this before
Speaker:and something comes in your path and you make a decision.
Speaker:So you turn another way and then you encounter something else.
Speaker:You make another decision.
Speaker:You turn another way.
Speaker:Another opportunity comes to you and you decide to go ahead
Speaker:and take it.
Speaker:So you turn another way.
Speaker:Nobody really knows the end game as they're getting started.
Speaker:So be open to those types of opportunities and it can
Speaker:lead to huge growth to people that I love to show
Speaker:as examples for this one is Yohana.
Speaker:She is a graphic designer from the UK,
Speaker:but that's not all she is anymore.
Speaker:She has an extremely successful graphic design business,
Speaker:but now she also teaches other people who are graphic artists,
Speaker:how to build a business for themselves.
Speaker:She never would have expected it.
Speaker:She does a lot of social media training,
Speaker:business training.
Speaker:I don't think she ever thought when she got started,
Speaker:that that was what she was going to ultimately be doing
Speaker:in addition to her artistry.
Speaker:So that's a great example of how one thing leads to
Speaker:another. The second one is my wonderful photographer.
Speaker:Cyrissa from immerse photography.
Speaker:She, as I'm saying is a photographer,
Speaker:but she's also now training other photographers on how to build
Speaker:a business and be successful in the world of photography.
Speaker:Super exciting how both of these women's businesses have grown and
Speaker:morphed from their original passion and their original craft.
Speaker:The other thing is,
Speaker:I don't think you can really always anticipate what the result
Speaker:is going to be.
Speaker:And many times it's not expected.
Speaker:And it's a huge surprise.
Speaker:Take Jenny of Missouri star quilt company.
Speaker:She started with long hand quilting because they were going to
Speaker:finish quilts for other people.
Speaker:She bought one simple machine and got started.
Speaker:One thing led to another to another,
Speaker:just like I was talking about taking step by step by
Speaker:step. She now employs like half the town in Missouri.
Speaker:It's a small town in Missouri,
Speaker:but she's got multiple buildings I've been out there actually to
Speaker:visit. And who knew that she was going to be this
Speaker:employment source for so many people in her hometown.
Speaker:She never could have expected or anticipated that.
Speaker:Another one is Lisa from kitchen EAs.
Speaker:Lisa started and was educated as a chemist.
Speaker:One thing led to another.
Speaker:She started cookbooks kind of merging some of her mixes in
Speaker:together in terms of,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:mix this with this,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all the different spices and elements and people wanted more and
Speaker:they wanted it easier.
Speaker:And that led to her making pre-packaged mixes,
Speaker:which surprise,
Speaker:surprise, led her to deciding she was going to do a
Speaker:whole distributor ship.
Speaker:So she has,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:at this point,
Speaker:maybe 300 people under her who are all promoting her brand,
Speaker:having parties selling her product.
Speaker:And so she's built up this kind of like a multi-level
Speaker:marketing business who would have expected that when she was writing
Speaker:her first cookbook,
Speaker:way, way back when,
Speaker:during a big snow storm at her house one Saturday afternoon.
Speaker:So you just don't know where your business and where your
Speaker:ideas are going to bring you.
Speaker:The point is don't keep them inside.
Speaker:If you are on the other end and listening to my
Speaker:voice now,
Speaker:and you have something deep inside you that you've been thinking
Speaker:about for a while.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we focus with bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers,
Speaker:but maybe for you,
Speaker:it's a book or maybe you are a musician and you
Speaker:want to start teaching music.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it can be way over and above things that you're making
Speaker:with your hands.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:even music has made with your hands,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:So that will apply.
Speaker:But my point is share that with the world we are
Speaker:missing out.
Speaker:We, me,
Speaker:your friends,
Speaker:your family,
Speaker:your neighbors,
Speaker:other people who will find you are missing out on that
Speaker:special thing that you're able to present and give to the
Speaker:world. Don't keep it inside.
Speaker:We want to know we want to be able to use
Speaker:it and see it and help you along with your journey
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:So my recommendations are get started,
Speaker:take action.
Speaker:We've already talked earlier about ways you can do that step
Speaker:by step.
