699. Product Sales Down? The Proven Framework to Continue Growing Your Product-Based Business | Coaching Session

Summary

Episode Summary: Product Sales Down? The Proven Framework to Continue Growing Your Product-Based Business | Coaching Session

Podcast: The Product Boss: Business Coaching for Product-Based Female Entrepreneurs
Host: Jacqueline Snyder
Featured Guest: Brianne from Texas Cork Company
Release Date: June 12, 2025
Episode: 699

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1. Introduction to the Coaching Session

In this episode, Jacqueline Snyder hosts a coaching session with Brianne from Texas Cork Company, a family-run business specializing in cork-based products. The primary focus is on addressing the challenges Brianne faces with declining sales and strategizing ways to revitalize her product-based business.

2. Overview of Texas Cork Company

Brianne provides an overview of her business:

• Products: A diverse range of cork products, including purses, wallets, hats, belts, and home goods made from recycled wine corks.
• Sales Channels: Primarily in-person markets across Texas, supplemented by an online store and limited wholesale activities.
• Best Sellers: Chest bags, crossbody bags, card wallets, and sunglasses.

[05:03] Brianne: "We are Texas Cork Company. That's I run it with my mom, she's my primary business partner... 90% of our revenue is coming from markets that we do all over the state of Texas."

3. Challenges Faced

Brianne highlights several challenges:

• Declining Sales: A recent 30% drop in sales despite increased efforts in online sales and email marketing.
• Product Education: Customers often lack understanding of cork as a material, mistaking it for fragile or associating it solely with wine corks.
• Visibility Issues: Struggling with SEO as "cork purse" and similar terms are not commonly searched, limiting online discoverability.
• Time Constraints: Managing in-person markets while raising twin toddlers, leading to burnout and reduced market participation.

[07:04] Brianne: "Most of the people we interact with don't even know that cork comes from a tree... there's a lot of misconceptions, even with wine corks."

4. Strategies for Increased Visibility and Sales

Jacqueline offers tailored strategies to address Brianne's challenges:

• Wholesale Expansion: Emphasizes the potential of scaling through wholesale channels to reach broader markets without the logistical strain of attending numerous in-person markets.

  [12:43] Jacqueline: "I think that for you, from a visibility and growth standpoint, would be wholesale. That I think you're on track now."

• Ideal Customer Identification: Encourages Brianne to narrow down her target audience to a specific demographic, suggesting a focus on "missy" (contemporary, practical, and fashionable) women likely to invest in quality products.

  [19:16] Jacqueline: "We need to hone in on who your ideal customer is... If you do have models or you're thinking about style, design, print, you're just going for something that your stuff is less trendy."

• Product Focus: Advises concentrating on best-selling products and introducing variations (e.g., seasonal colors for bags and accessories), rather than diversifying excessively.

  [24:05] Brianne: "That was something that, when we were... Royalking Society, we got stuck on that niche thing."

5. Nailing the Ideal Customer and Niche

A critical part of the discussion revolves around defining and understanding the ideal customer:

• Age Demographic: Noticing a discrepancy between the intended ideal customer and actual purchasers, who tend to be older.

  [46:33] Brianne: "Our online store is www.txcork.com and then you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Texas Cork."

• Brand Messaging: Shifting the focus from educating about cork to highlighting the aesthetic and functional benefits, such as durability and versatility, to appeal to the ideal customer.

  [29:54] Jacqueline: "The sling bag behind you, it's a cool color... By coming at them and being like it's sustainable and made from this and dah, dah, dah..."

6. Balancing Time and Hiring Help

Addressing the issue of time management, Jacqueline suggests:

• Hiring Assistance: Employing part-time help to manage booths at markets, allowing Brianne to focus on wholesale and other growth areas.

  [38:08] Brianne: "So it's actually my mom, she's... can you hire someone to do your booths? My mom, she's managing all the money stuff..."

• Cost-Benefit Analysis: Demonstrating the financial viability of hiring help by showing potential revenue gains versus the cost of hiring.

  [39:48] Brianne: "The revenue is typically around $2,000...pretty big range."

• Role Division: Encouraging Brianne and her mom to delineate their roles clearly to maximize efficiency and prevent overlap.

7. Actionable Steps and Conclusion

Jacqueline provides a roadmap for Brianne to implement:

• 30-60-90 Day Plan: Break down goals into manageable timelines focusing on immediate actions like expanding wholesale.
• Dream 100 Strategy: Identify and reach out to a list of potential retail partners across various niches and locations.
• Product Bundling: Introduce gift bundles and incentives to increase average order value during in-person sales.
• Self-Care and Delegation: Emphasizes the importance of self-care to prevent burnout and maintain business momentum.

[70:18] Jacqueline: "Just set these micro goals for yourself that are more achievable... Treat your time like it's as valuable of a resource as your money."

In wrapping up, both Jacqueline and Brianne acknowledge the overwhelming nature of the process but commit to prioritizing tasks that yield the highest return on investment.

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Key Takeaways

• Niche Identification: Clearly defining and understanding your ideal customer is pivotal for targeted marketing and product development.
• Diversified Sales Channels: Balancing between in-person markets and wholesale can mitigate dependency on a single revenue stream.
• Efficient Time Management: Outsourcing and hiring help can free up valuable time, enabling focus on strategic growth areas.
• Brand Messaging: Shifting from material-focused information to functional and aesthetic benefits can enhance customer appeal.

Resources Mentioned

• Multi-Stream Machine: Jacqueline's signature course focusing on systems, visibility, and scaling sales from $0-$100k and beyond. www.multistreammachine.com
• Standout Society: Program dedicated to nailing your niche and ideal customer avatar.

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Connect with Texas Cork Company

• Website: www.txcork.com
• Social Media: Facebook and Instagram at @TexasCork

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Notable Quotes:

• Brianne on Sales Decline:

  [55:36] Brianne: "We've done 30% fewer shows thus far in the year, we're still down because all the shows that we've done thus far have been down."

• Jacqueline on Revenue and Hiring:

  [38:38] Jacqueline: "If you can do that, it's just starting to test it... multiply your efforts."

• Brianne on Overwhelm:

  [61:58] Brianne: "I feel a little overwhelmed if I'm just being totally honest... But I feel like I have the tools now to kind of really."

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This episode offers invaluable insights for female entrepreneurs in the product-based sector, emphasizing the importance of strategic focus, effective time management, and tailored marketing to overcome sales challenges and drive business growth.

