Business Discussions

  For 85 years, Vidler's 5 & 10 has been an institution and a tourist destination in East Aurora, New York. The family-run "five and dime" harkens back to a simpler time, when the local general store sold (just about) everything under the sun and the customers doubled as both neighbors and friends. We met Don Vidler and his amazing team as part of Small Business Big Game and we were immediately struck by their passion for building a sustainable local business and their dedication to customer service — not to mention their hilarious series of videos on YouTube. Take it away, Don!   Name: Don Vidler Business: Vidler's 5 & 10   What is your favorite thing about being a small business owner? My favorite thing about running Vidler's 5 & 10 is that we're a family business.  We've been here for 85 years, the same store in the same location on Main Street. We've been in business for three generations and we've had more than th

      Harry is a freelance videogame and technology journalist who's worked for a number of different publications including The Independent, Pocket Gamer, App Spy, Android Magazine, Micro Mart and Den of Geek. He shares his techniques for finding new clients through Twitter how to create a stand-out portfolio.   Name: Harry Slater Job: Freelance Videogame and Technology Journalist Started: 2012   Q: How did you get started as a freelancer writing technology and video game reviews?   A: By accident, really! I won a competition in PC Gamer magazine for reader review of the month. I knew I wanted to be a writer and I knew a lot about games and technology, so I just squashed the two things together.    First, I started out by working for free for a variety of small, volunteer websites for a while. Once I had a portfolio of work, I immediately moved on to looking only for paid assignments. After building up enough

      We love Owen Jollands' story. How many people originally trained as a scientist can say that they became a comic book artist and colorist? Today   Owen leads an exciting career as a comic book colorist, taking on new, broader challenges as he goes. We wanted to soak up everything we could about Owen's path to his lucrative, fulfilling career as a self-employed artist.    And in return, Owen has a question for all of us :-)  We'll let him take it from here...     Name: Owen Jollands Job: Comic Book Colorist Started: 2010 Q: You are a professional comic book colorist. How did you get this amazing job?   A: I started out practicing in my spare time with line art from the Internet and coloring it in using Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. I also took a comic book creation class with a tutor who had strong ties with Markosia, a leading publisher of graphic novels. From these connections, I landed my first gig co

  After just one year in business, Anthony and Elizabeth Becker have learned a ton about how to build an online store – from why it pays to invest in using a professional photographer to the importance of tracking their time on each project.   We asked Anthony to dish on how he developed their pricing formula and what he's hoping to learn from all of *you* when it comes to finding the right retail platform to reach their target audience.       Name: Anthony Becker Business: Wake the Tree Furniture Co. Founded: 2014   How did you create your awesome job?   I had a stable job working with reclaimed wood for a long time, but I wasn’t able to create the kind of furniture I felt passionate about. It was so frustrating to be around so much raw material and to have so many ideas for what I could do with it, but no freedom. That job gave me the confidence, experience and drive I needed to start my own business.   I started Wake the

  Fashion school grad Kristin Perk wasn’t getting the creative satisfaction she needed from her day job as a restaurant manager. In need of inspiration, she decided to revisit her love of thrift shopping and started reselling her finds on Etsy.   Four years later, she figured out how to turn a fun hobby into a full-fledged company. We had to learn more about how she did it. Take it away, Kristin!     Name: Kristin Perks Job: Owner of OldSchoolSwank, an online vintage apparel and home goods shop Founded: 2011   How did you create your awesome job?   I have a degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After college, my partner and I drove from New York to California with friends and settled in beautiful Lake Tahoe for a post-college adventure.    I took a job as a restaurant manager at a ski resort, which, although fun, left me missing the creative buzz that New York City

Is there a magic formula for your pricing? Meet Christen to find out.     Christen Strang always wanted a tattoo, but a fear of needles and permanent ink held her back. Eager to channel the rockstar look without the lasting side effects, she started to design her own trendy temporary tattoos and her Etsy shop was born.    Christen's designs have now been worn by thousands of people across the globe, so we couldn't wait to ask her how she got here and what she's learned along the way. Take it away, Christen!     Name: Christen Strang Job: Graphic Designer and Owner of happytatts Started: September 2013   How did you create your awesome job?   I love tattoos, but I’m way too much of a commitment-phobe to get one myself! So, I set out creating the exact tattoo I wanted so that I could apply it to my body whenever I wanted and wash it off a few days later. I figured that there must be others out there who wanted the s

