Shownotes
Motivational Quote
Business Inspiration
The idea came from a place of need – who knew what would happen next! [4:08] A pivot in the business happened when Karyn identified a new need [4:60]A Candle Flickering Moment
Oh no! They needed a warehouse quick! [19:28] Considering this potential partner and their actions were a mistake [21:30]Business Building Insight
Thoughts behind naming the company [11:19] Getting bows into the intial 11 stores [7:19] The first templates – evolution of a product [11:46] Moving to overseas production [14:22] How she saved her customers during a delivery crisis [16:03]Success Trait
Being a perfectionist helped Karyn create a quality product with detailed and desired finishing touches.Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Listing the overall priorities of their life … not the priority of tasks each day, keeps Karyn and Robert grounded on what is truly meaningful and important in their life.Valuable Book
7 Secrets of Success: Live Up to Your Greatness by Marko Lamza
Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness by Jeffrey Gitomer
Contact Links
Website FacebookIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 44.
Speaker:Just keep moving forward.
Speaker:As long as you're putting one foot in front of the
Speaker:other, you're going to get somewhere.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to gifted biz unwrapped in now it's time
Speaker:to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
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 Monheit.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast,
Speaker:whether you own a brick and mortar store 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 so excited to introduce to you,
Speaker:Karen rans out.
Speaker:Karen is the owner of little pink lady bug.
Speaker:The company sells templates that allow crafters to create multi loop
Speaker:and layered custom bows that are used for hair accessories and
Speaker:numerous other applications.
Speaker:Karen started making bows about 11 years ago and in 2008,
Speaker:after the creation of this template,
Speaker:bow making system,
Speaker:little pink lady bug as a business was born.
Speaker:In addition to running the business,
Speaker:Karen homeschools,
Speaker:her daughter,
Speaker:volunteers at her son's school is a comfort dog handler for
Speaker:her church and a leader for a troop of American heritage
Speaker:girls. She is the perfect example of how you can integrate
Speaker:a successful business into an active family life.
Speaker:And did I mention she has a wonderful husband,
Speaker:Robert and two dogs all the while.
Speaker:Her love for crafty creative endeavors somehow finds its way to
Speaker:shine through each and every day.
Speaker:Karen, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:I'm excited to be here.
Speaker:Is there anything you would like to include like another activity
Speaker:that you do before we get started?
Speaker:No, I,
Speaker:I try and make time for my family as well.
Speaker:Really. It's just a matter of priorities.
Speaker:So figure out how to get it all done.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Well, I'm excited to hear your story for our listeners.
Speaker:Karen and I have known each other for boy.
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:six, seven years already.
Speaker:At least.
Speaker:Yeah. We met at a trade show way back when,
Speaker:and she,
Speaker:and I saw each other again,
Speaker:just this past January and we've been talking about our business.
Speaker:I've always loved her product and she agreed to come on
Speaker:and share her journey with all of you.
Speaker:So I'm really excited about that.
Speaker:Are you ready to light it up,
Speaker:Karen? Absolutely.
Speaker:Absolutely. Very fun.
Speaker:Wonderful. As our listeners know,
Speaker:we like to align the conversation around the life of a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:The light shines on you while you share your stories and
Speaker:experiences. And it gives us kind of a little bit of
Speaker:an indirect understanding of what you're all about.
Speaker:If you were sitting and you're making your bows,
Speaker:I'm envisioning you doing some demos that you always do on
Speaker:YouTube, et cetera.
Speaker:And just for ambiance in your workspace,
Speaker:you a candle glowing there,
Speaker:what color would the candle be?
Speaker:Candle is absolutely going to be a light pink color and
Speaker:why light pink,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:has been my favorite color.
Speaker:I was the first grandchild on both sides of the family.
Speaker:So everything I had my entire life was pink.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:I was just fortunate that I liked the color.
Speaker:So it's just kind of in my color with everything I
Speaker:even named my company after it.
Speaker:So definitely pink.
Speaker:And what would be the motivational quote on that candidate?
Speaker:I really couldn't come up with just one,
Speaker:but I have two that are pretty similar and one of
Speaker:them is from Walt Disney.
Speaker:It's keep moving forward.
Speaker:They mentioned it at the end of the movie,
Speaker:meet the Robinsons.
Speaker:Just keep moving forward.
Speaker:As long as you're putting one foot in front of the
Speaker:other, you're going to get somewhere.
Speaker:Yeah. Taking action every day.
Speaker:And the other one,
Speaker:I'm sure everyone's familiar with finding Nemo.
Speaker:Dory's little mantra of just keep swimming,
Speaker:that kind of aligns with the keep moving forward.
Speaker:So as long as you keep going forward and you just
Speaker:keep going,
Speaker:can make anything happen.
Speaker:I totally agree with you.
Speaker:Well, let's talk a little bit now about little pink lady
Speaker:bug and how you got started,
Speaker:how the whole thing evolved,
Speaker:but bring us back way to the beginning.
Speaker:That point in time where you said,
Speaker:yeah, I can,
Speaker:I'm going to turn this into a business.
Speaker:My daughter was not quite a year old and she was
Speaker:wearing all of her brothers hand me downs and we were
Speaker:really strapped financially.
Speaker:We were not in a good place,
Speaker:so I couldn't afford any hair bows or cute clothing.
Speaker:Everybody thought I had two boys and finally I'd had enough.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:I'm going to make a bow for my daughter.
Speaker:And I went and I,
Speaker:I spent $12 on ribbon and I prayed that my husband
Speaker:did not notice that I spent $12,
Speaker:cause that was straight out of our grocery fund.
Speaker:And I made a couple of those for,
Speaker:I had a great time.
Speaker:And then I still had all these rolls of ribbon.
Speaker:So I made a few more bows and sold them at
Speaker:a garage sale.