Transcript

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into a successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Oh my goodness. Friends, if you are anything like me, you probably spend more time running errands than running your business. Am I right? Like, everything needs something, we gotta run around. And I knew that this was like a major issue for me back in the day, which is why I decided to get help where I could. And I decided to let Instacart handle all of my grocery shopping. So I no longer had to worry about running all the errands and having to run out and get more almond mil for my lattes. Rather, I was like, you know what, we're just gonna let Instacart handle that. So I want you to imagine skipping the store and getting back to designing packaging, orders, making, or maybe actually taking a break, even a nap. Remember those? Okay, so with Instacart, you can get groceries and essentials delivered in as fast as an hour so you can focus on growing your business without sacrificing a meal. Plus, less stress and more focus. And here's a tip. I've actually used Instacart before to order gifts from my daughter's friend's birthday parties because I haven't had time to run out and get presents. And I've been able to get the packaging, like the gift bag and the g, like, hello, Sephora, delivered to my house while I was in the middle of coaching sessions so that I could have the present right. It's like having a personal assistant without having a personal assistant. So if you want to do what I do and get the help where you can, you can try it. Now if you head to the Product Boss.com Instacart hey, product bosses, quick check in. Is your sales growth feeling stuck, like, totally flatlined despite all of your hustle? Or maybe you're like, okay, this should actually just be harder. Maybe you're feeling like you're walking in mud and it's like, why does this feel so hard? Either way, if you're nodding your thinking, someone please, please, please just tell me exactly what works so I can finally grow without grinding myself in the ground. Well, I've got something so good for you. Say hello to the accelerate your sales podcast bundle. Okay? It's my absolute best, totally free playlist of episodes that'll show you exactly how to stop being the best kept secret, Right? Let's get this product seen. Or how about expand your sales across multiple channels without overwhelm. Hello, abundance. Or create products your customers can't wait to buy over and over and over again. And it's going to really help you start to build your business with that clarity, ease, and joy. Because growing your business should feel amazing, not exhausting, my friend. This is your shortcut to more sales, less chaos, and way more fun along the way. Grab it now. It's a hundred percent free. I just wanted to make it super easy for you to find those episodes. You're like, which episodes should I listen to, Jacqueline? Here it is. And it's packed with pure gold. All you have to do is head to the productboss.com growth or click that link in the show notes and then pop into your email and let's do this. It's your time to feel the freedom to find that abundance and to get passionate about your business again. All right, I'll see you in there. Hey. Hey, friend. Welcome back to another coaching session for you today. I love that you are loving these sessions. I get so many messages or I read your reviews on the podcast where you're like, um, Jacqueline, you could have been speaking directly to me. Um, somebody once said that one of the people I was coaching, she's like, I had the same name. So I was like, you were talking to me and I was like, that's amazing. So if you're loving these episodes and I am loving your feedback, would you mind doing me a favor and jumping over and following the show for one so you make sure that you're getting the two episodes a week that we are dropping. Um, so you want to make sure that those are landing on your phone and ready for you to listen to you. And if you wouldn't mind, while you're following the show, leaving a review for the podcast, I read every single one. They're amazing and it makes me know that I'm on the right track. Okay, so today I'm chatting with Brianne of Texas Court company who runs her business with her mom and she sells a wide variety, actually her mom, Susan. So shout out to Susan. Okay, we gotta give Susan some credit here, but she sells a wide variety of cork made products and accessories. Brianne has mostly been selling at in person markets, but her sales and percentages are down. So she's wondering how she can get more eyes on her business and make more sales, which is exactly what we're going to figure out today. So let's dive in. Brianne, I'm so excited to jump into our coaching call today and dig into your business and get it all answered. So before we kind of like get into the questions, tell me a little bit about your business. What do you make and where do you sell?

[Brianne]

So we are Texas Cork Company. That's I run it with my mom, she's my primary business partner. But we're a family based business and we make basically a wide variety of products made with cork. So we primarily are going to sell things that are made with cork fabrics like purses, wallets, hats, belts, that kind of thing. But then we do also have some home goods that are made with like recycled wine corks and that kind of thing as well. Right now we have an online store. We do sell a little bit of wholesale, but for the most part it's like easily 90% of our revenue is coming from markets that we do all over the state of Texas.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so you're mainly. Okay, so you're doing in person markets and then tell me what your best sellers are.

[Brianne]

So let's see our, our best sellers by just from a revenue perspective are our chest bags and, and a couple of different styles of crossbody. In terms of this year volume of like number of units sold, it's going to be our smaller items. So like our card wallets and our sunglasses are also. We move a lot of sunglasses as well.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so I love that. And then so you said in terms of volume but from bestseller because the price point is higher. Do you, what do you think you're known for? What do your customers know you for?

[Brianne]

So I think it's interesting, you know, cork is sort of so niche that they call us the Cork ladies. And so I think just in terms of material, we're definitely known for that. But then the ones that have shopped with us, I'm going to just say many Times, it's actually our notebooks. So we. That's one of the products that we manufacture ourselves, where we actually manufacture refillable notebooks in a variety of different sizes, and we custom make them, and there's all these different colors, and they can be painted or embroidered or laser engraved, all kinds of different things. So we. They're not one of our best sellers in terms of just sheer volume, but they are definitely something that. That people come to the booth looking for.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. Because it sounds like. Because you're selling in person, it sounds like people. It's easier for somebody to walk away with a smaller type product. Right. Like, if they like it, they kind of just buy something smaller versus when you buy a bag, it's sort of a bigger consideration. Would that be accurate?

[Brianne]

Yeah, and I think that that's something that we. We tend to find that. And that's one of the. My big questions for today is kind of education is a really big piece to what we do. My background is actually in science and in education, and so we bring a lot of props with us. Most of the people we interact with don't even know that cork comes from a tree. So it's. There's a lot of sort of just like telling people what cork is and just explaining the material and the properties of the material. And then there's a lot of kind of misconceptions, even with, like, when you. A lot of people just think about wine corks. Right.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, it's crazy you're saying that. And I was like, yeah, cork comes from wine corks. They must smash them down.

[Brianne]

Well, and they. I mean, you can do that. And we do. We recycle corks. Right. But like. But a lot of people don't. They just don't understand anything about, like, the actual material. And a lot of people think it's really new. Even though this concept is not new, it's just relatively new in the United States. Right. Over in the Mediterranean, they've been doing it for decades upon decades. Right. And so a cork purse or a cork wallet is not a new idea. But we have to try to educate our customer base about the product. And so we find that a lot of our customers want to start with something kind of small because they want to just try it out. And then like a re. When they come back, the next time they see us, they might go ahead and do the bag.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

What is the education process that I need to know when I'm looking at accessories? Because wouldn't it be sort of the idea of, like, oh, these are made out of cork. And I like this style. Like, what's. Why. Why do they need to be so educated?

[Brianne]

So I think the biggest thing is because there's often a misconception about cork that it's very fragile or very brittle. And so, like, people think about when you put a corkscrew into a cork and you can kind of sometimes get, like, it breaks apart. So there's a belief that it might not be durable. And so the biggest thing that we have to talk to people about is the durability and kind of helping them understand that the products should last.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So. Okay, so that makes sense. So what we're. So what it is here is that it's. It's more of a preconceived notion of the material that they're unaware of. So they might look at it and say it's cool, but then maybe apprehension or something that gets in the way of them buying is the idea of, like, it's not going to last because of whatever other cork I've interacted with.

[Brianne]

Yep. Okay.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I think that there's. I know, I know you're like, there's an education process, but I bet that there's ways that we can just, like, from a marketing perspective, label package, just have something on it that's, like, durable to last or, you know, like, where you don't have to spend as much time explaining, but there is, like, an education component to it. So. Okay, I like this. So let's get into where you're at. So you said that you're profitable and you're seeing fantastic growth in some key areas that you chose to focus on this year. So. And then let's see, you're doing. You're doing really well. Like, you're. You've got, you know, great months that you're having. Your good goal for this year is to try and get to a hundred thousand dollars.

[Brianne]

Yeah, we're so. Last year, we just barely missed it. That was our goal for last year. For this year, our goal was really to try to. I was telling you earlier, I have twins that are 4 years old. So for me, the amount of time that I can really like going to all of these markets is kind of challenge for me, just being away that often and things like that. And so, you know, my goal was really to try, you know, if I was just going to maintain, was to try to get the revenue to kind of shift where. Where it was coming from, where we could get away with doing fewer markets and hopefully drive more of our revenue from like wholesale or other, other sales channels online, that kind of thing.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so let's get into your first question. So your first question is really, you know, asking about how to get more visibility. And I know you have concerns, like historical concerns, but how, let's dig into visibility for you. What are you doing now to get it? Is it just that you're showing up in person?

[Brianne]

So we do, we, we do all the in person markets. So I would say that's probably our, our biggest thing. But then I, I try to be pretty active on, on both social media. Well Facebook and Instagram. I've just recently gotten signed up on, on Pinterest but that's, I had, yeah. Have barely even gotten started on that. And then I'm, I a lot more email marketing but that's all with existing customers. So. And most of those people have signed up with us at a market and so I've had the opportunity to talk to them and so they, I've kind of already crossed that education threshold with them. And so we're just finding like if we look at our SEO and things like that and you just kind of look at some of that back end stuff, we're just finding that like a cork purse or something like that is not a super common search term. And so we're just struggling to kind of really understand like if we're just not using the right keywords, if we're not. And so that's kind of where we're, we're kind of at. We're kind of stuck there. Right. Like do we need to do paid, paid marketing? Because we really haven't done a whole lot there. We, you know, we've done a lot of organic stuff but, but very little attempts at paid marketing.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So you're in multi stream machine, right? Yeah. So what are you doing? What are the other sales channels you tried to add on? What are you attempting to do there?

