Welcome to 2020! We are excited to launch consulting and marketing services to birth business owners. Over the past year, Amanda, Founder, YOMA and Faith, Founder, Goenner Consulting, LLC have been working to provide social media and website resources for expecting families of Minnesota with Pregnant in Minnesota and the new launch of Pregnant in Wisconsin. Back in 2016, Faith and Amanda worked together to build Mama Gracie's Pregnancy Shop & Spa, a one-of-a-kind retail and service maternity establishment. After the sale and renaming of this business, Faith returned to her career in higher education leadership and Amanda obtained her BA degree in Business and Marketing. They met again in 2019 and have a common vision to see small businesses be successful. Combining Faith's business expertise and Amanda's marketing content development, we are now offering the following service packages to help build your business. FREE website listing on either or both Pregnant in Minnesota and Pregnant in Wisconsin. Basic Monthly Birth Business Consulting /Marketing Services: $40/month
We are also interested to learn more about other problems or barriers we could help you solve in your business to make YOUR VISION POSSIBLE. Contact us today at faithgoenner@gmail.com.
I remember where I was sitting and I remember crying as I watched episode after episode of small business owners sharing their barriers, their passion and their goals in small town America. This was my story. I remember the day The Small Business Revolution Season 1 changed my life.
I was so excited to have finally wrote the business plan, won a start up business award, signed the lease and secured the vision for my dream to be a business owner.
I had attended Profit Mastery, I had worked with a SBA Consultant, I had joined the Chamber of Commerce, I attended Rotary, I had data of babies born in central Minnesota, we were writing blogs and posting to social media, we had met so many local people and still I wasn't financially doing well. This story ends with another entrepreneur buying the business, moving it to a larger community and re-branding it. Thankfully we didn't have to have a funeral.
The Small Business Revolution, which is a movement, has demonstrated that communities MUST be engaged and together for small town Main Streets to survive. Small businesses need support from city council, nonprofits, economic development leaders, residents and other businesses to thrive. Stories are coming in of communities being inspired by The Small Business Revolution show. They are being inspired to get together and choose to make decisions to allow their communities to survive. TODAY I MET THE SMALL BUSINESS REVOLUTION
Meeting Amanda Brinkman, Host, The Small Business Revolution has been a dream of mine because of the energy she brings inspires you to be more. Earlier this fall I wasn't able to attend her keynote at the 2019 Connecting Rural Entrepreneurs Conference and was so disappointed. I am so thankful for the community-based Village Bank who sponsored the event today at ModernWell and the co-presenters of Amanda Brinkman, Aleesha Webb and Erin Newkirk for their wisdom. This is the first event in a series of events to help small business owners. Check out Village Bank Facebook Page.
Nuggets from today:
Please let me know your story in the comments below or send me an email to faithgoenner@gmail.com. Happy Entrepreneuring!
 Today is the day to wake up grateful.
Today is the day to finish the unfinished project(s). Today is the day to say "Hi" to everyone you see. Today is the day that you will make it to the gym. Today is the day to start an inspiration blog. Today is the day to reconcile with family and friends. Today is the day to make decisions that will create your dreams. Today is the day to start a hobby. Today is the day to prioritize your time on the weekends. Today is the day to call someone you are missing. Today is the day to let everyone in your family know you love them. Today is the day you will read "God Loves You!". This mama artist said she has always been an artist in black and white, but her children inspired her to paint color. An inspired mama is a great mama! To check out all the styles go to LS Studios Facebook. Commissioned work is also available. Choose your own colors. FaithFaith Goenner, Entrepreneur, Visionary  Mama Gracie's Pregnancy Shop was birthed on Labor Day 2015. It was a dream of mine to own my own business since I was a teenager. Everything was going great implementing the business plan and getting it set up and then life happened. There are five things that I didn't hear anyone say as I prepared this journey and I hope they will help you on yours. 1. Down-Size your LifeIt is crazy that I thought leaving my 6-figure salary to start my own business would just flow. Our family has two cars, a rental property, a house, and bills. As the loans that we used to start the business started coming due and there were no sales at the shop, our cash flow was severely decreased. Later on, our renters gave their notice and our financial situation worsened. We down-sized so that we had the capacity to keep things afloat, be able to eat, and not lose everything. Being forced to down-size was probably the best way for me to handle the situation, but I wouldn't recommend it. After this season of financial hardship, I am leaner in my spending. It is fun now to see how much we are able to save because of our thriftiness. 2. Study your CustomerTo study your customer, you need to know your customer. The Small Business Development Consultant suggested to collect data about my potential customers. The data I collected about my customer base supported the claim that there were expectant moms in the Princeton area. But the data didn't answer many important questions. Where were these expectant moms going? What were they doing day-to-day? Were they shopping in the local city or going to larger cities where they could find more shops? At my shop's opening, there was only one customer base I had counted for (pregnant women). I wasn't getting the customer base I had written about in the business plan. Afterwards, I realized there were a lot more customers I hadn't taken into account like dads, grandparents and friends. 3. Get to know the City OrdinancesMy business was supported by winning a local business competition and so I assumed the city was supportive of small businesses. It wasn't until real-life happened that I saw that there were so many city ordinances that were not supportive of local small businesses. Examples include signage, parking and collaborative opportunities. We had a great sandwich sign at the end of our street that let people know about us. I received a note from the city that it was in violation of the city sign ordinance which required that the sign be only outside our shop. They couldn't allow everyone to just put signs up. Customers and people in the community asked what happened to our sign. 4. Know PerseveranceWebster defines perseverance as steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Work had always been easy to me but it was different when I had no colleagues or boss. It was up to me everyday to be inspired to love our products, our services and implement the vision that was in me. As personal and financial pressures worsened, I found the perseverance to keep going instead of implementing my plan to close the shop. My motto is that "I'm going to work this until it works.". We tried various ideas to kick start the shop and these ideas did keep the shop going. In 2017, we did need to downsize on some services (e.g., massages, yoga) and bring it back to being a pregnancy shop. Perseverance will win!!!! 5. Choose your Measure of SuccessRecently as Mama Gracie's has changed in her 2nd year, many friends, family and loyal customers have said " I'm so sorry it didn't work out." My answer is "Mama Gracie's is successful." She is a brand that is known across the country, maybe the world via Shoptiques. She has been featured in many local pregnancy stories when yoga and massage were part of the shop. We have mamas and babies using the products we sell and she is still young. There are many things that I didn't know when I started my business and have had to learn on the job. My vision for Mama Gracie's is that she will grow bigger than what we see today! AuthorFaith Goenner, Entrepreneur, Visionary |
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November 2023
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