Speaker:Now there was no information on these boats,
Speaker:no business card,
Speaker:nothing. And all these people came back and asked and said,
Speaker:Hey, can we get a few more?
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:well, Hey,
Speaker:this is great.
Speaker:I sold some I'm going to go buy some more ribbon.
Speaker:And it slowly grew from there.
Speaker:Now I have rheumatoid arthritis.
Speaker:So working with all the handmade crafts can sometimes be a
Speaker:slow process for me.
Speaker:But this business of making Haribos grew until I had 11
Speaker:stores locally that were all carrying my bows.
Speaker:It really got to a point where I was like,
Speaker:I've got to hire some,
Speaker:I've got to have someone help me.
Speaker:Couldn't find anyone who could make the bows look just like
Speaker:mine. They all look different.
Speaker:We didn't have any consistency.
Speaker:Now my background was as a structural designer and a packaging
Speaker:company. So I said,
Speaker:let me come up with some templates so that I can
Speaker:hire people.
Speaker:And all the bows are gonna look the same and be
Speaker:the correct size.
Speaker:Probably about a month after we started using the templates,
Speaker:it was one of those light bulb moments where like we
Speaker:should be selling the templates instead of the bows.
Speaker:So from that point forward,
Speaker:it was a lot of research development stumbling here and there.
Speaker:And then just getting back up and keep going with it.
Speaker:So we've really just grown from that point,
Speaker:but that's kind of how I got into the boat business.
Speaker:I never know.
Speaker:I knew that Karen,
Speaker:I never knew that.
Speaker:That's how it actually started.
Speaker:I love that because I like hearing about it all when
Speaker:I'm doing a podcast too,
Speaker:because that leads to so many questions.
Speaker:Absolutely gift biz listeners.
Speaker:There's two things I want to point out to you that
Speaker:Karen did.
Speaker:She found an opportunity in a situation of need two places
Speaker:along the way with the journey that we've just talked about
Speaker:so far,
Speaker:she didn't have hair bows that she was going to be
Speaker:able to purchase for her daughter.
Speaker:So what did she do?
Speaker:She saw an opportunity.
Speaker:She went out and she made hair bows,
Speaker:and then she saw the need to make things easier,
Speaker:more consistent,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:When she already had her product in all these stores and
Speaker:she needed production to be smoother.
Speaker:And that led to the template.
Speaker:But how cool is that?
Speaker:Because that is really what developed her whole business and what
Speaker:she's working with today.
Speaker:Point being,
Speaker:make sure that you've got your eyes wide open.
Speaker:You think you're going down one path?
Speaker:Cause Karen,
Speaker:you probably thought,
Speaker:well, this is great.
Speaker:I'm in 11 different stores.
Speaker:You never thought it was going to necessarily evolve into this
Speaker:whole template thing,
Speaker:which is the basis of your whole business now.
Speaker:Exactly. That's I mean,
Speaker:that is our primary business.
Speaker:And if I make bows at this point,
Speaker:it's, it's really for fun.
Speaker:Occasionally I'll do a craft show just because I love getting
Speaker:out there and talking with people and being crafty myself and
Speaker:my daughter can only wear so many at this point.
Speaker:So, so I've got to do something with them.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Let me ask you one more question about this story before
Speaker:we move on.
Speaker:You were saying that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when from a garage sale,
Speaker:people came back and wanted the bows and then how did
Speaker:it all evolve into those 11 stores?
Speaker:Walk us through.
Speaker:Well, I really believe in quality if you're going to do
Speaker:something, do it.
Speaker:Well, that's another Walt Disney quote.
Speaker:And so I made some really quality bows.
Speaker:They were sturdy.
Speaker:I guarantee them.
Speaker:And so I went into one or two stores and I
Speaker:noticed they didn't have a very small size that you would
Speaker:put on a baby,
Speaker:an infant.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:I don't want to take away from your other bowmakers you're
Speaker:at the other business that you carry,
Speaker:but would you be interested in carrying these?
Speaker:And I had them on a nice backing card.
Speaker:I had my logo in place and contact information and a
Speaker:basic website going at that point.
Speaker:And so they agreed to try that since it wasn't something
Speaker:competing with what they already had.
Speaker:Well, those little bows were so popular.
Speaker:The people who were buying them as their children grew,
Speaker:they kept going back to the store and say,
Speaker:well, can we get the next size up?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we added some non-slip grip inside and we covered all the
Speaker:clips and all the ends were sealed.
Speaker:So a lot of attention to detail from that point,
Speaker:we just took it slow.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I didn't go out saying I'm going to go get all
Speaker:these stores and all these orders and so forth.
Speaker:It was every step of growth that we took was taken
Speaker:because we didn't have any other choice we had to grow.
Speaker:So we didn't try and make ourselves too big.
Speaker:We just kept letting our cup overflow.
Speaker:We were like,
Speaker:okay, we got to get a bigger cup.
Speaker:We got to get a bigger cup.
Speaker:As you had the first two stores,
Speaker:did you then go and approach more stores or did stores
Speaker:start coming to you?
Speaker:A little bit of both.
Speaker:We had several consignment stores who were hearing kind of through
Speaker:the grapevine that no,
Speaker:we had a good product and they approached us.
Speaker:But then there were some higher end stores that carry some
Speaker:really nice boutique items and really beautiful clothing.
Speaker:At that point,
Speaker:we had some confidence.
Speaker:So I went to him and said,
Speaker:Hey, this is what I've got.
Speaker:And this is what I can do for you.
Speaker:And this is we're already carried.
Speaker:And let me leave you with a few samples and I'll
Speaker:call you next week.
Speaker:And really it was that I didn't really give them a
Speaker:chance to say yes or no.
Speaker:It was kind of like,
Speaker:this is all the great stuff I can do.
Speaker:I'll come back and talk later.