[Brianne]

So let's see, we have, I actually literally just got approved. My shop got approved to be on fair today. So I've just created that to try to make it easier to work with wholesale customers. So I do have a couple of wholesale accounts. Not a ton I'm working on. I'm kind of developing a list of businesses that I might want to reach out to and kind of go that route that we talked about or well, that the modules and MSM talked about. I'm looking into possibly joining some of the wholesale markets to go that way. I'm going down the road of at least looking into. I have not watched the all the modules on Amazon yet, but it's something that I am considering, but right now it's pretty much just online. Technically, we have the ability to sell on social media. Like we have the Facebook and Instagram shops, but they just sell. Just don't do anything for us.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so I think that, I mean, looking at your followers like, you're still under a thousand followers. So let's just take Instagram and Facebook off the table. You're there, you have a presence. But let's not make it the thing. I think what you said, which is funny that today you had approved for fair. That is actually the direction I would tell you to go. You're in a very similar situation as I was with Cuffs Couture. So with Cuffs, nobody was looking up, like wrist wallets for going out with your friends. Like, I don't even know if they were looking at risk, like people, you know, maybe if you were a runner and you're looking for a way to keep something like out of your pockets. But it wasn't really a searchable term, so I really had to find visibility. And what I did was I did in persons, exactly what you're doing. So I got foot traffic. People discovered me. It was time for time. I was building my email list when I was there, and then I was contacting them outside of, you know, they pass by and once they're gone, they're gone. So we need to capture them. The second thing that I did was I added on wholesale. And by adding on wholesale, I just had to build relationships with buyers because it's the same concept. Think about it. It we know that your stuff converts in person at markets. So imagine now your purses are hanging, your journals are in a store. Same idea. There's foot traffic. People are walking by. They don't need. They don't need to be searching cork for SEO, right? Because there's lots of things. Like think about when we go to stores. Like, I always think about those kitchen stores that you find when you're at like, vacation spots and there's all those random things in there for your kitchen or like a great gift store. And you're like, I would. You would have never looked for it. But it's that idea of like discovering the product and in the moment, which is the way we all used to shop, right? We didn't used to search for things. We had the yellow pages and then we had to go to stores. So I do think that for you, from a visibility and growth standpoint, would be wholesale. That I Think where I think you're on track now. You know, in multi search machine I teach that fair can be a tool but it's not your end, all be all. So I'm glad that you got approved to be on there and you can use it as a point that they can check out there. But then also also the strategy inside of the program, like instead of msm, I teach you how to like find them, what to say to them. You have the templates for line sheets and like the whole follow through of it. So I think that that is kind of a sign for you that that's how you're going to grow visibility and revenue.

[Brianne]

So would you recommend going like really down the sustainability road? Because that's something that we're finding is, is a little strange with the customers. And maybe it's because so many of our show, I mean all of our shows have been in Texas. Right. And so there, the climate here we find with our customers can be a little bit mixed. Right. Some people care a lot and really are interested in the cork for that reason. But then other people, they only care that it's unique.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Right.

[Brianne]

Like the kind of value stuff part doesn't matter as much to them. And maybe this comes back down to the question of like we're seeing this disconnect between who's actually buying and who seems to sometimes be actually using the product and wondering how we get to be able to speak to more of the people who are actually using it.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Right.

[Brianne]

Because a lot of times we're seeing that the buyer is actually buying it for gifts, the person who's actually spending the money with us.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah, I think that where you're at now is sort of what I started teaching in standout society. Because you've got the product, we know the product sells, you're making it, you've got this idea of multiple streams of revenue. But I think with standout society, the concept there was, what you've done is you've come up with this great idea, you've IDed it, you've started to sell it, but you made it and sold it. But you skipped over the like understanding of brand, brand story. You're a very good writer because even your intake form like you're so cute. You're like long story alert. And then you get into it like you're, you're really good at writing. So I think that, I think that. And also speaking so I think that there's a part here that like we can get into. But what, what I'm seeing the Biggest gap for you right now is actually you haven't nailed your ideal customer and you haven't nailed your niche. So while it's really easy to just show up in Texas to a market and sell to whoever walking around, we're still not. You're making a lot of products. And while you said they're accessory, I think when I landed on your site, it was accessories for women, but then it scrolls to accents for the home, and then it goes to products for men. And then there's. Then there's journals and, like, home goods. You're too small of a company to be spreading your stuff everywhere. It's too hard to stand out when you're just making a whole bunch of things. And while I know the journals are there, I don't know if the journals are the thing. Right. They might work as, like, a quick pickup, like when you're at a market. But then, you know, I think what's really cool, your cork sunglasses, Your cork case, even with the color and the cork, I think that's really cool. And that has, like, this kind of bright, fun color. And then there's like a guy that's wearing your cork hat, and he almost looks like a guy who'd be boating or at the beaches, like. So I think what we have to do is we have to hone in on who your ideal customer is. It could be a woman and a man, for example. If you're going to do both men, do you sell a lot of men's?

[Brianne]

Not a lot. There's a fair number of products that, like the sunglasses that are relatively unisex. And so we will sell those to both men and women. And we do carry. We sell a lot more men's stuff around the holidays because for gifts and things like that. So we do sell a few things for men, but not. They tend to be the products that are just sort of unisex in terms of, like, they're just. Just kind of a plain color.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And then for women, what do they buy more of? Like, what's the. What's the stuff that really makes the money for your biz?

[Brianne]

It's definitely going to be like kind of those, like the chest bags, like the one I have here, and then the kind of crossover slings that are pretty trendy right now, and then just like the really simple card wallets. We sell a lot of them.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. Yeah. So I, you know, when I look at your stuff, I'm not saying that it's Brighton. Do you know the brand Brighton? So. So there. There is A level of being. I'm going to say this, and I'm in my 40s, so I'm not calling me old, but like an older customer in the way of the product. So it's probably someone who is depending what 50 plus. Is that what you said? Yeah. So I think there's someone who might be having. They're either their kids are out of the house or they're becoming young grandparents or they're kind of in that. In fashion we call it missy. So there's contemporary and then there's missy. So missy is just kind of like the concept of like White House black market, like that customer. And so there are parts here, there are products that, you know, I think the hat, the cork, sunglasses. I think like you said, they're giftable. So there, it might even be. It's something that I feel like my mother in law would buy me because she saw it at a market and she thought it was cool and she knows I'm into design and fashion and she'd be like, you like this because it's interesting. So I think like you said from a gifting perspective. Perspective, people would like it from a gifting perspective. And then. But I do think the style, the design, the styles, the prints are of that like Missy customer base. So look up Brighton White House black market tried to skew younger. They're still, they're still technically missy because the way that like they have things with sleeves, right? Because your arms get a little jigglier as you get older. Like heels aren't pointy, they're like more comfortable heels. So they're just like for more practical people. And that age can change depending on who you are and how you function. And also I'm not saying that 20 year olds and 30 year olds and 40 year olds wouldn't like this, but we want to kind of know because then when you, if you do have models or you're thinking about style, design, print, you're just, you're going for something that your stuff is less trendy. Your prints are less trendy.

[Brianne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I 100% agree. Yeah, I definitely agree. And honestly I think that that's, that is something that for us, I don't know that that's necessarily what we've been aiming for, to be trendy. I mean, I think definitely, like in terms of myself and my mom, like, we are the very practical person and our customers tend to really prefer. They want all the pockets in their bags and things like that. They really care about how it's going to be useful to them in terms of carrying all their stuff. They don't seem to care as much about the look of it. But I've gotten that feedback before that, that it doesn't seem like it's as young.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Your stuff is practical, your stuff is interesting and it's different and unique, which is why it can easily be something that's like. Like your glasses. I feel like your glasses and your glass cases, you can probably sell like all over the place. Like even to surf shops and hotels, even, even your bags. But I think what I want you to do is right now maybe you go back into being a woman's accessories company. You could have like a unisex tab. So certain things that can be unisex if I'm looking, but I want you and you can. And, and I could be totally wrong. So you go back and look at your numbers and I want you to look at your. Go back to your numbers and say, like, okay, let's really look at what I sold from women's. How many bags versus other accessories? Let's look at what I sold from men's because we might be surprised and say like, actually men's. Maybe out of your hundred thousand, thirty thousand was for men's. That's 30%. Maybe we don't get rid of it. Or if you're like home goods, gift type products, accessories, those do really well. So maybe though, you just want to look at it in percentage. So let's say we have a hundred percent. Like it's a pie. Maybe, you know, it's 50% of that pie is like women's handbags and wallets in cards. Right? And then you'll divide up that pie with like how many bags to wallets and whatever. And then Maybe, you know, 25% of it is like sunglasses and cases. Maybe 15% is men's. 15%. I don't know if I'm past 100, but like 15% is jewelry. Right? So if you can start to slice this pie in that way because you have this historical data, then you know not to get excited or make a whole bunch of stuff. Like you get excited about men's. You're like, I want to make all this stuff, but it's like, hold on, only 15% needs to be men. So am I at that yet? Right?

