FEATURED POST OF THE WEEK

Our long-form article of the week. You can always view the current and past featured posts on Empower’s blog.

Small business lessons with a side of biscuits and bacon

I’m excited to share my experience from joining the Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s Growing Together Women in Business Breakfast last week. I posted a summary on LinkedIn earlier this week, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share a more complete briefing. The small business lessons shared can be valuable and uplifting to anyone in the Empower community trying to design their business for long-term success. I was inspired!

This was the Chamber’s inaugural event for its Growing Together initiative, which supports female entrepreneurs, non-profit and corporate leaders through opportunities that promote business success. The keynote speaker for the Women in Business breakfast was Gina Schaefer, a female entrepreneur who built a successful small business “empire” from a single Ace Hardware location in Washington, D.C. to 13 stores with over 300 employees and mid-8-figure revenue. Her story is a testament to the impact of local businesses and the power of serving a community’s untapped needs. 

Keynote insights from Gina Schaefer: Building a network of small businesses

Gina’s journey deeply resonated with me and reiterated why I started Empower. In Edition 001, I shared that one of my main drivers was to see more emerging businesses thrive and to play a role in driving those outcomes. In my experience, local businesses create the pulse of a neighborhood, shape their character, and, the good ones, foster a deep sense of community building. While I’ve seen many, unfortunately, not make it and get replaced by corporate entities, I’ve also been encouraged by those that I’ve seen flourish and expand, like my old gym (SESSION) and regular coffee shop (Butler Bakeshop), both in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In both cases, the owners understood from the beginning what it meant to be a part of the community and how to cultivate it. They also delivered curated experiences for customers and members that were hard to replicate. Now, they each operate multiple locations across neighborhoods. 

Gina also emphasized small businesses' role in a community and how she didn’t take that responsibility lightly as she built her retail locations and teams. She urged the audience to strike the word “just” from our vocabulary. I won’t get the exact quote right, but the message was that we are not “just” women or business owners or homeowners or neighbors; we make up the fabric of our respective communities and have the power to help the businesses within them thrive. 

Her entrepreneurial journey began without experience running a business or in the hardware store industry. What she did have was vision, conviction and resilience. She had a vision for the future of her neighborhood - Logan Circle - which, at the time, was filled with boarded-up windows. She observed more people moving into the once-empty homes and fixing them up. She saw change and, then, she identified a gap. There was nowhere in the neighborhood where people could buy lightbulbs, nails, paint or a hammer to complete these projects. So, she filled the void with that first Ace Hardware store and built from there. 

Her key message from her initial experience and successes: Go where nobody is and find the white space. That lesson rings true today. It’s a highly competitive, fast-moving economy. Small business owners must identify unmet needs and offer differentiated solutions to drive success. 

Consider these questions before deciding to open a small business:

• Is the market already served with what I plan to provide? 

• Do I have a unique proposition to offer the community?

• Will people pay for my products or services? 

In addition to finding the white space, Gina shared thoughts about how small business owners can be more successful. She called upon a concept from the book The EMyth, which I’ve recently been re-reading. The book outlines three distinct business personalities – the Technician, the Entrepreneur and the Manager. The Technician is the one who does the tactical work and is responsible for making, selling and delivering the products and services. Frequently, small business owners are, by nature, Technicians. They’re masters of their craft and those skills give them the confidence to start a business. However, Technicians don’t always know what it takes to run a business. As both the book and Gina indicate, this leads many Technicians to struggle finding sustainable success. The more a small business owner learns to flex into the Entrepreneur and the Manager and finds ways to work strategically on the business vs. constantly in it, the more likely they will tilt success in their favor.  

Gina shared other valuable lessons during her talk:

The state of small business today

During the Q&A, I asked Gina about the biggest challenges small businesses face today and the support owners need. She highlighted access to capital, especially for women and minorities. She also stressed the importance of leveraging your network for guidance and not being afraid to ask questions. Lastly, she reiterated that owners need to recognize that running a business is fundamentally about people. 

When someone else asked her what she attributed her success, she mentioned a couple of things, but made sure to highlight, “If you don’t toot your own horn, no one will.”