Speaker:It sounds like it was the quality of your product that
Speaker:really got everything That really,
Speaker:really played a key role.
Speaker:You were in a number of stores,
Speaker:then you have a credibility play as you approach other people.
Speaker:Yeah. It's going to snowball from that point.
Speaker:Once you get started,
Speaker:if you're get your company and your business started on solid
Speaker:footing, you will really be able to go places You safe,
Speaker:solid footing.
Speaker:If you had a couple of recommendations for the people who
Speaker:might be listening,
Speaker:who are just thinking of starting out,
Speaker:what would be a couple of things that you're saying,
Speaker:you need to do this and you need to do this
Speaker:First and foremost,
Speaker:finances are going to be the backbone of a business.
Speaker:Don't grow too fast.
Speaker:Yeah, of course I wanted a new computer and I wanted
Speaker:a fancy desk and all these great tools and everything.
Speaker:You can't mistake,
Speaker:fancy equipment and great tools for determination and hard work.
Speaker:We said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:We can't afford to buy new desks and we don't need
Speaker:to keep buying new scissors.
Speaker:All the little tools that add up,
Speaker:they might be two or $3 a piece.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:you can spend a couple of hundred dollars on little crafting
Speaker:tools because it looks fun.
Speaker:You got to keep your focus insight and stay true to
Speaker:that focus,
Speaker:Focus on the tasks of actually growing the business.
Speaker:Not what's behind the business in terms of equipment.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:It's, you know,
Speaker:I didn't need fancy signs or storage containers or any of
Speaker:the little gadgets that go along with crafting was like,
Speaker:what is my goal?
Speaker:And is this action getting me closer to it?
Speaker:Is this action getting me closer to it really important because
Speaker:a lot of us will think if you know,
Speaker:going out and selling your product,
Speaker:puts you in a very vulnerable situation,
Speaker:the way you sell,
Speaker:you have a very low key approach,
Speaker:but your product totally speaks for itself.
Speaker:But so many people selling,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:is not the fun part.
Speaker:So it's really easy to stay back in your craft room
Speaker:or, you know,
Speaker:work studio.
Speaker:And in your mind,
Speaker:you're working because you're making more or your setting up your
Speaker:office. But those aren't tasks that bring in the money to
Speaker:keep a business going.
Speaker:And particularly in the beginning,
Speaker:when you need to get it started,
Speaker:you need to be getting some revenue coming in.
Speaker:Okay? So now you have these templates and you're recognizing that
Speaker:this is going to be the business.
Speaker:So was little pink lady bug ever the bow business.
Speaker:And then it gravitated to the templates or did little pink
Speaker:lady bugs start as templates,
Speaker:Little pink lady bug was the bow business.
Speaker:I didn't want my name attached to something that I thought
Speaker:I might possibly join with a partner or maybe sell someday.
Speaker:So I didn't want my name to be the business.
Speaker:I didn't want to ever have to sell them my name.
Speaker:So I started making bows.
Speaker:We had a great time at craft shows and things like
Speaker:that. And then once we developed the templates,
Speaker:we came up with the name,
Speaker:brilliant filmmaker.
Speaker:And we just had that as a brand,
Speaker:under little pink lady bug the company yeah.
Speaker:Had the templates.
Speaker:And these were probably just handmade templates.
Speaker:Initially We're handmade.
Speaker:We actually went and got those flexible binders,
Speaker:that flexible plastic that you can get.
Speaker:And we would buy all the ones on clearance at the
Speaker:end of the back-to-school sales and come back and you know,
Speaker:we'd print out picture of the template and tape it to
Speaker:the binder.
Speaker:And then we cut it out with an exact,
Speaker:and that's what we started with.
Speaker:It was quite tedious.
Speaker:And so that's what you were selling initially.
Speaker:That's what we were selling initially.
Speaker:So there are a few people out there who have the
Speaker:hand cut templates,
Speaker:and then that probably lasted no more than two weeks.
Speaker:And we realized this was going to kill us.
Speaker:So we tried a couple different things.
Speaker:I invested in one of those personal home dye,
Speaker:cutting devices that people use for scrapbooking and a found one
Speaker:that you could program in your own shape.
Speaker:And we thought that would work.
Speaker:And that would take 10 minutes to cut one template.
Speaker:So that didn't work.
Speaker:And that was one of those stumbling blocks.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we paid a couple hundred dollars for the machine and it
Speaker:never used it again.
Speaker:But we found a small dye cutter,
Speaker:a couple States over that was willing to work with us.
Speaker:And once we knew how much the dye and the materials
Speaker:and so forth would cost,
Speaker:we waited till we saved up.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:this was not a credit that business,
Speaker:this was all built on cash.
Speaker:And we went ahead and got those dye cut,
Speaker:but we couldn't afford the printing.
Speaker:So we still had to take a Sharpie and write the
Speaker:name and the size stuff,
Speaker:the envelopes.
Speaker:And at the time we were selling just the printed books,
Speaker:we couldn't afford the spiral bounding.
Speaker:So we put them in these binders that we got on
Speaker:clearance and those were our kids.
Speaker:That's what we were selling.
Speaker:And it spread like wildfire.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:what I like about that is you didn't invest a ton
Speaker:of money right away.
Speaker:You kind of tested the concept,
Speaker:whether you knew that that was what you were doing or
Speaker:not. And you took some chances again with that machine that
Speaker:you bought that ended up not working,
Speaker:you've got to try different systems and you didn't stop.
Speaker:You might say that buying that equipment was not a success.
Speaker:It was a failure,
Speaker:but that didn't stop you.
Speaker:You looked for yet again,
Speaker:a different option.
Speaker:There's that just keeps swimming quote right there.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:And the other thing is that you built the business as
Speaker:you could.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:if you see the kids now and we're going to get
Speaker:to this with Karen in a second,
Speaker:they are far beyond what you were just describing templates put
Speaker:in a folder,
Speaker:they are totally professional and you would never know the evolution
Speaker:that got Karen to this point,
Speaker:if you see her product today.