[Brianne]

Yeah, I definitely. That was something that, when we were. When I was going through SOS and really I got so stuck on that niche thing and it was something that we talked about in the community and because the material is so niche I really have struggled to understand for our company because the material is so niche. Do we need to have this breadth in the products available, or do we need to be niche in terms of the number of different types of products and in the material? And so that's definitely something that. And so it's kind of sounding to me like you're saying, narrow down. Right. And kind of really focus in on those best sellers, like you always say, Right, like, focus on the best sellers. But then if I'm understanding correctly, like, then you would just say, you know, like, if I was going to try to do product drops or things like that, it would be just changing, like slight changes, like changes to colors seasonally or changes, you know, slight changes to the shape of the frames or something like that on the sunglasses. Is that kind of my understanding?

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah. So for example, your bright colored cork with, like, the speckles of really bright colors in it, that's not going to do as well in the fall, but if you're like this crushed it in the summer, I'm going to come out with like a more neutral or fall color or whatever. Right. Then, you know, like, you're just doing variations on something, but it's not always. The other part is, is like, I think, yes, identifying your ideal customer. I think you're stuck in the cork conversation because of the material you're using and the questions that you're getting. Even the bag behind you, it's like, really interesting. And so that bag can come out. I don't know if you make it in your black cork, but I've never seen black cork. And it. I saw you have, like a black cork wallet. It's. That's cool. Like, that's like, cool and sophisticated and looks different. So it's like, all right, if you know your sling bag is crushing it, then do another variation on it. And then let's say in the summer you do the bright color speckled one. You know, so something that I find.

[Brianne]

Really interesting that you mentioned, the black cork. We've tried introducing the solid colors.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And.

[Brianne]

They actually don't sell well for us, at least not at the markets. And I think one of the things that the only kind of, I'm going to just say direct feedback we've gotten is a lot of people, their initial reaction is they think it looks like leather. Right. And so they like that, but it doesn't. Like, the thing that they think is so unique about it is that it's made from cork. And so it's just kind of this weird.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, I'm not a deal customer. Right. So I'm in la. I'm fashion. I'm wearing like this crazy outfit right now that you're looking me in with like crazy sleeves. Right. So I might be like, oh, that's cool. Because I actually might not wear the cork. Is no offense to you. I'm just not your ideal customer. But there's products in your stuff that I'm like, oh, that's cool too. Right. So I saw the black. I thought that was cool. But that's okay. So if so pay attention. Like, if they like the print that you're doing on things, that's really interesting. What I do think you can drop are like your cork placemats, your coasters, your wine bottle openers. You're more of a gift shop right now, but you have too many products.

[Brianne]

Yeah. Okay. And so on those, like remaining inventory, we just use some of this, the same strategies we've talked about before to just kind of clear what I have and that, like, in terms of the actual process of phasing down to the. To the niching down, you just kind of phase out those. Those products.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah. So I would start any sort of new direction you go, any new product you're making, any marketing campaigns, you could really think about them in the. The since you're in standout society too, like the direction of. All right. If this is my niche, your people are probably more on Facebook than Instagram. And then thinking about accessories that would fit her, we're gonna go with her more. So. And then all this other stuff, you can really push it out. Like if you really create content around gifting, gift bundles, do what you can with what you have right now. Put your coffee mugs and your cork teas. Like when we. It's Christmas in July. I know it's so hot in Texas, but like, you can do like Christmas in July. Like, you can do your own, like, promotions where you want to move it, you can start to like, highlight it for people and then you can maybe you'll wrap up the rest of the year with getting rid of it, but I don't want you to make any more.

[Brianne]

So then would you try, like, in terms of marketing, I mean, so. And this is where, you know, one of the things that. Because our current customer base is definitely in that kind of messy category. Practical minded, budget minded, all those kinds of things. Do we just kind of commit to that and say this is the customer that buys from us and we just market to them, or is it something that. Do we continue to market your sustainability values, your. Some of that kind of stuff. As the person who does most of the marketing, I get kind of, I struggle with that balance.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

She's gonna like the idea that one. So she's gonna. So this is for everybody. We're all, especially in year like this year where like there's wars, there's a presidential election, you know, there's been all this talk about inflation forever and things are expensive and whatever. They're still gonna buy the thing that they like the most. They're not gonna buy stuff anymore from a. They're not gonna spend more money because it's sustainable unless it's truthfully like in their like, like hearts and souls. And that's how they're choosing to live their life. The general consumer is just going to feel better about themselves knowing that. But it's not going to be the reason they buy from you because if it was the reason they buy from you, then they probably are also are not in consumption mode. They're buying only vintage clothes and secondhand, right. There's like we can get into all the nuances and all of it. So your stuff, the first reason people are going to buy it is because they're attracted to it.

[Brianne]

It.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Oh, that's interesting. Oh, that's cool. Right. So the sling bag behind you, it's like, it's a cool color. Oh wow. It's made out of cork and I like the shape of it. That's awesome. Right, so I'm first going to like that the secondary part will be like it's made out of sustainable materials. It's made out of cork and it's. And you might just need to reinforce the brand messaging with like it's durable, long lasting, supple, doesn't break like not, it's not your, it's not your wine bottle cork. You might even do that as like a tagline. You know, customers love these. And then like you use, you know, so that's like the secondary part. So in your marketing they're gonna, they, I'll guarantee they walk up there because it's first the visual thing they look at and they're like, oh, what's that? Well that's cool. Right? Their first interested visual. So by you coming at them and being like it's sustainable and it's made from this and dah, dah, dah. Like, like they're like hold on, I didn't need that information. I just wanted to take a second and look at this stuff first. And you're like, oh, that's so cute with your outfit. Like, it's so, you know, my customers love this bag. Like my customer's going to Japan and she's taking it with her and it's super lightweight and water resistant or whatever it is. And, and like, and then she's taking it and traveling with it. Oh, that's such a great idea. I'm going on a trip. That's the marketing. I want you to connect for them.

[Brianne]

Okay, that, yeah, that makes a lot of sense because my, my woman is definitely a well traveled woman. They, she does a lot of, a lot of international travel, which is why.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

She appreciates the difference in your product. And the other thing I wanted to say is that look, you selling to like that customer because she actually has money. When we're older, we have, technically we should have more money. Right? Like baby boomers or boomers as the kids call them and everything like that. Right. They, they've worked their lives to now enjoy them. So if she's traveling, she's got money to. So she's also got money to spend on things that she really loves. Now she's not buying, she's not a disposable product. Like what's the latest trend. She's buying stuff she loves and that she's going to use and she's willing to pay for it. Did you catch that? All right, so Brianne has made this incredible product. I mean, it's really cool, but she's actually skipped over some of these core foundational steps of nailing her ideal customer and nailing her niche. Right. It seems like she is trying to sell everything to everyone with really cool products. By the way, if I didn't say that already. So you don't need to make a lot of products to sell more, but you do need to be making the correct products because as the saying goes, if you're known for everything, you're actually known for nothing. So luckily for Brianne, she's inside one of my programs, Standout Society, where we actually dig deep into figuring out your ideal customer avatar are and how you nail your niche so that you can get really solid on your brand messaging, sell more products, know exactly who you're selling to and what they want to buy from you without needing to offer more or make more. Sounds like a dream. Right?