Karly Santiago creates heirloom-worthy cross-stitch portraits. When she realized she could turn her hobby into a company, she took a break from working as a birth doula to start Cloth & Twig.  Karly’s love of her craft shines through in every piece her work, but it was learning how to navigate social media that really got things moving for her — and her business. We got the lowdown from Karly on how she juggles motherhood with full-time crafting, and how Star Wars led to the launch of her business. Name: Karly Santiago Business: Cloth & Twig Started: 2014 What inspired you to create Cloth & Twig? About two years ago, a friend sent me a cross-stitch of Star Wars characters as a gift, because I love the films. I ended up taking it apart and figuring out how to do it myself.  The first one took me months to finish and it wasn’t perfect, but it helped me work out how to cross-stitch on my own. My very first piece was a portrait of my family, and it made me think

  Karly Santiago creates heirloom-worthy cross-stitch portraits. When she realized she could turn her hobby into a company, she took a break from working as a birth doula to start Cloth & Twig.  Karly’s love of her craft shines through in every piece her work, but it was learning how to navigate social media that really got things moving for her — and her business. We got the lowdown from Karly on how she juggles motherhood with full-time crafting, and how Star Wars led to the launch of her business.   Name: Karly Santiago Business: Cloth & Twig Started: 2014   What inspired you to create Cloth & Twig? About two years ago, a friend sent me a cross-stitch of Star Wars characters as a gift, because I love the films. I ended up taking it apart and figuring out how to do it myself.  The first one took me months to finish and it wasn’t perfect, but it helped me work out how to cross-stitch on my own. My very first piece was a portrait of my family

A former freelance photographer, Toby Thomas found his career skyrocketing after he joined James Allen and Elliot Hammer to run one of London’s most exciting creative agencies. As Creative Director for Birch, Toby has advised brands like GQ and Christian Vision and shot images for Deutsche Bank, Reebok, Elle Magazine and Hillsong London.  We caught up with Toby to hear more about what he's learned after transitioning from freelancer to small business owner and the biggest pricing lesson they've learned so far.   Name: Toby Lewis Thomas Business: Birch Started: August 2009 (Toby joined as co-owner October 2014) How did you create your awesome job? While studying photography in school, I became involved in the music industry. I started touring with bands as a videographer/photographer and, shortly after, I decided to pursue it full-time. I rented a studio and started off with really small jobs, but my clients were always happy to recommend me. Back then, content — and par

After living in the Big Apple and working as an actor for a few years, Marie Jensen moved back to North Dakota where she established Relax Event Studio to plan parties and sell wedding graphics on Etsy. Along with doing a ton of volunteering work, she also found time to become a state representative in between!    We spoke with Marie about juggling it all, the one regret she has after trying out Pinterest advertising and how she developed her pricing formula.Name: Marie Jensen Business: Relax Event Studio Started: July 2014 How did you create your awesome job? I have several jobs, so I’ll tell you about all of them!  After graduating from NYU, I worked in the acting industry for a couple years and found it wasn’t my path, so I moved back to North Dakota and worked as the executive director of the local arts council. The job involved planning events, like a conference for 30,000 people or a dinner meeting for ten. I was also responsible for marketing and graphic des

With an eye for design and a love of creativity, stay-at-home mom Emily Carr crafted an Etsy store around her interest in pyrography — creating decorative designs in wood using burn marks. She balances raising a family with growing her customer base and has carved out a niche online for her unique hand-decorated wood pieces. We were thrilled to speak with Emily about building her small business from the ground up, how she sees her shop developing in the coming years and the excitement she still feels every time she makes a new sale. Name: Emily Carr Business: The Blonde Moose Started: 2012 How did you create your awesome job? I opened my Etsy shop after I found myself wondering what I could do from home while also taking care of two toddlers. I worked as an interior decorator before starting a family, so having a creative outlet was always really important to me. I wanted to be able to continue that alongside my new job as a stay-at-home mom. When I came across wood burning

After a number of years in traditional accounting firms, Andrew Berg realized that his and his partner’s special blend of business management, effective bookkeeping and their ability to identify key areas for improvement was helping their clients grow their businesses in a big way. Deciding to start their own firm next was the obvious choice.    Andrew recently gave us some insight into how his business consulting and accounting services make a real difference to his clients — and how he teamed up with Mike Brown at Death Wish Coffee Company (our big winner in Small Business Big Game!) to give Mike's business an extra boost.Name: Andrew Berg Business: Berg Partners Started: 2011 How did you create your awesome job? My partner Megan and I have been working together for 13 years now. This is the third public accounting firm that we've worked at together. Before this, we were with a real estate company, helping them with project management and corporate development. 