Speaker:So as you're thinking about your own businesses in your own
Speaker:products, remember that everything is a step along the way.
Speaker:It's all right.
Speaker:To take many steps as you get to your ultimate goal.
Speaker:I guess that's really what I was trying to get across
Speaker:there. How are you producing the templates today?
Speaker:The kids today?
Speaker:Well, once we found the dye cutter here,
Speaker:a couple of States over,
Speaker:like I was talking about when we really got that going,
Speaker:we weren't making money.
Speaker:We were not even really breaking even,
Speaker:but we knew where we needed to get,
Speaker:because we had gotten them priced overseas.
Speaker:And unfortunately we weren't able to keep them here in this
Speaker:country. It was about 19 times more expensive.
Speaker:So we never would have had any chance of a wholesale
Speaker:markup or being able to sell it to stores through a,
Speaker:again, like a series of contacts.
Speaker:One person led to the next person led to the next,
Speaker:or we found a great little two person company.
Speaker:And we've got someone overseas who works with us and gets
Speaker:the parts from a couple of different countries and gets everything
Speaker:produced and assembled.
Speaker:And we've been really happy with this company.
Speaker:They've helped us out.
Speaker:Yeah. That again was a big step too,
Speaker:because we had minimum orders larger than anything we'd ever ordered
Speaker:before. So then we were talking about going to the family
Speaker:and saying,
Speaker:okay, this is our plan.
Speaker:This is where we want to go financially and took it
Speaker:from there.
Speaker:Yeah. Get a little bit of help along the way.
Speaker:But you've already proven the concept.
Speaker:You're already seeing that there's a market out there that will
Speaker:buy the product.
Speaker:Yes. Really important because you saw that people will put their
Speaker:money where their mouth is.
Speaker:Like some people would just say,
Speaker:Oh, those are such cool templates.
Speaker:Or the bows are so pretty.
Speaker:I'd love to have them,
Speaker:but people are actually opening their wallets and buying.
Speaker:And we had a really strong customer base at that point.
Speaker:Cause I was involved in a couple of the online chat
Speaker:groups. This was before Facebook really took a strong grip.
Speaker:And so I had a community of people who had known
Speaker:me for awhile and she saw my work.
Speaker:And when I said I was coming out with these templates,
Speaker:a few of them got that and vows for me and
Speaker:I had credibility.
Speaker:So we had our very first order was kind of a
Speaker:series of comedic events looking back now.
Speaker:But at the time we were just devastated.
Speaker:It was our first overseas order.
Speaker:We had invested everything we had.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we put everything on the line.
Speaker:It was truly a leap of faith.
Speaker:At that point,
Speaker:we were praying hard.
Speaker:And then our first shipment,
Speaker:it got delayed for a few reasons.
Speaker:But then when it was shipping in,
Speaker:we were brand new importer.
Speaker:And our first shipment happened to come through into the country
Speaker:over September 11th.
Speaker:So we were flagged by customs,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:we had hundreds and hundreds of pre-orders for these kits,
Speaker:from people that we had sold and given him a great
Speaker:deal saying,
Speaker:Hey, invest with us.
Speaker:This is the kid kind of a GoFund me or Kickstarter
Speaker:campaign before those were around.
Speaker:We said,
Speaker:this is our idea.
Speaker:This is what we're going to do.
Speaker:We need you to buy it in advance.
Speaker:And it passed the date in PayPal when they could get
Speaker:refunds. And we were just keeping people updated saying,
Speaker:Hey, they flagged our stuff.
Speaker:They are,
Speaker:they're holding it.
Speaker:And it took about two months longer than we had originally
Speaker:estimated for getting that first shipment in every single day was
Speaker:agony. Just knowing I had to go tell these people,
Speaker:Hey, we're still waiting.
Speaker:I'm still here.
Speaker:Here's some ideas.
Speaker:This is what I'm working on.
Speaker:And yeah,
Speaker:it was just being in touch with your customers,
Speaker:just letting people see you as the person you are,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you've got to put yourself on the line.
Speaker:I think that's really important because first of all,
Speaker:I can't imagine that people wouldn't understand with nine 11.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:everyone at that time came to the aid of everybody else.
Speaker:So I would be surprised.
Speaker:I don't know if you have any stories about that that
Speaker:you even want to talk about,
Speaker:but I could only imagine that everybody who ordered was totally
Speaker:understanding, but there's always the fear that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:people are going to take your money and run,
Speaker:right? So by you staying in touch with them and just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:yeah, this is a bad problem.
Speaker:We're trying to figure it out.
Speaker:I'm sure everyone understood the problem,
Speaker:but by just staying in touch with them and saying,
Speaker:look, I'm not gone.
Speaker:I am here.
Speaker:This is you are going to get the product.
Speaker:I promise probably helped you through that.
Speaker:Well and gained loyal Customers.
Speaker:It really did.
Speaker:And they got to know us really well because over the
Speaker:course of the two months,
Speaker:60 days,
Speaker:you run out of some crafty ideas at some point.
Speaker:So we were posted pictures of the dogs and the kids.
Speaker:And Hey,
Speaker:I'm not doing any crafts today and doing laundry,
Speaker:but we're still thinking about you guys.
Speaker:We're still here waiting for our shipment.
Speaker:And yeah,
Speaker:every year,
Speaker:since then over the anniversary of nine 11,
Speaker:they still flag a few things.
Speaker:But now that we've been doing this for several years,
Speaker:we don't get flagged as often,
Speaker:but we still have a couple of strips of that.
Speaker:TSA, us customs tape that all the boxes came wrapped with.
Speaker:We saved a few pieces of that and stuck them on
Speaker:one of our drawers that we've got here in the office.