[Brianne]

So in terms of other options outside of social media, because you, you definitely, she's definitely more. More on Facebook if she uses social media at all. And that's something that, that we have found is that, that we get some feedback that our Our ladies just don't use social media at all. I've thought about like trying to find magazines, things like that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I mean, I think that honestly I think the best, the best version of this is you just scale the heck out of wholesale like you could be making. So we can add another a hundred thousand dollars to your business this year just on wholesale, right? That's 8,000amonth. We have half the year, like 16,000amonth. Like could you do that when you get closer to that season? You have, have, you know, because you, you're in both programs. So multi stream machine talks about minimums. So we sell them a minimum of three bags or four bags or six bags of one style, one color with a minimum opening order. Like there's all these things that we kind of teach in there. And so imagine now you're getting $800,000, $1200 orders from stores. How many do we need of those? We work backwards and we're like, okay, great, I just got to go out and get them. So I think that she's going to discover you. I think I want you to get really creat kinds of stores you sell to. So I typically coach my clients. I talk to them about the dream 100. So I did this with my husband the other day because he teaches voice, he's a Broadway actor. And I was like, hey, let's think about a hundred people you could reach out to to let people know that you are teaching voice. So for you, I would, I would first start with getting like really creative and like just do a brainstorm of like, what kinds of stores could I sell to to. You could sell to hotel gift shops, you could sell at airports, you could sell at regular like gift stores and touristy neighborhoods. And then think about all the types of boutiques that you could sell to, right? Like fashion boutiques, gift boutiques, stationary. You know, there's all sorts of places that you're going to see your stuff. Men's sort of thing, right? Surf shops, tanning salons. People love buy sunglasses and hats at tanning salons. Like I used to sell cuffs, couture and like my hair accessories and stuff at, at hair salons because they always have like a little bit of stuff that they sell. So when you get really creative with that, then if you do a dream 100, I don't know, let's say you come up with 10 categories, you come up with five categories. Then within those categories, try and list out like 10, 15, 20. You start to research and look up those stores and for Your stuff. Maybe we do start you with, like, coastal cities, Texas, the Gulf, the cities that you're currently in. I think your stuff could do really well in like the San Diego area or like Northern California. I don't know if it's a Connecticut product, but maybe the Carolinas, Lake cities, like around, you know, Michigan, like all that. So then start to get creative and then use what I teach you inside that program to go find them. And then that's going to be your list to contact. And you'll see out of every hundred people you contact, how many people convert. And then you'll just know, like, okay, this is the quantity I have to work in in order to convert type of people I want to do. So I think that's where people are going to discover you. And then it's going to be more word of mouth. Now the secondary part is if you did want to do social. And Brian, he has Freshwater Pearl company. He hasn't been on the podcast yet, but he's in My Mastermind. He's in Multi Stream Machine. He's in Santa. He's in everything. He has stores. He actually has stores. He has a store in Mexico and he's based out of San Diego. But he has a few key influencers. And they're fashion over 50 influencers. And so they are on Instagram, they are on Facebook, and they're for women who are sort of into. They're women who are still like, up on being on social. And then. But they started as bloggers, so people getting newsletters still. So you have to think like, how did we used to do things? Cause those people. It's the same way that, like, I'm not on TikTok because my brain was like, all right, no room for new things. So let's think like pre Instagram where like people stopped and they're like, facebook's about as far as I'm gonna go. So then you might think, okay, like, like. Or maybe they're back in newsletters where they opted into blogs. They were reading blogs and they had that. So maybe it's a few key influencers that you do research about that are 50 and over that have. They're not like 50 and over and they're like the trendy, like wearing her bikini at the beach, like, looks like she's 30 influencer. It's a woman who's in her 50s and above that's like dresses in your product and then you work with that kind of person. And you can eventually get into affiliate. But I don't don't think that you need to do that right now. I think. I think if you were to go all in on wholesale, you would start to find that people would start to discover you in that way. And then you're still doing what you're doing. And I cannot believe you have two four. Four year old twins and you're doing all these in persons. But you could probably start to replace some of your in person with wholesale. And I want you to just consider hiring someone to do your booths and not you.

[Brianne]

Yeah, I was worried you were gonna say.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I was worried she was gonna ask me to.

[Brianne]

So it's actually my mom. She's gonna die if she hears this, but it's actually my mom, she's like so worried about the fact that she doesn't feel like the business is. She does. She like, manages all the money stuff, right? And so she's super worried about the fact that the. That the business doesn't pay me enough in her mind that she's like, okay, well, if the business isn't paying you enough, then we can't afford to hire somebody else to help with the boobs. Right? And I'm like, yeah, but. And I always like, like always say this. I'm like, yeah, but Jacqueline says that if you hire somebody, it should make your business money, not cost you money.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Right. What's your mom's name?

[Brianne]

Susan.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Susan. I'm sorry. That's my mother in law's name.

[Brianne]

Oh, yeah.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Susan. Don't get mad. So, yes, and okay, I want you to get paid, but if you're feeling like you can't possibly find the time to do all the things that we're talking about here and executing, then you're gonna kind of stay stagnant. So. So what would it look like if on a. Let's just imagine this imaginary world, your kids are still young, right? So they're home, but when they're school age, like, weekends are the time we have with our kids. So imagine if. And you're in Texas. So hourly is way cheaper than here in la. I don't know what minimum wage is, but let's say you pay someone $15 an hour and they go do. How long are you at these shows for?

[Brianne]

Usually a minimum of two full days. So it's like a nine to five and then like ten to four. That's usually the kind of bare minimum.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

It's like 16 hours.

[Brianne]

Yeah.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so 16 times. I'll just pay him 15 bucks. So it's gonna cost you $240 to have someone run your booth. How much do you make in a weekend over those two days?

[Brianne]

The revenue is typically around. It depends on the show and the time of year. But I'm just gonna say probably $2,000 to somewhere. I think our best one so far has been just under 10.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, that's amazing.

[Brianne]

So pretty big range.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

If worst is $2,000, then you're, you're only losing $240 out of that 2,000. Because imagine this world, what if, if you still wanted to do this and make more money, one person had a booth over here and then you were at another market and now you're making 2000 from both markets and it's only costing you $240. And also pay yourself $15 an hour at least, right? So you can start to see like your efforts get multiplied. But I just say that because even if it's once a month, what, what your mom is saying is, Susan, you're correct. But also there's the stress of, you have twins, they're toddlers. At least they're not three anymore.

[Brianne]

But at least they are not three anymore. They are not three nagers anymore.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Nobody tells you about three and then you get three year olds, you're like, what has actually happened? I know I need double. So the thing is like for your own well being, like even if you get to sleep in or go for a massage and someone else watches your mom, watches your kids, you will get a massage and someone else is making you $2,000 and you're paying them $240. I'm like, I would pay that all day, every day. So if you can do that, it's just starting to test it, right? Just release it. Or let's say you have one person work one of the days and you do the other day. But it will take training where you, you're going to do the shows, you're going to train them, then you're going to like step back a little and watch them do it. But Valerie Brennan of Brennan Candelco, this last year she had other people running her in person events and then she focused on wholesale and direct to consumer. And now you're able to multiply because you're able to work on like these bigger moves versus the like time for time situation that you're dealing with. Because is it is what it is. Like I always say if you aren't on social media or social media just isn't the thing for you, you actually don't need it to grow your business because there are other options. So in Brianne's case, if she wants to increase her sales, what I see as her best path to profit, the lever she can pull that would be the easiest for her right now would be going into wholesale sale. So based on the type of product and the types of stores she can sell her products to. Right. It just makes sense. But she feels like she doesn't have the time to do it all. So let's figure out how we can get her some of her time back. Hey friends. Okay, so I don't know if you're anything like me, but sometimes it feels like my self care routine is slipping through the cracks. Because when I'm juggling and wearing all the hats in my business and doing all the things, I mean the last thing I have to is like really fulfill that self care routine that my daughter's talking about. She's like, mom, so listen. So when it comes to running a successful business, you can't really pour from an empty cup. And a lot of times that self care is like one of the first things to get yourself recalibrated. So that's why I want you to meet Glossy. Now Glossy is my favorite daily beauty supplement designed to transform your skin and gut health from the inside out. And I'm actually an investor in this business because, because I so believe in this idea of science backed ingredients for digestion and skin hydration. And Glossy makes it really easy to look and feel your best without that whole 10 step routine in the mirror. The thing I don't actually have time for, all I have to do is simply mix the stick into my water and I'm good to go. So if you want to try this because I so believe in this business, I think it's amazing. It's done so many wonders for my skin and my gut, which are two things that I need help with. And you want to simplify your wellness and your beauty. All you have to do is click in the show notes and you can use the code Jaclyn Snyder. So it's my full name, use the code Jaclyn Snyder and I'm hooking you up with 15% off your order. So cheers to glowing skin and a thriving business. So I think if you. But I also think that you could probably improve your conversion when you're in person if they, they walk in and they know what they're getting right? Or you're putting together gift bundles or there's some sort of like build your own gift bundle and like you, you, the more items they pick, the more they get a discount. So it's like, pick two items, get 10%. Three. Or like, yeah, two items, you get 10% off. Three items, you get 15%. Four items, you get 20. Right. So you can also incentivize in person things for them to buy more when they're there.

