The Fun Side of Running a Business is Talking About It!
I'm still processing how my two furry friends – James and Muffin – inspired me to start a venture that is now loved by so many pawrents. As a business owner, I'm growing, but I'm also learning a lot about other pet parents and how they treat their pooches. For one, every pawrent wants safe and healthy treats for their little furballs, and that's what drives me to work harder on my products and align them with every canine's palate.
When you are passionate about something, you can't stop talking about it. So I recently said yes to an opportunity to talk about how I started my business, how it's going, and my future plans.
In a candid conversation with Go Solo, I opened up about my business and my motivation behind it. Here's the link to the full interview, which you can read after this blog.
Ever since I got my business up and running, I get asked a lot of questions about my journey. So, I decided to pen down my business philosophy which helped me reach where I am today.
#1 Explore your passion
The common wisdom says, "love what you do". But that's vague and irrelevant in terms of business. It is important to go to the depths of what you love and keep digging until you find out why you love what you love.
#2 Identify the need
It worked out for me because I take great satisfaction in feeding James and Muffin. And I know there are people like me who want the best treats for their pets but don't have the time or skills to bake.
#3 Fill the gap
So, I decided to bake for other pawrents – mostly coworkers, friends, and neighbors – to get an idea if I have a viable product. As it turns out, their pets loved my bakes and they even advised me that I should sell them.
#4 Find your audience
You can have an excellent product, but it won't sell unless you find your audience. For me, it was not feasible to set up a high-street dog supply store, so I decided to try my luck at the Farmers Market. I had nothing to lose. If I couldn't sell my bakes, the worst case scenario would be that I’d be left with surplus treats for my two excited pets back at home. But fortunately, I sold them all.
#5 Raise Your Confidence Before Raising Capital
A viable business is one that makes a profit without a sizable upfront investment. I didn't want to invest heavily in my business during the initial stages because I needed to figure out the returns first. After I let my products out in the market, I waited patiently for a few months before scaling operations. And as soon as the demand went up, I knew this would work, and then there was no looking back.
That's my business journey and experience so far in a nutshell. I hope I was able to inspire you to become your own boss. Read my interview to learn more about me.