Speaker:That's good Is to have some history of the development of
Speaker:the business,
Speaker:I think is great.
Speaker:I remember when,
Speaker:where we came from.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you can't get too big for your britches.
Speaker:You got to remember,
Speaker:Hey, when it comes down to it,
Speaker:I'm going to sit down and I'm going to do something
Speaker:to make my business go forward today.
Speaker:I also have a similar situation when I'm bringing things in
Speaker:from overseas,
Speaker:because if you don't have mass mass mass product to take
Speaker:up a whole container for yourself,
Speaker:you're always in a container with other businesses and it might
Speaker:not be,
Speaker:you that's being flagged.
Speaker:It might just be something in a container,
Speaker:but the whole container has to be set aside.
Speaker:So I've had that happen to me as well.
Speaker:Just, you know,
Speaker:pros and cons of doing business overseas,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:Well, we learned a lot is what it is.
Speaker:You learn to order early.
Speaker:Yes. You learned to order before you're totally out.
Speaker:Yes. And the holidays for other countries when things are shutting
Speaker:down and you're not going to be able to get ahold
Speaker:of anybody for a month.
Speaker:It's, eye-opening all the fees and customs and legal work.
Speaker:It can be intimidating at first.
Speaker:But like I said,
Speaker:just a step at a time.
Speaker:You've told us already a couple of challenges that you've had
Speaker:with the business.
Speaker:Was there any other one that you wanted to bring up?
Speaker:There's a couple,
Speaker:I look back and they're kind of funny stories now.
Speaker:They really weren't at the time when I said you really
Speaker:had to just wait for the business to grow as you
Speaker:needed it.
Speaker:We were using our garage as our warehouse.
Speaker:So our very first fitment,
Speaker:we had six full pallets floor to ceiling pallets delivered.
Speaker:We managed to fit them in the garage.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:we took it a step at a time.
Speaker:Things started to grow.
Speaker:And then one day I got a call from the shipping
Speaker:company and they said,
Speaker:well, we're going to deliver your shipment.
Speaker:Where do you want it?
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just put it in the driveway as,
Speaker:as usual,
Speaker:put it in the front yard.
Speaker:It's fine.
Speaker:And the driver said,
Speaker:you sure?
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:yep, yep,
Speaker:go ahead.
Speaker:He said,
Speaker:ma'am, do you understand that you have your own full container
Speaker:this time?
Speaker:And I had to stop him.
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:please do not leave an entire shipping container in my front
Speaker:yard. My homeowners association would go nuts.
Speaker:And so it was at that point where like,
Speaker:okay, I need to find a warehouse.
Speaker:I don't know anything about warehousing.
Speaker:Where am I going to go?
Speaker:And I just look back through some of my contacts.
Speaker:I started calling people and within an hour I had a
Speaker:warehouse that not only was perfect for what we needed,
Speaker:but it was also us custom station.
Speaker:So if we ever got flagged again,
Speaker:we could get flagged here in our hometown and at least
Speaker:know that we still weren't waiting for cross country shipping to
Speaker:happen. So that was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:it was a little bit of a challenge.
Speaker:It's kind of funny to think about.
Speaker:I was telling him to leave a full sized container in
Speaker:our front yard.
Speaker:I mean something that's on my truck.
Speaker:It's a good thing.
Speaker:He asked me that question.
Speaker:Exactly. Some of the other we've had were a little more
Speaker:heartbreaking, but we've really learned our lesson.
Speaker:As far as when you're building a business,
Speaker:you've got to love it.
Speaker:And if you don't love it,
Speaker:it's going to be challenged.
Speaker:And because you are putting everything into it,
Speaker:even sometimes above your children.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:I remember watching my kids play outside the backyard one summer,
Speaker:never really getting to play with them cause I was building
Speaker:this business.
Speaker:But at the same time,
Speaker:now I'm able to do all the activities that I've got
Speaker:with them because the business doesn't require as much time.
Speaker:And so a few years back we were exhausted.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we spent a lot of nights going to bed crying.
Speaker:We were tearing our hair out morning till night,
Speaker:just really burnt getting burnt out Well.
Speaker:And when you say,
Speaker:say we you're talking about you and your daughter,
Speaker:He was,
Speaker:he was a great support.
Speaker:He kind of saw the value in a couple of years
Speaker:in and,
Speaker:and really started supporting me with the paperwork side of things.
Speaker:And we started working with a company who showed some remarkable
Speaker:interest in either licensing or working with us or kind of
Speaker:endorsing us.
Speaker:And we talked with them quite a bit,
Speaker:sent a lot of samples,
Speaker:brainstorm some ideas.
Speaker:And at that point we were still kind of naive and
Speaker:trusting. We're like,
Speaker:okay, great.
Speaker:This is the answer to our prayers.
Speaker:And we kind of just let go of the momentum and
Speaker:the effort that we were putting into it because we were
Speaker:just so ready to hand this over to somebody who already
Speaker:had the distribution channels and the sales force in place.
Speaker:And that was really our mistake because they took a few
Speaker:of our ideas.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:they didn't really steal anything,
Speaker:but they decided to make their own product.
Speaker:And they contact was immediately cut off.
Speaker:We didn't hear from them.
Speaker:And then shortly thereafter we saw them come out with their
Speaker:own products and it was somewhat devastating because,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we had worked so hard and had put so much into
Speaker:it. And we're just like,
Speaker:where do you go from here?
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:we just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:our faith kind of got us through.
Speaker:We just kept doing what we were doing,
Speaker:what got us going in the first place,
Speaker:just one foot in front of the other,
Speaker:keep going with a small sales,
Speaker:get our name out there,
Speaker:work with people directly.
Speaker:So we recovered and we're stronger for it.