[Brianne]

Yeah, that's definitely something we've been looking at too, is. Is kind of updating the way that we display our products. And we've. We have gotten some feedback that. And I guess this aligns with what you were saying earlier, that it's just too many products, but we've gotten some feedback that it's just kind of overwhelming. Right. That people, they. They think it all looks cool, but then they walk away. Right. Like, because they're just overwhelmed.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah. Because they're like, do I want the glasses? Do I want the hat? Maybe I want the placemats. Like, what do I actually. Do I want a mug? Do I want a corkscrew? You know, so I think if I were like, walking by and I'm like, oh, okay, that's a cool. They've got cool women's accessories in there. And I got to choose between bags and wallets. Or how about this bag and wallet? It easy, right? Oh, you should add glasses. Those glasses are so cute. You'll look so cute. Matching, right? Or like hat and glasses. So whether or not you hire. I know I like, seeded that in your brain, but that's how I think I would clean it all up. And I think wholesale. I know you're ask. You're trying to ask me like, well, where should I market? But I think wholesale and building that business. And then you're in person, you're really working on getting their emails and then you're marketing to them. And then the third place would be if you wanted to go down the affiliate route or working with influencers. It's the 50 over. Like the 50 plus fashion. And then people who have blogs and they're on Facebook and they have a following, they. Even though most of your customers right now are not on social media, those people do have the customers on social media. So they do have that corner of the Internet. So if your stuff resonates with them, then I would do that. And the other thing you could do too is if you want, you could do collaborations with other people with similar customers. So like Brian, if you're listening, you know, with Freshwater Pro Co, he may have a similar customer that you guys could do a giveaway together. Or, you know, it's like a similar customer so that you can find that in your. In the multi shoe machine group, who else is selling, you know, to women over 50? Does anyone do a class? That would be the other way to reach other customers? I think.

[Brianne]

Okay. Okay. I think that makes a lot of sense. Do you think the fact that we have that historical. The fact that we didn't start out Texas Texas Court Company, do you think that that's hurting us?

[Jacqueline Snyder]

No. You made $100,000. You're gonna make another $100,000.

[Brianne]

Okay.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Nothing's hurting you.

[Brianne]

Okay.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

You're just gonna move forward.

[Brianne]

Okay. All right, so leave it. Leave it the way it is. Got it.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

What did you. Did you want to change it to something?

[Brianne]

No, I think the question is just for us, like, because we, we changed our store name on Shopify. Right. There's still like, when you see in your store name, it says like my Shopify, and then it says still dot, needle and brush, studio. And then like, like slash, Texas cork or something. As far as we can tell, we are the only ones that can see that we can't. Like when we.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah, I'm on your website. It's TX cork.

[Brianne]

Okay. And so as long as we don't think that that's something that should be hurting us, but we were just hoping that somebody like you knew better than we do.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Yeah, no, but then, but then. Okay, so then if we want to get into SEO, then really, from an SEO perspective, you might be getting more into SEO and searching in there. Like bags to travel, crossbody bags, like boating, sunglasses. Right. Like, it might not be using the word cork. It might be finding SEO words that people are searching for. Gifts for him, unique gifts for her. Right. Like, if you find those words and that's more of like what people are going to search and then they're going to see your stuff. And if again, it's the same way of like passing you at a booth, if I'm like, oh, that's cool, I'll stop. But no, I'm not going to type in cork bags.

[Brianne]

Yeah. So you can do more searchable terms.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

You're known enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like, you'll still use cork if you want to use cork in there, but think about what people are really searching for. Crossbody bags, lots of pockets or whatever it is. Again, I don't think, I don't know that that is the place that you have to function right now. I think cleaning up the collection and really like honing on the ideal customer and then, and then knowing that they want to buy it from a fashion, unique product. And secondary is the other stuff, which is just a shift in your messaging or the way that you feel like you have to position yourself.

[Brianne]

Oh my goodness. Okay. So helpful. It's funny because you actually said a lot of the same. A lot of the things that we had been kind of of thinking, right. Especially I haven't having done sos, I haven't had time to like fully implement everything. But this is a lot of the things that I had been kind of thinking were the direction we were going. But it's just so much clarity still. So thank you.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So you said the women actually buying from us are significantly older than our ica. So I think what's happening for you is like you're too close to it.

[Brianne]

It.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So there's the imaginary person and then there is the person. Now as much as she's significantly older than your ica, we do like to typically find a younger version of us to buy. So you know, even my grandma who's going to be 90, is like not looking to look like an old lady still, like I still take her and she's finding fashionable tops and you know, she still wants to like in our brains we're still whoever we were at our, we're all in our prime but like, you know, that, that time of our life where we're like fashionable and like in our style. So my grandma doesn't ever want to like look old. She doesn't want to look like her grandma. She just wants to find stuff that fits her, fits her body, fits her taste and is like marked at the point that. So it's the same way that I said like Facebook marks a point of like my grandma's still on Facebook and luckily I repost from Instagram to Facebook so she can see what I'm doing, doing, you know, so it's the same idea with fashion. So we don't need to age her up. So I want you to look at like White House black market at Chico's. Chico's is a good one to look at because Chico's has also done like a whole fashion sort of like it's still fashionable and they're still not cheap clothes. The coats are longer, the prints are more timeless, but they're still using bright colors and things like that that still make her feel beautiful and good, but it's just not like, like my daughter right now is dressed like anime. Like she's got like ombre lips with blue in the middle and purple on the outside. My mother in law walked in, I was like, oh, you know, like like that's not what we're going for. Right? That's what the young people do.

[Brianne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I, I, I definitely, I totally hear you. The hiring is going to be a conversation that we'll have to have. But I, I, I, I had a feeling you were gonna say that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, it's just I don't want you to burn out and I don't want you to resent your business and I want it to grow. But right now your main revenue stream is in person. So you either find help at home or you find help in work. And I know your mom wants you to make more money. So then how about you're like, great, we're gonna hire someone to do this. I'm gonna pay someone 250 bucks for two days and I'm gonna work on wholesale and I'm going to pay myself a 10 commission from wholesale or something. Right. Because if you drive your own traffic to check out on fare, you don't pay a commission. If they find you on there, you pay a commission. So what if now you are making five to $8,000 per month on your in persons and then five to $8,000 wholesale? We have so much more money to pay you, so we're gonna pay you. You're just going to be putting your efforts in a different place. Place.

[Brianne]

Yeah, yeah, no, I, I, I definitely, I, I totally agree. And I think the burnout with going to that many markets is, is a real possibility.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Inevitable. Yeah, yeah. Until those kids go to school. And then still. What other question can I help?

[Brianne]

I think the only kind of final question I have is just a clarification. When you, when you're paying people, like, let's just, in this imaginary world say that I was going to hire somebody to, to do the markets for us, there's often, you know, like you're traveling, it's you know, sometime six hours away because it's Texas and it's huge. Right. And then we have overnight stays in hotels and things like that. So now we would have to do that if it was us or if it was somebody else.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Right.

