How I have made my small business work for ME

I have been a small business owner since 1998. Honestly, I may have never realized my love of working independently if it weren't for the birth of my oldest son 3 months early. I had every intention of returning to my full time job after my maternity leave, but my tiny baby boy was hospitalized for 5 months and the very last thing I wanted to do when he came home was go back to a full time desk job.

My first small business became my absolute passion project. I had discovered Jazzercise in 1992 as a result of a work friend inviting me to a trial class. Because of my love of music and dance, I was hooked immediately. I had been Jazzercising during my pregnancy and once my body healed I decided to become an instructor. Little did I know where this journey would take me and how it would save my life!

How did I make this first small business work for me? First and foremost, I was a young stay at home mom and it was important for me to be able take my children to work with me. Plus, I knew there were was a whole demographic of women out there who had time during their day to work out and had the need to bring their children with them as well.

As my weekly schedule of classes grew, so did the need for childcare at these classes. The financials quickly told me that my most successful time slots were those with childcare available. I was determined to making my clients workouts as convenient as possible as it was directly linked to my success. Plus, it was the cornerstone of how I was making the business work for ME.

Fast forward to 2019 when the pandemic rocked our entire world. Let me preface this next phase of my life by saying that one of my bucket list items was to have fresh flowers in my house when I was rich and famous. Now when I say flowers, I mean those big honking arrangements that you have in your ginormous entryway to your mansion. By chance, I was scrolling the web and came across Erin Benzakein, of Floret. She is a very successful flower grower in Washington who was self made and started farming when flower farming wasn't really a thing. Anyway, I was fascinated by the idea and started dreaming about farming on our ancestral homestead in eastern Kentucky. After money well spent on educational courses (on-line) and converting a small section of my yard into rows of flowers, I was actually able to have FLOWERS IN MY HOME! But it didn't stop there.

I am currently in my fourth year of commercial flower growing on my very small urban plot in Fuquay Varina, NC. In the Fall of 2023, I made the conscious decision to grow large amounts of a small variety of flowers so I could break into the wholesale business. This pivot was allowing me to make my business work for my schedule and to capitalize on the old adage of working smarter, not harder.

It has been a rewarding year and although I have had to pound the pavement to get my name out there, I have had my most successful year thus far! So in closing, remember, just because everyone else is doing things a certain way, doesn't mean you have to. You became a small business owner for several reasons, but I can bet, primarily, to be your own boss and work your own way with your own schedule. Stick to your guns and remember to do things to make you enjoy and thrive in your journey. Until next time - xoxo Sheri