Speaker:We learned a good lesson there that you are ultimately in
Speaker:charge. And until you're cashing a check at the bank,
Speaker:nothing's a done deal.
Speaker:Wow. You know,
Speaker:you always are surprised when big businesses and companies come in
Speaker:and do that because you always wonder,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:was that their intent all along and as small businesses,
Speaker:especially in the homemade crafting industry,
Speaker:the best thing you can do to insulate yourself against that
Speaker:type of a situation is exactly what Karen did.
Speaker:We were just talking about how she was communicating and talking
Speaker:with her customers all through the nine 11 and the delay
Speaker:of product situation.
Speaker:Unfortunately, people can knock off products.
Speaker:It just can happen.
Speaker:And at this last show,
Speaker:I actually was talking with someone who gave me the legality
Speaker:behind it.
Speaker:And the conclusion is that your no product is really ever
Speaker:safe, no matter how much paperwork you have,
Speaker:certainly you should have all of your paperwork,
Speaker:patents or the licensing trademarking,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:But people who are really intentional do have a way around,
Speaker:pretty much anything.
Speaker:But the good news is.
Speaker:And especially for smaller businesses,
Speaker:when you develop relationships with your customer base and when you
Speaker:are intimately involved in the product like Karen,
Speaker:she makes a ton of YouTube videos to show people how
Speaker:to use these bows and what to do and how to
Speaker:additionally be creative.
Speaker:She's at the shows.
Speaker:So our customers get a chance to see her and work
Speaker:with her personally,
Speaker:with the templates and the products.
Speaker:Those are things that larger companies don't think about.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:they don't think about that personal interaction as people we gravitate
Speaker:to those that make us feel good.
Speaker:And by nature,
Speaker:you want to support a business owner.
Speaker:Who's made you feel good,
Speaker:who, you know,
Speaker:has a quality product.
Speaker:And that's the way we all keep our business in situations
Speaker:like this,
Speaker:being in a relationship with your customers and communicating with them
Speaker:on a regular basis pays way more reward than you might
Speaker:initially think,
Speaker:right from the start,
Speaker:make sure you guys to be keeping customer lists and talking
Speaker:to your customers on a regular basis.
Speaker:You definitely want to stay accessible because I've,
Speaker:I've run into a lot of people.
Speaker:Who've come back and said,
Speaker:Oh, Hey,
Speaker:I bought this boat kit and I never opened it up
Speaker:and I'll sit them down immediately and be like,
Speaker:Hey, let's make sure you know what you're doing.
Speaker:I let them understand a little bit about me that I'm
Speaker:over committed.
Speaker:I've got family,
Speaker:I've got a messy craft room.
Speaker:I've got piles of laundry.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:you just,
Speaker:it's a matter of priorities.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:okay, you know what?
Speaker:I'm going to spend 15 minutes decent crafting,
Speaker:just have fun rejuvenate for a little bit and move on.
Speaker:So I just want to make them feel,
Speaker:Hey, you're not alone in this.
Speaker:We're all running crazy these days.
Speaker:So just to let them see that you're a real person
Speaker:too, and you understand what they're going through.
Speaker:That connection is going to solidify a bond,
Speaker:whether it's just a friendship or a customer vendor relationship,
Speaker:it makes a difference.
Speaker:Totally. We agree.
Speaker:Karen, good input.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Moving on a little bit.
Speaker:What have you found in terms of promotions or events that
Speaker:you do that help move the needle that bring you in
Speaker:new customers sell more product?
Speaker:Any of that?
Speaker:A lot of times what we found it's,
Speaker:it's going to some of the larger shows are great,
Speaker:but I'll tell you,
Speaker:the city I live in now has a huge influx of
Speaker:bowmakers because we've kind of inundated the area,
Speaker:but being able to get out even to the next city
Speaker:over or an hour away,
Speaker:getting the attention of those new customers really makes a huge
Speaker:difference because not only will you get the customers that are
Speaker:there directly talking with you,
Speaker:but you'll get their friends that when they go home and
Speaker:tell their friends,
Speaker:Hey, check this out with me.
Speaker:This looks like fun.
Speaker:Why don't we try it?
Speaker:And it kind of causes these little explosions because then they'll
Speaker:tell their family who may live across the country and you'll
Speaker:see the,
Speaker:a little bit of growth,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:somewhere else.
Speaker:Right? So it's really just staying in front of people and
Speaker:on a personal level.
Speaker:So we're definitely finding the videos are helping,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we found an opportunity at the state fair,
Speaker:where if you did a demonstration on the stage,
Speaker:you could have a booth for free,
Speaker:which is a couple thousand dollars at the state fair.
Speaker:So we took advantage of that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we just took advantage of any chance we to get in
Speaker:front of people,
Speaker:which is probably why we were so exhausted,
Speaker:any chance we had.
Speaker:You just,
Speaker:you jump on it and you move quickly.
Speaker:That's being fast and flexible is going to help you maneuver
Speaker:faster to your goals.
Speaker:Wonderful. Yeah.
Speaker:Seeing the opportunity and jumping on it,
Speaker:taking action on the customer service end.
Speaker:What do you do to make sure that your customers know
Speaker:that you appreciate them and that they're valued?
Speaker:Well, we really try to stay on top of the emails
Speaker:and the contacts that we get.
Speaker:So we email a lot of customers directly,
Speaker:especially the ones who they don't see us as a big
Speaker:company. They see us as,
Speaker:Hey, this is my friend,
Speaker:Karen, I'm going to email her back and be like,
Speaker:Hey, can you show me how to use the templates?
Speaker:So we really try and take the time to work with
Speaker:each person as an individual as if they were,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:my sister or my neighbor asking me for a little bit
Speaker:of advice and take that time.
Speaker:And it does take a little bit more time,
Speaker:but we found we have such a great relationship and it
Speaker:really builds from that point because word of mouth is huge.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:any business I've tried usually within two years of just word
Speaker:of mouth with a good product and good customer service,
Speaker:and you're just going to be exploding.