[Brianne]

But is that something where you would like the expectation is that we would cover those costs and they're, and that they are just sort of an hourly employee.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Right. Whether you have them as an employee. Yeah, you either have them as an employee or a contractor. A contractor is like 1099 where they're coming in and they're just working. They're not working for you every day. They're working these markets. Right. So they're your salesperson. If it's an employee and an hourly employee, you might need to talk to someone who's more in like, hr or go into the group and ask this question for people too. Even reach out to Valerie at running Candle company. But what I would say is that, for example, my husband's an actor, and so if he gets hired to go do a job, when the offer comes in, it's like, this is how much you're getting paid. Plus you get a stipend, travel and hotel. So the stipend might be like $50 a day for food. You don't have to provide that. But if you're asking them to travel somewhere else, you might be like, hotel and. Because if they're a contractor, it's just an agreement with them. Right. Like, an employee might have some different legalities. So you would probably pay for hotel, you would pay for car. If they are driving their own car, you'll pay mileage there. It's like a set mileage amount. It's like, I don't know if it's 34 cents a mile or something like that. If they're driving what I do. And what you would want to do is get insurance. So when they're driving to market, when they're at market, if something happened, you just want to make sure you're covered in, like, liability insurance. And then I would just talk about the rules there. So, yeah, it could cost more. But again, it's like, what are you doing? Doing with.

[Brianne]

Right. Buys. Buys more time for me for sure. And I'm. I'm looking at ways to get help at home too. Right. So that we might be able to kind of go at it from both sides.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

But, you know, the other thing, I know it's not ideal, but, like, our family travels a lot for work. And when I went to Nashville, I actually brought. She's my personal assistant. She was my personal assistant, but I brought her and asked her if she could help me with my kids too. So, like, there are days that I would. Was like, I had in person masterminds. And so she was with my kids while I was doing that. But then she also made sure that, like, the work stuff was happening. So, I mean, I know it sounds bougie, but you can eventually travel with nannies if you want. If you want to be there doing it and you want your kids to be with you. So there's just lots of ways to do this. You get to decide how you want to do it. But it's help. Just help is Your reoccurring theme, it's like, yeah, you can do it all. And I think you've been through a lot of the hard stuff already with having littles at home double time and building this business. So you've done an amazing job and so has your mom. But what got you here is you're going to kind of probably stay here until you have more spaciousness to level up. So what I'm doing here, it's like you're kind of going to stay a little bit stagnant because you don't have the capacity to do anything else.

[Brianne]

Yeah, because it's. And that was. I said that a little bit in the intake form, but basically I was really disappointed because we were actually down about 30%. And, and. But when you look at these other metrics, we're way up in terms of, like our online sales, our sales from email marketing, like, we're way up in all these kind of other areas that we were trying to target this year. But because we've done 30% fewer shows thus far in the year, we're down, we're still down because all the shows that we've done thus far have been down. I don't know, everybody's kind of blaming election year. Who knows, like attendance, everything's down. That the stuff where we're up isn't compensating for the reduction in the number of shows and the fact that the shows that we've done is down are down.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

So listen, what got you here won't get you there. And I cannot say this enough. And this is exactly the case for Brianne. While her and her mom have done an amazing job up until this point, they don't have the space or the capacity to grow any bigger. And that's because their time is being used in other ways. So when you hit this point, this is when you need to consider hiring someone to help you so that you can get some of your time back and some of your space back to be able to grow your business to the next level. Remember, you can't grow if you're getting in your own way and you're not outsourcing some of that work that you don't need to be doing. And I don't think I mentioned this when I was coaching her, but there are a lot of things that we're doing that we can actually just stop doing. So I want you to think to yourself, do I have to do them? Can I delegate them to someone else or can I delete them? So think about that for Your own business as well. Okay. So as you're hearing me talk to Brianne about outsourcing and hiring and seeing where she feels stuck. What I wanted to give you is something that I give myself students, which is this, this form, this document that you fill out. Okay. And it's one in which you write down all the tasks that you're doing and then you go through them and you decide, do I need to do this? Can I delegate this? Can I delete it? Can I automate it? Can I outsource it? Okay, so I'm going to give you that as a free download. All you have to do is click the link in the Show Notes or is go to the productboss.com help and we will get you this form so that you can really start to write out all of the things that you're doing and you can look at them and think, okay, do I need to be doing this? Can I just stop doing this? Or maybe I need to get some help in this spot. Okay. And I hope that this is super helpful. So click the link in the Show Notes or go to the productboss.com help. It's. It's tough. I'm in the same spot with the way of just like, things are just not operating the way they were operating and things are just. They're feeling a little bit harder, but instead of pushing against it and we just think about everything as like a cycle. When it gets harder, it's asking us to level up. It's asking us to try something different than what we've been doing. Because if it always is the same and everything was just easy, where's the growth going to happen? We're just going to keep repeating the process, which I know would be amazing and my nervous system would really love that, but it's just not life, right? Life. Life's in its own way. So with that said, I think it's time to get creative. Right? Like, what do we need to offer? So, Dagny Dover. I talk about them a lot, how they build kits. There's this new face cream company that I. I don't know how new they are, but I've just discovered them. They sell it Sephora and they're called In Beauty. It's I N N. And they actually sell kits online where it's exactly what I just told you. You get a percentage off, you get to build your own bundle. So you get a makeup bag and then you get to add in products. It caps you out at a certain amount of products and then. And Then when I bought it, it was like 30% off if you added the most amount of products. So because it was like a promotion that they did. So I had done that, but now it's back down to 20 or 25%. So they're always running this, like, discount for stacking on more product. So the thing is, is here's the deal. When a customer coming back, retaining a customer, and coming back to buy from you, they're 60 to 70% more likely to buy from you versus a new customer is between 5 and 10% percent. So there's more of a 90 to 95% chance that new customers are not going to buy from you. Okay. Versus, like a 70% chance that they will. So working on converting people that have already bought from you, getting them to come back and buy more when they're there and they're ready to buy, getting them to raise their average order value when they're with you. That's how you're going to like, yes, we can be down, yes, we can have less customers. Yes, sales can be down. But the people who are ready to spend with you, let's get them to spend more when their wallets are, are out. And then I want you to focus on profitability. So when you get rid of all this other stuff and you're able to, like, really focus, you'll be able to scale in a lot of ways. Your manufacturing prices can go down. So one of our students, she has a coffee shop, and she was like, she was flat and she kept feeling like. Because I always talk. I know I talk about double, triple, quadruple. But let's get real here. We're not always able to do that.

[Brianne]

That.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And so the better option is that even if you stayed flat, you made the same amount that you made last year. Can we improve it, Profitability, even if it's by percentages? 1.2.3 percentages versus like, you know, do we always have to double? No, but if we can get better at our profitability, then. Then you have more money in your pocket left over. I remember someone asked me, like, what's your goal? I was like, $10 million company. They're like, why? And I was like, so I can make more money. Like, what if you could have a $5 million company and be taking home 40, 50% of the profit? And I was like, that'd be awesome, right? More money, more problems, more team, more everything. So I know these are really big numbers, but it's like, I just need to know what I want my take home. To be. And then that's what I work towards in terms of profitability.

[Brianne]

Yep. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because that was part of our goal as well, was just. Even if we stayed at the same total revenue, was just to try to make that. That revenue may be more profitable for us this year. I feel like I have so many things now between just finishing SOS and then, and then this call. I feel like I have so many things now to, to kind of move forward with. So. Thank you so much.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Do you feel overwhelmed or you just feel like you've got, you've got the info that you need?

[Brianne]

I feel a little overwhelmed if I'm just being totally honest, but I think for the most part.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Let's break it down.