Speaker:And the other thing that's really,
Speaker:really super important.
Speaker:And no matter what you're doing,
Speaker:I want you to stop right now and listen.
Speaker:Many people.
Speaker:When you see them online,
Speaker:you're looking at their websites.
Speaker:You're listening to them.
Speaker:Talk me included right now.
Speaker:We always show you what we want you to see.
Speaker:We show you the end result.
Speaker:We show you where we are as a success at this
Speaker:point in time.
Speaker:And it's so easy to get the impression that,
Speaker:Oh, that person never struggled.
Speaker:They never had trouble with their business.
Speaker:They never pivoted to do something else because look,
Speaker:it looks like it's been a smooth road this whole time.
Speaker:Every single person has had struggles,
Speaker:challenges, obstacles,
Speaker:nave used their success traits like resourcefulness determination.
Speaker:What we've talked about before to overcome these issues.
Speaker:Okay? If you don't put yourself out there and you don't
Speaker:try, you're not going to know if your idea is a
Speaker:success and is going to take off,
Speaker:or it needs some tweaking.
Speaker:Now note that I said needs some tweaking.
Speaker:I did not say failure,
Speaker:right? Even if you,
Speaker:you start something and you put it out there and it's
Speaker:not quite working,
Speaker:that doesn't mean it's a failure.
Speaker:And that does not mean that you are a failure.
Speaker:That is for sure.
Speaker:It just might mean that approach.
Speaker:Wasn't working.
Speaker:You need to try something else.
Speaker:You need to change your product.
Speaker:Perfect. How you're getting the word out there.
Speaker:A lots of different types of things.
Speaker:I have three examples for you,
Speaker:of people who they could have said they were a failure,
Speaker:but no,
Speaker:they turned the business around and have successful thriving businesses.
Speaker:Right now,
Speaker:Julie, with silk thumb was a retail shop right here in
Speaker:my community.
Speaker:The recession came through.
Speaker:People had to pull back and unfortunately,
Speaker:silk floral,
Speaker:especially hers.
Speaker:Cause her designs are masterpieces.
Speaker:People had to pull back.
Speaker:I remember talking with her,
Speaker:she was closing her shop devastated,
Speaker:but then the idea came up.
Speaker:I don't have to close.
Speaker:I limit my expenses,
Speaker:not have a retail shop.
Speaker:Now she has a thriving design studio,
Speaker:not open to the public so she doesn't have to staff
Speaker:it. But she is putting unbelievably gorgeous,
Speaker:expensive, lucrative designs in many office buildings throughout the Chicago area.
Speaker:So her tweak and her business has been hugely successful for
Speaker:her Regina of RD alchemy.
Speaker:I won't say that she had any type of a challenge,
Speaker:but they do cosmetics and oils and all different types of
Speaker:appointments for our health.
Speaker:But they're also very,
Speaker:very passionate about research.
Speaker:So she also has been shutting down her retail shop just
Speaker:recently this past December because they want to focus more on
Speaker:research. So it's a little bit of a pivot.
Speaker:It's a little bit of a tweak of their business plan.
Speaker:Doesn't mean anything else that they've done up to this point?
Speaker:Hasn't been perfect,
Speaker:but they're adjusting their plans to meet new goals,
Speaker:new opportunities that they're identifying as they move forward.
Speaker:The final person I want to mention in this category and
Speaker:also probably in this podcast,
Speaker:unless I think it was something else is Tim from Burton's
Speaker:Maplewood farm.
Speaker:They do all different types of syrup's from their maple trees
Speaker:on the farm.
Speaker:And something that you might think was an accident.
Speaker:One day he was just going around.
Speaker:He found this barrel.
Speaker:He was trying to move and it was really,
Speaker:really heavy.
Speaker:He's like,
Speaker:wait, why is this barrel so heavy?
Speaker:Well, apparently not only had they been using whiskey barrels to
Speaker:store some of their syrup that whiskey barrel had been by
Speaker:the fire for,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:six months,
Speaker:maybe a year.
Speaker:I've kind of forgotten now,
Speaker:but he tasted it.