Speaker:So the one-on-one contact with the customers who email us,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:sometimes we'll include a little note with someone if we've,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:talked back and forth with them.
Speaker:Or if they've mentioned something in a post on Facebook about
Speaker:their family,
Speaker:we just try and take notice.
Speaker:And we'll put a little note in that says,
Speaker:Hey, I hope you're feeling better,
Speaker:have fun with the kit.
Speaker:And just to recognize them as a person and not a
Speaker:number, it goes back to relationships,
Speaker:gets everything.
Speaker:Everything is built on relationships.
Speaker:Let's move now into the reflection section.
Speaker:Kiran, what is one trait that you feel you've had kind
Speaker:of for your whole life that you are really tapping into
Speaker:now to build the business and really make you Successful?
Speaker:Well, I'll admit this tray is a double-edged sword,
Speaker:but I am a perfectionist.
Speaker:And my husband can tell when I'm really tired because I
Speaker:get worse,
Speaker:a little more OCD on the details,
Speaker:but just in a business sense,
Speaker:the details can make or break.
Speaker:You are selling the bows in the beginning,
Speaker:it was the little details,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:covering the clips.
Speaker:Just not a huge thing,
Speaker:but people didn't like the big metal clips showing when they
Speaker:put a hair bow in a baby's hair,
Speaker:making sure all the ends were sealed.
Speaker:Just little things that you may not even notice when you're
Speaker:looking at it.
Speaker:You may not even be conscious about it,
Speaker:but just in the back of your mind,
Speaker:your mind is processing.
Speaker:Does this product,
Speaker:does it look clean and have smooth edges and just presents
Speaker:an appealing visual to me?
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So those,
Speaker:those little attention to detail,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:Cards when people help you out consistency,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:Yeah. I think really going back to your product,
Speaker:how many of us have bought one specific brand?
Speaker:Because it has one little trait that the other one doesn't
Speaker:have buy a car because it has a built-in baby seat,
Speaker:or you buy a certain blouse because you like the style
Speaker:of their buttons.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:some of the little details that make all the difference,
Speaker:as Karen's talking about,
Speaker:she covered metal clips that differentiates her from everybody else and
Speaker:people buy because of those special qualities of a product.
Speaker:So as you're developing products,
Speaker:think about that too.
Speaker:We've talked a lot about how you have created now balance
Speaker:in your life,
Speaker:between all the things you're doing with your family and running
Speaker:a successful business.
Speaker:Do you have any tool or anything that you do so
Speaker:that you do have that extra time to be able to
Speaker:balance both of these?
Speaker:I think I've mentioned it a couple of times,
Speaker:but just to really point it out.
Speaker:My sister was the one who made me focus on this.
Speaker:Probably the best thing is a list,
Speaker:not a list of things to do,
Speaker:but a list of your priorities.
Speaker:And she pointed out,
Speaker:she was like,
Speaker:first thing in the morning,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:eat healthy,
Speaker:make sure that you are mentally focused and energetic and you
Speaker:have the energy take that time.
Speaker:That 10 is for yourself in the morning.
Speaker:You'll have the energy for the day after that.
Speaker:What are your priorities?
Speaker:Is it your business,
Speaker:your kids,
Speaker:your family,
Speaker:your marriage,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:taking care of your pets,
Speaker:prioritize the top four or five things in your life and
Speaker:make sure you pay attention to those each day.
Speaker:I'm always going to have laundry and I'll admit it is
Speaker:probably the last thing on my list.
Speaker:Even now when I have time to do it,
Speaker:good to grab life while you've got it and focus on
Speaker:what is your top priority that day Is your priority lists
Speaker:change each day,
Speaker:or you just keep your overarching priorities and just keep an
Speaker:eye on A little bit of both each day,
Speaker:I might have a,
Speaker:if I have one of my scout meetings or if my
Speaker:daughter has dance or my son has archery or whatever,
Speaker:that day's priorities are,
Speaker:some of them I can say,
Speaker:okay, I've got three hours of time for my business.
Speaker:And I'm going to focus on that.
Speaker:Others are,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm not working on the business at all today because I've
Speaker:got volunteer work and I'm going to be at school and
Speaker:then I've gotta get home to homeschool my daughter,
Speaker:and then she's got dance and he's got archery.
Speaker:And then I've got a meeting.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:my priority on that day is getting,
Speaker:is getting through the day and the prep work,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:making sure lunch is their pack.
Speaker:And I have all the clothes and outfit changes we need
Speaker:for the day.
Speaker:So it does change a little bit,
Speaker:but you've always got to make time to take care of
Speaker:yourself physically,
Speaker:mentally, spiritually,
Speaker:because if you don't have any more to give and you
Speaker:are always giving to your customers and your clients,
Speaker:you are going to slowly slip downhill and lose that attention
Speaker:to detail wise words.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:as I think about my business,
Speaker:probably about halfway through the process of getting it going,
Speaker:I probably would have said,
Speaker:it's not worth it.
Speaker:If I'd known what I was in for,
Speaker:I would not have kept going.
Speaker:But now that we're through to the other side,
Speaker:it was absolutely worth it.
Speaker:It was worth every single late night,
Speaker:every single difficult decision,
Speaker:it was all worth it.
Speaker:So you get in the middle of the journey and sometimes
Speaker:you just need to dis carry through,
Speaker:not worry about the bumps,
Speaker:just keep going,
Speaker:keep going.
Speaker:And that's what you'd say at the end,
Speaker:it's been worth it.
Speaker:The end is really still the middle because I know you
Speaker:keep going and keep it up.
Speaker:Yeah. Just like Dory,
Speaker:just keep swimming there.
Speaker:We've learned a lot along the way.