[Brianne]

Yeah, no, I, I mean, I think for me it's more of honestly, like, where am I going to find the time? Right? That's. I mean, that's just pretty always the case for me. It's just like, where am I going to find the time? So I know like, the kids are starting preschool in the fall and so that will. It's a part time program, so that will be helpful. Mom and I are working on ways to. I mean, one of the things that I took out of SOS that like, it feels like it should have been common sense to me, but I for. I needed somebody to say it to me was just like, you need to treat your time like it's as valuable of a resource as your money, right? Like if you are spending all these. You know, I had put so much time into trying to gain followers on Instagram, for example, right? Like just trying to grow there and it. And then we did that survey in SOS and it was just like, my people aren't there. Like none of nobody who responded was on Instagram. And it was just like, why am I spending all this time when there's no, there's no ROI at all, right. And so I don't want to, I don't want to completely ignore the people who might be on Instagram, but it's just, it gave me permission to kind of like let that not be as much of a focus for me. Right. And so I've made so much more progress since making that shift on trying to do things like wholesale, on trying to prepare for the fall, like, and thinking, I mean, we actually nailed down what our Black Friday offer is going to be like in July, you know, and so, so for me, like, that's just so. I feel a little overwhelmed, but. But I feel like I have the tools since going through SOS and since kind of revisiting some of the stuff from MSM and sitting down through all of that. And I feel like I have the tools now to kind of really. I find myself asking the question a lot more often. Does this time have any roi? And if it does, what is it? So I can really identify like what I'm getting out of this hour or whatever.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, that's excellent. So I think because it's like a water hose to the face right now of information, you'll go back and listen to this and think through it. And I just want you to think like you can map it out on a 30, 60, 90 day plan, right? So what's immediate? Like what needs to happen right now? What do you have the bandwidth with to do? I would say sooner than later, wholesale is a good thing for you to jump into because people will be buying for the holidays. So even if you're like, I just want to get even, if you do nothing else and just look up your favorite stores in Texas, you don't have to do the hundred that I said, but let's say your favorite stores in Texas and you reach out to them and you try and book a few new stores. Like it's just these little wins that you can do to like start to practice. You go into a local store and you take in, in a collection. So that would just be from a timing perspective. You know, they're going to start gearing up to stock the stores. So wholesale is a little bit more timely. And in that you just start to think, well, what am I going to focus on? Even if you got rid of nothing else on your website. So I want you to just think of it in like a 30, 60, 90 plan. What needs to happen now and what, what am I going to work on? Like, what am I going to accomplish in 60 days? What am I going to accomplish in 90 days? We overestimate what we can do in a year and we underestimate what we can do in three years. So we're like, in one year I'm gonna do this. And it's like for me, my goal last year for what I wanted to get done this year I'm like, we're trying, right? But I might have to knock this down into 20, 25 of like my, my goals. I mean, I've done a lot this year, but it's still not the end result of what I want. Because life is lifing. The world is happening around us, it's happening. Everything's Happening. So it's like, great. I've accomplished a lot. So I want you to take a moment. I've accomplished a lot, and look at the things I've accomplished. And then let me just set plans and then give myself a project and when that project is done, do the next thing. Everything's going to feel like it's important. It's not. So just find the gaps. Is it that you want to hire someone so you could jump into this part. Great. And then what can mom do versus what you do? Right? Like, maybe mom is researching the stores. Right. The other thing, the other thing is like, let's say you did hire a part time employee. Not saying you need to or should, or you hired. You could hire a VA in the Philippines to go research stores for you. Like, there's so many other ways to, like I said, to problem solve for this and to get resourceful. But I just want you to say, like, what do I need to do right now? What's getting in my way of hitting my goals? Is it a time thing? Is it a finance thing? If you're down in sales but your profit is fine, then you might be like, all right, I'm just gonna gear up for the holiday season. So I have to prep right now for everything I need to do for my busy time. So slowly step into it and give yourself the grace and patience and like, it's going to take the time it takes and what needs to be now and what can be later.

[Brianne]

So. Good.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. Okay, good. No, it's just like, deep breath out.

[Brianne]

Yeah. I think it's funny. I think it was one of the podcast episodes talked about how, I want to say you said it was your operations manager, Somebody on your team tells you that you're only allowed to have three projects at a time and that you are, you know, and so. And. And this is kind of where I find, like my. My mom and I are both sort of, kind of tend to be these kind of very high achieving, you know, like, kind of try to do everything at once. And I've just realized that it. It means that like, nothing actually gets done. Right? And so because we start 100 conversations and then like. And then you factor in the twins, right. That are four and. And you just like the constant levels of interruption and like the context switching. Right. Is. And so trying to find bl where there's not a lot of context switching is something that I'm like, really forcing myself to prioritize to find that time. And so I feel like this gives me a Lot of really good sort of action items to prioritize those. They're not very many, but I do get some blocks of time.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Well, and that's why I'm not sure if you have. Do you have the 90 day roadmap from MSM?

[Brianne]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, so I know I'm like adding more things for you to watch, but that one maybe is the first step. So you got that as a bonus for like one payment into msm and most people take us up on that. And so I think maybe start there. But what I think that would be good for you is like really deciding on what the projects you're going to work on. Like, you're going to set goals, you're going to have projects and you're going to have tasks and you might watch it with your mom, you might divide and conquer. And then I want you to both think about, well, what are our roles in this company? Because right now if you're all doing, if you're both working on this same things, then we're not getting as much done as we we could be. And so, so it might be like, hey, mom, like while she's financing me, she's like finance and operations and she's like a little bit more back of house and you're more front of house marketing sales visionary. But we do need to kind of split it up a little bit more so that the business is always being worked on. But you know what you do, she knows what she does. And then she, you, you time block it. You're like, again with my husband on the Dream 100. I was like, great, you want to reach out to a hundred people. How long is it going to take you to find the a hundred people. So we gave him 10 days to find a hundred people. So it's 10 people a day. Okay. And then it was another 10 days. So 10 people a day that he would reach out to. Right. If you want to go slower, you go slower. If it's like, I want to do five a week and I'm going to do it over the next, I don't know, however many weeks, like you get to choose, choose your timing. Just set these micro goals for yourself that are more achievable. And like you said, you're like a high achiever. So you're like, I'm gonna do 100 tomorrow. It's not possible. Then you feel bad because you're like, I didn't do the thing I said I was gonna do. So do the thing you say you're gonna do just in a realistic. Okay, I'm gonna reach out to 100 people, but I'm gonna give myself the next 30 days and I'm gonna do two a day. Right now it's easier to. To do that math. Might not math, but it's just giving you an example.

[Brianne]

No, I 100% understand what you're saying. And I. And I definitely think that will be a helpful strategy for me.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay. So those are the tools. You have everything but the mastermind like you are in. So. So you have everything that I would be. Ever tell anybody that they needed in terms of what we offer right now. And you got a coaching session. So I think, I think you're in a really good spot to get to the next level with with all of this. And then you also deserve to treat yourself to something. So that would be my ask of you is like, I don't know if you like massages or a night out for dinner or whatever it is, but if you could treat yourself to something, then please do that. Because even if you're not paying yourself. And that's the other thing you tell your mom, like, yeah, I might not be paying myself, but, you know, once a month I go for a massage and the company helps me pay for that. And then it's like, all right, like, at least you know that that thing is coming, so it makes it worth it. And then you'll level up on the things you spend on because as a mom, you're always gonna go for your kids, so. Which is. I agree. But then we all deserve something too.

[Brianne]

Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay, I'll hold you to that. What do you think you're gonna do? What do you. What would you like?

[Brianne]

Like, I really enjoy getting my nails done. I think that's the thing.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay.

[Brianne]

I, I like getting my nails done, so I will do that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

All right.

[Brianne]

I will commit to that. I actually need to that.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

And then send me a picture of your nails.

[Brianne]

Okay.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Okay.

[Brianne]

Okay. You be my nail accountability partner.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I'll be your nail accountability partner. Did you get your manicure all right? Thank you. This is so good. This. I'm so glad that you took of a lot of way. So Brianne and her mom Susan have been doing such a good job at growing this business. I mean, it's truly incredible what they're doing with these in person markets in Texas only, by the way, raising babies to toddlers that are twins. But if they want to keep growing, they're going to need to make some changes, which I know they can definitely do. Now. The main theme here is understanding the importance of needing to nail your niche and your ideal customer, right? Nailing your niche means really being known for something, not spreading yourself too thin and not trying to sell everything to everyone. And once you've done that, you will then be able to figure out your next step where you need to focus and get more people to find your business and increase your sales. While so much information can feel overwhelming and like a water hose to the face, just like I told Brianne, take it one step at a time and create a realistic, holistic plan for yourself. You can do this product boss. If anyone wants to shop from you, buy from you, follow you, all the things how how can they reach you?

[Brianne]

Our online store is www.txcork.com and then you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Texas Cork.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Amazing. It's great for gift giving. Thank you so much for sharing this coaching call with everyone as well.

[Brianne]

Thank you, Jacqueline.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

All right, so I hope that you love this episode. Let me know. Leave me a review for the first podcasts. Make sure to follow the show and I'll talk to you next time.