Speaker:And Oh my gosh,
Speaker:much to his joy,
Speaker:the syrup was fabulous.
Speaker:So now from that,
Speaker:from a barrel that was kind of forgotten for a while.
Speaker:He has created a whole new product.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:he's termed this fire infused bourbon syrup and O M G
Speaker:it is de licious.
Speaker:I tried it once,
Speaker:not even knowing about Tim in new Orleans at one point
Speaker:and loved that syrup and just happened to run into him
Speaker:at a trade show.
Speaker:So I got to find the source of that delicious syrup.
Speaker:So again,
Speaker:something unanticipated and something that you just take as a learning
Speaker:and then you build on it and adjust and tweak your
Speaker:business as you move forward.
Speaker:The other thing I just want to mention here,
Speaker:I would be remiss not to is environment,
Speaker:change businesses,
Speaker:change your consumer base might change for one reason or another.
Speaker:So you always need to be analyzing and tweaking your product,
Speaker:making sure you're up to speed with everything new in your,
Speaker:so you stay the expert in your field and you continue
Speaker:to grow and you continue to develop.
Speaker:And I gotta be honest with you.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we are creators.
Speaker:So changing and adjusting is more natural for us than someone.
Speaker:Who's not a creator who has a business.
Speaker:So that should be easy,
Speaker:but I want to keep it top of mind for everybody
Speaker:that you do want to continue to grow and build.
Speaker:Maybe it's rotating out stock that you have in your shop,
Speaker:whatever it might be,
Speaker:because you want to keep what you have fresh.
Speaker:You want to keep your existing audience coming back to you
Speaker:for more and more,
Speaker:whether it's on the website,
Speaker:ordering online or walking into your shop.
Speaker:So continued training totally important there,
Speaker:you have it.
Speaker:These have been my learnings and it's been so consistent.
Speaker:It was really pretty exciting as I looked back on it,
Speaker:I was starting to sense this about halfway through like a
Speaker:lot of these answers have the same kind of thread going
Speaker:through different ways.
Speaker:They're accomplishing things,
Speaker:but similar things.
Speaker:So I really,
Speaker:really am pleased to be able to share it with you
Speaker:here on this hundredth episode,
Speaker:we've gone through how do identify what your business is,
Speaker:what you should do to get started and success traits,
Speaker:things that people have reached back into and used to make
Speaker:sure that they achieve success.
Speaker:I've gone through two of my conclusions for you.
Speaker:And then my overall recommendation again,
Speaker:is to just get started.
Speaker:If you have that inside you,
Speaker:we want to see it.
Speaker:And it's your responsibility to share it with the world.
Speaker:We hope you do.
Speaker:I have some great podcasts already recorded actually at the time
Speaker:that I'm doing this one that are coming up past episode
Speaker:100. So I do hope you continue to join me here.
Speaker:Also know that if you have any questions or any comments,
Speaker:we have a Facebook group called gift biz breeze.
Speaker:It's open for everybody.
Speaker:I would love for you to join us over there in
Speaker:the conversation.
Speaker:Any questions you have as you're growing your business,
Speaker:you can put them there and you'll get my feedback as
Speaker:well as others.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:everybody take care.
Speaker:Have a great day.
Speaker:Thank you so much for listening to this.
Speaker:My hundredth episode,
Speaker:I don't know yet what I'm going to do to celebrate,
Speaker:but it's gotta be something.
Speaker:This has been a lot of hard work,
Speaker:these podcasts,
Speaker:but it is my joy and pleasure to share them with
Speaker:you. Take care,
Speaker:everybody. And I will catch you on episode one.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business,
Speaker:and you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone by texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four two,
Speaker:two, two.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be to join us for the next
Speaker:episode. Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source,
Speaker:but yoga business customization is more popular now than ever brand
Speaker:your products of your logo or prints a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica Griffin,
Speaker:to add to a gift,
Speaker:right? A checkout it's almost done right in your shop for
Speaker:cross studio in second,
Speaker:check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:Thank you to those who have already left a rating and
Speaker:review by subscribing rating.
Speaker:Reviewing helped to increase the visibility of gift biz on raft.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,