Introduce your business and tell us your story: How did you decide on what to sell, and how did you source your products?
I had been a long time vinyl collector with an attic full of old, scratched up records. I was asked for a handmade gift in 2012 and decided to try to take a $5 dremel I purchased from a garage sale to a record and see what happened. After hundreds of hours of practice, the pieces started to look like a 'real' product. After some encouragement, I put the first few pieces for sale and 3 years later we are still growing and getting better everyday. Every piece is designed, cut and shipped in-house.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
I had pictures of my first pieces on my phone and showed them to some folks at a bar. They loved it and became my first customers. Social media and word of mouth bring in the most traffic and sales.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
Improved Contact Form has been an incredibly smooth app that allows our customers to get in touch with us. We have a lot of custom requests, so having an app that can easily manage the first point of customer interaction is very useful. All packaging and shipping is done internally.
What are your top recommendations for new store owners?
My first, second and third piece of advice is to be patient. Unless you are one of the very very few, a successful small business takes time to build, grow and prosper. We have a vision of where we want the company to be and know it takes a lot of hours, trial and error and dedication to get to that point. Being frustrated by bumps in the road wastes a perfectly good opportunity to learn something to help you on your way.