WEEK 4: Slowly But Steady
Zoey C -
Hello everybody! Welcome to week 4, almost half-way through the project. Time is definitely flying! I had 3 interviews and made some progress on my business plan so let me just fill you in on everything that happened this week:
My first interview was with Raphael, the owner of Raphael Indigo productions. This is an event planning business that focuses mainly on weddings, but she also helps with other events as well. A big piece of advertising that I have noticed with local businesses here in Prescott is that word of mouth is huge. Raphael talked about how 50-60% of her customers saw her working at other people’s weddings, and they decided they wanted her for their own wedding or event. Raphael emphasized that “no matter what you are doing, you should try your hardest to make it the best you can do,” no matter how big or small the task is. She tries to cut herself slack when mistakes happen because mistakes are how we learn and grow as people, but as long as she is trying her best, that is all that matters! Raphael is one of those people who wants to be your best friend and hear every detail, but she has had to learn to be more realistic with events. Her clients will go to her with an AI-generated image saying they want that, but she has had to learn to be realistic and let her clients know that their vision is just not possible.
I was then able to talk to Hayley of Primrose Board Co., who specializes in making charcuterie boards for different events. She had made charcuterie boards for fun during COVID, but after making one for a family dinner, the idea came up to start a business! After doing some research on the industry, Hayley jumped right in and started preparing to open Primrose Board Co. She hopes that in 10 years, she will have a storefront, and this will be open 7 days a week with ready-made boards for people to buy! Hayley talked a little about her advertising, and we started to compare the Instagram and Facebook demographics that she attracts from each social media platform. On Instagram, she finds a lot of younger couples reaching out, most of them getting married. But, on Facebook, there is an older demographic reaching out for different events.
My last interview of the week was with the owner of Cornerstone Family Chiropractic, Andrea. She and her husband, Dr. Rob, run a neurologically focused chiropractic office with the mission to help other people thrive and heal. Before they even opened, she and her husband would go to downtown events to start advertising for the office. But, they soon realized that downtown events typically draw in more tourists than locals, so these events were not great investments. There is no direct competition in the area with this business, because this is the only neurologically focused chiropractic office in the area. The only competition they have is with Big Pharma, which is the sector of major pharmaceutical companies. They work to prescribe medication to hide the pain instead of finding the root cause of the pain. Andrea and I had a nice discussion about employees, where we talked about how employees in this generation seem to have no work ethic. I have been seeing this when talking to small business owners, and there was a good point brought up where if being raised in technology could be causing this change in work ethic between the generations. Andrea’s biggest question for other business owners is what they do to ensure they are hiring someone who actually has the work ethic they say they do!
With my business plan, I have organized the sections I am going to be writing. My business plan will have 7 sections, which is Executive Summary, Company Description, Products, Market Analysis, Strategy, Management Summary, and Financial Projections. There are many subsections in each category that I am adding, but too many to talk about at the moment. This week I focused on finishing the products section where I basically focus on what products I am selling and a little on the competitive comparison. My menu will have options of different combinations of dirty sodas as well as an ability to mix your own flavors. I will also have juices and lemonades, and I have noticed that having seasonal drinks and specials keeps people interested, so I will incorporate some seasonal specials such as different types of hot cocoa for colder seasons. I will also have other treats such as cookie dough and cookies so that I can also bring in customers who are not into drinks. I have no direct competition in the area, but my main competitors are national and local coffee shops, as well as dessert shops downtown in Prescott. With my business, I would love to have friendly competition, while also playing smart and giving the other shops a run for their money! Here is my NEW logo (sorry for switching up on everybody) but let me know what you guys think? Would you guys go to a soda shop here in Prescott?
Thanks for checking in and everybody please be safe during Spring Break!
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