  As small business owners and self-employed professionals, financing and funding matters can tough to navigate — especially when you're just starting out or your business is still young.   When we first heard about how Christina Stembel from Farmgirl Flowersdiscovered a financing "trick" to make sure she's always ready in case her equipment breaks or she loses precious inventory, we immediately shared her tips with everyone we know.   Here's her story...     "At Farmgirl Flowers, we're 100% bootstrapped. I started my business with $49,000 and my whole goal was to never run out of money. I got down to $411 at one point, so I understand the struggle very well. My biggest suggestion for any small business owner is to get a line of credit when you *don't* need it, and sit on it.    My business is seasonal, so if one thing goes wrong, it's the difference between surviving or not. Once, one of our coolers broke and we lost $80,000 in flowers! I had to g

  How many times have you read a "how-to" and wondered, "How do I really use this for my business?"     Hack 1: Start With Your Why 17% of you told us that Instagram is your *most* effective social media channel for getting new customers. Even more folks shared that if Instagram isn't currently #1, it's not far behind.   There are a lot of how-tos out there and articles that also confirm this. We've even heard that Instagram is providing some brands with 25% more engagement over any other social platform.   Connecting with your customers matters, right? But is Instagram the right place for *your* business? We learned from our members that Instagram provides opportunities for both service-based businesses and product-based businesses to visually share their mission and their perspective with a targeted audience.  In fact, we heard that for many folks it's less about sharing images of your products and

  We have a mission — to capture in one place the largest collection of practical stories, experiences and ideas from small business owners and the self-employed for finding and freeing up cold, hard cash in a matter of days.   Cash flow is the lifeblood of every small business. For some of us, December brings a holiday bonanza of sales. For others, it’s a month with a never ending outflow of expenses and no new clients coming in. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all rolled up into the final month of the year.  

    Advertising on social media is uncharted territory for many small business owners, and building the most effective strategy is even more so. Helping navigate this great unknown is Michael Koral and his co-founders. Their company cleverly creates, targets and optimizes advertising campaigns for small businesses across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.    We chatted with Michael recently to hear the story of how they came up for the idea for their business, his key strategies for hiring and the biggest lesson he's learned about pricing.   Name: Michael Koral Business: Needls Started: March 2014   How did you create your awesome job? I worked at a large corporation after college and hated it. I quit after a couple of years, traveled around Europe for six weeks and tried to figure out my next move.    I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and I wanted to be my own boss. Two of my friends from childhood,

  Staying up late and bending wood until 2am wasn’t exactly how Jenny Wong-Stanley envisioned life with two small children. Nevertheless, she's found a way to make her new passion pay by selling her unique handmade planters online — and her future looks bright.    We caught up with Jenny recently to chat about how she's learning to balance being a small business owner *and* a mom.   Name: Jenny Wong-Stanley Business: Art of Plants Started: December 2012   What inspired you to create your business, Art of Plants? It was sort of a fluke how it worked out!    I taught science before having my two kids and planned to go back after maternity leave the second time around, but it didn’t quite work out. One day, during nap time, I was reading about deforestation and found a misplaced article on bending wood.   I’d never heard of bending wood before, but thought it sounded cool, so I found an old wooden ruler, steamed it and tried to bend

   When a flooded apartment left Jeriel Sydney and her husband re-evaluating their lives, they decided to pack up and get back to basics in Italy. While traveling and volunteering on organic farms, Jeriel learned how to make soap — a hobby she kept up after she later returned to the US.   But this newfound skill wasn't the only thing Jeriel brought home with her. Her experiences abroad also left her determined not to pursue a typical 9-to-5 job. Soon, interest in her soaps started to bubbled up, and her business has been thriving ever since.     We recently chatted with Jeriel about the friends who helped her gain confidence in her company, as well as the advice she wishes she hadn’t asked for.     Name: Jeriel Sydney Business: Fable Soap Co Started: November 2014   How did you create your awesome job?   My story is pretty unique in that I went from studying clinical psychology to starting a soap company! My husband and I wer

  A shared passion for tea is what got James Chang hooked on the business of building Shen Zen Tea. Later, when he moved the company to the Pacific Northwest, an ever-growing demand for organic and sustainably sourced products opened up a world of new possibilities for him to sell via local farmer's markets — and expand his product line, too.   James chatted with us recently about the tenacity required to be a small business owner when you're just starting out and what he's learned after living through good times and tough times while building his business.    Read on hear his story!   Name: James Chang   Business: Shen Zen Tea   Started: 2012   How did you create your awesome job?   I originally had a business partner, Neil Buckland, who started Shen Zen Tea back in Florida. It was a different business model back then, where he sold a variety of teas mostly through home events.    I got involved in the business bec