Speaker:And we've got some bumps and bruises,
Speaker:but every single thing we've gone through has made us stronger
Speaker:and just we've kept our faith and work together and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just follow your Karen.
Speaker:What book have you read lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in?
Speaker:There's a couple that I refer back to and all of
Speaker:them seem to be along the lines of selling techniques and
Speaker:personal improvement.
Speaker:I'm trying to think of a couple of the titles that
Speaker:I've had,
Speaker:but things like the seven secrets of success.
Speaker:And I think there's one in the little red book of
Speaker:selling and really all of them have kind of said the
Speaker:same thing that I've been referring to today is just making
Speaker:that personal relationship.
Speaker:People love to be noticed.
Speaker:They love to know that they're important and that they've made
Speaker:a difference and all of us really want that acceptance and
Speaker:that love.
Speaker:And when you're around somebody,
Speaker:I don't care if it's a waitress or someone checking you
Speaker:out at the grocery store,
Speaker:you'll notice that if you feel good around that person,
Speaker:you're going to keep talking to them.
Speaker:And that really makes a difference.
Speaker:So gift biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book.
Speaker:Just like one of the two Karen is recommending for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection that's gift biz book.com.
Speaker:So Karen,
Speaker:we're going to be winding down to our final question in
Speaker:a second,
Speaker:but before we do that,
Speaker:will you share with our listeners two things,
Speaker:number one,
Speaker:how they can get in touch with you.
Speaker:And also if they wanted to look at your product and
Speaker:possibly buy templates for bows,
Speaker:where could they find those Fastest way to get ahold of
Speaker:meeting, especially business-wise is going to be through my website,
Speaker:which is www dot little pink lady,
Speaker:bug.com. Because when we check email,
Speaker:we get hundreds a day.
Speaker:The first ones we check are the website comments.
Speaker:We do check Facebook.
Speaker:We try and get on there at least once a day,
Speaker:but I'll be honest.
Speaker:Sometimes that's not the top of my priority list.
Speaker:Okay. And what stores are the,
Speaker:are your products in that people could go out and take
Speaker:a look We're actually carried by a lot of larger distributors.
Speaker:So we do have access to a lot of the mom
Speaker:and pop stores.
Speaker:So if you don't see us in a smaller local craft,
Speaker:or you can definitely ask because chances are the owner is
Speaker:familiar with one of the distributors that carries us.
Speaker:We're also,
Speaker:we were picked up by hobby lobby.
Speaker:They've been really,
Speaker:really good to us.
Speaker:As far as working with a small business.
Speaker:We didn't know anything about order quantities and case packs and
Speaker:barcodes and all kinds of little details.
Speaker:And they've really been good to us and helped us out
Speaker:quite a bit.
Speaker:So those are some of the big ones.
Speaker:And then I know there's quite a few online as well.
Speaker:Wonderful. And they can also go directly to your website too.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:They can go directly to our website and ask us questions
Speaker:first and find links to some of the videos and get
Speaker:information that way.
Speaker:Perfect. And gift biz listeners.
Speaker:If you're out walking your dog,
Speaker:doing your laundry,
Speaker:unlike Karen's doing,
Speaker:remember, you can always go to the show notes page and
Speaker:we'll have all the links there ready for you.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Karen, we are ending now with my dare to dream question
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with the virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your virtual box?
Speaker:Well, I think the first thing that I'm going to find
Speaker:in that box is a gift certificate for someone to help
Speaker:me organize my craft room and kind of keep my house
Speaker:under control.
Speaker:Because like I said,
Speaker:that's not one of my priorities.
Speaker:I don't enjoy doing it.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:it was just one of those things that has to be
Speaker:done. If I could get that on the way I love
Speaker:to craft and create,
Speaker:I love doing demonstrations with people and the chance to travel.
Speaker:Haven't really had a chance to just travel around,
Speaker:but just to be able to travel and see the sites
Speaker:and do some exploring that way.
Speaker:But at the same time,
Speaker:combining that with my business,
Speaker:where I'm able to teach a few classes here and there
Speaker:and meet with people,
Speaker:one-on-one I absolutely love what I do.
Speaker:I love sharing it with other people.
Speaker:And then to be able to combine that with kind of
Speaker:a world tour at the same time,
Speaker:that would be amazing.
Speaker:Yeah. Fabulous.
Speaker:So what if you were envisioning one place in the world
Speaker:where you could go,
Speaker:what would it be?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I lived in North Carolina when I was younger and we
Speaker:lived pretty close to the coast.
Speaker:So I'd say probably,
Speaker:definitely somewhere warm with the sand and some ocean.
Speaker:That would probably be my top choice.
Speaker:Wonderful. Well,
Speaker:Karen, thank you so much.
Speaker:This has been really enlightening and I think a really good
Speaker:episode, particularly for people who are just starting out,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how to start the journey and how to capture the opportunities
Speaker:along the way,
Speaker:the way you've told your story and the insights that you've
Speaker:given have been really,
Speaker:really helpful.
Speaker:I'd want to thank you for opening up sharing your story.
Speaker:And I know that little pink lady bug is going to
Speaker:continue to grow and grow.
Speaker:So gift biz listeners,
Speaker:let's watch Karen as she continues her journey.
Speaker:And may your candle.
Speaker:Karen always burned,
Speaker:bright, Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your
Speaker:business. Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your
Speaker:business and life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com
Speaker:slash tools.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever brand your products of
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Speaker:Jessica Gribbin,
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Speaker:for more information,
Speaker:would you like to be on your show or do you
Speaker:know someone who can provide valuable insight from their experiences?
Speaker:If so,
Speaker:we'd love to hear from you.
Speaker:All you need to do is submit a form for consideration.
Speaker:You can access.
Speaker:The forum is unwrapped.com
Speaker:forward slash guest gets gift biz unwrapped.com