    Ever wondered where you could buy a stuffed toy in the shape of a mitochondria cell? Well, wonder no more!   Meet Shari Bodofsky , a biology student who creates unusual handmade plush toys to delight kids young and old. The young entrepreneur’s Etsy shop was born out of a childhood love of crafting, but the business turned into what it is today not long after Shari moved from molding clay figurines to sewing and stuffing her own creations.   We chatted with Shari about appealing to her inner child (and gathering loyal customers along the way!), juggling homework with starting a small business and the lessons she's learned about personal branding.                     Name: Shari Bodofsky Business: Fresh Crayons Started: 2012   Tell us a bit about how you started your business!   In middle and high school I did a ton of crafting. People especially responded to the clay figurines

  When Araya lost her job as an interior designer, she decided to turn her misfortune into an exciting future by starting her own business from scratch.   To save cash in the early days of testing out her business idea, Araya learned how to do everything herself — from coding her website to creating the products she wanted to sell — so we had to know more about what she's learned along the way and where she's hoping to grow in 2016.   Take it away, Araya!   Name: Araya Jensen Business: Wind and Willow Home Started: February 2012   Where did you get the idea for Wind and Willow Home?   I was a kitchen and bathroom designer for 12 years before I was laid off due to the housing market crash.    I spent the next two years trying to find another job in my field while I was on unemployment and struggling to take care of my family. I knew I needed to find another source of income, so I came up with an idea for curating and selling g

   Kim makes papier mâché mobiles unlike any you’ve seen before — when she’s not training her kids to be rockstars, that is.    She honed her unique style in art school before finding work at a gallery in New York, where she also played bass in a band. 15 years later, and after moving her family across the county to settle in LA, she's now running a small business out of her home and selling her one-of-a kind mobiles online and in boutiques across the country.   With an approach to life that’s as quirky as her designs, we just had to find out how Kim’s making it all work on her own terms.   Name: Kim Baise Business: Jikits Started: May 2007    How did you create your awesome job?   I was born in LA, but moved to New York to get my Master's degree in art. I lived there for 15 years, making a living by working in a gallery, running little art shows of my own and playing bass in a band. When my kids were born, my husband an

  Darcy Cruwys started Swap Mamas, a website connecting parents across the United States, after she lost her job in the 2008 market crash. Her aim was to lessen the financial expense of raising children by encouraging moms to exchange kids’ clothes. But what began as a passionate community has now blossomed into a fast-growing business that’s received recognition from prominent publications like The New York Times and Parenting Magazine.   With big changes on the way for Swap Mamas, we sat down with Darcy to talk about keeping the company sustainable, sticking to her guns and how she still sometimes feels like she's winging it.   Name: Darcy Cruwys   Business: Swap Mamas   Started: January 2009   How did you get started?   Swap Mamas started in January 2009. When my daughter was born, I had a really tight-knit circle of friends, all with baby girls, who were scattered across the country. Whenever an older child grew out

    When we heard how Kate had turned her biggest flaw — lateness — into a thriving business, we just had to know more.    Here she chats with us about the importance of customer feedback and (spoiler alert!) why she keeps her prices high, even in a competitive market like Etsy.       Name: Kate Kennedy     Business: Be There in Five     Started: February 2014       How did you create your awesome job?   It all started as a way to stop my apartment from burning down!    Every morning on the train, I’d start panicking that I’d left something on. To ease my own worries, I painted "turn off your curling iron" onto my doormat so I’d see every day as I left. It worked like a charm!   I noticed the doormat industry was dominated by dated designs focused on welcoming guests into your home, so I decided to turn it upside-down with messages for people leaving the house instead. I started ou

      When Sarah Clement created her freelance illustration business, she was eager to make more space in her life for illustration.    It worked. After she quit her part-time job and threw herself into her creating her company, she started booking some awesome commissions and amazing new clients.   We were lucky enough to catch up with Sarah recently about balancing art and business, the importance of morning routines and her biggest college regret.     Name: Sarah Clement   Business: Sarah Clement Illustrations   Started: January 2015     How did you create your awesome job?   I'm an artist and illustrator. I take on projects like special commissions for clients, album designs and t-shirts. I've done a children's book as well.    I decided to quit my part-time job and pursue illustration about a year ago. I felt like I needed more time to invest in my art and I was getting a little bored selling han