One of the last messages Gina left the audience with doubled as a word of caution. She talked about the “Silver Tsunami” and how that trend could lead to significant small business and local job loss without proactive planning by cities. The Silver Tsunami refers to the large increase in the aging population, primarily driven by Baby Boomers, and the impact this has on society and business. A Live Oak Bank report stated all Baby Boomers will be 65 by 2030. According to the same article, that generation accounts for approximately 2.3 million small businesses in the U.S. 

Gina’s story is a powerful reminder of the possibilities for small business owners. It highlights small businesses' significant economic contributions and underscores the importance of finding your niche and supporting community building. 

WEEKLY DOSE OF EMPOWERMENT

The weekly dose of Empowerment is meant to provide one weekly tip that’s both practical and approachable, to help drive incremental improvement to your day-to-day. We’re always open to your contributions as well. If you would like to submit a tip to be shared with the Empower community in a future newsletter, please reach out at [email protected] with the subject line “Weekly Dose of Empowerment Submission.”

End your week by organizing for the next one

It’s near the end of the day on Friday and you’re racing to the weekend. Sound familiar?

Flash forward, it’s Sunday afternoon and your mind starts spinning with all the things that may come at you in the coming week. Some might even refer to that feeling as the “Sunday Scaries.”

Instead of spending part of your weekend overwhelmed and starting your Monday trying to set priorities, make a to-do list and adjust your calendar, take 30 minutes at the end of every Friday to take care of these things instead. I can’t promise you the end of Sunday Scaries, but I can provide a quick framework for how to end each week feeling like you’ll be better prepared for the next one. 

It will take five simple steps: 

• Reflect on the past week: What were your goals, what did you accomplish and what’s still outstanding? 

• Prioritize for the following week: Identify the most important work that needs to get done the following week. Write down a focused set of weekly goals and develop a tactical to-do list with deadlines. Also, set reminders so you don’t miss a deliverable.  

• Review your calendar: Audit your calendar and make adjustments. Are there any unnecessary meetings? Does anything need to shift? Is there adequate time allotted to complete your weekly goals? For more tips on organizing your calendar, reference Edition 002.

• Clean up the inbox: Respond to outstanding emails and organize your inbox. 

• Tidy up your workspace: Take a few moments to organize your space before finishing up for the weekend. Entering a clean workspace on Monday will help bring a clear mind to kick off the week. 

Schedule this planning time in your calendar weekly to enforce accountability and set you up for success. Your Monday will thank you for it!

JESSICA’S READ, OR LISTEN, PICK OF THE WEEK

A little something that got my gears turning this week and might pique your interest as well!

From Below the Line: #161 - Keep it Simple

TL;DR

Below the Line is a newsletter by Kevin LaBuz, Head of Corporate Development and Head of Investor Relations at 1stDibs. He is a former equity analyst and previously worked in strategic finance at Etsy and Indeed. This post served as his Q1 2024 e-commerce review. It goes through his perspective on the current state of the industry and the widening bifurcation between winners and losers in the current economy.

In short, companies focused on simple, core attributes and driving those concepts into the value proposition are finding strength. In other words, nail the basics. LaBuz emphasizes that simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy. Consumers are focused on receiving more value, which equals time and cost savings.

He highlighted the following as current successes:

• Amazon: price, selection and convenience

• Wayfair: availability, speed and price

• The RealReal: core consignment and operational efficiency

He proceeds to discuss challenges at Etsy, provides a Q2 industry outlook and hits on other e-commerce trends.

Optimizing operations is a key theme across the board. The RealReal, in particular, doubled down on efficiency when new management entered in 2022. The company has consciously traded faster growth for higher margins and better unit economics. The results: record gross margins. As LaBuz mentions about Amazon’s strategy, “Good things happen when you worry about pennies.”

Operations aren’t always where business owners want to spend their energy. But, the results and examples shared by LaBuz highlight why strong foundations are paramount to success in this economy.

What do you think?

Do you agree with LaBuz’s view of the e-commerce landscape and the attributes of “winners” in 2024? Reply, share your thoughts about the article and let me know what’s driving your purchasing decisions this year.

JUST FOR FUN

Really, this section is just for fun. Who knows what will be in store each week?

This is your reminder to go out and support your favorite local business courtesy of the Product Boss.

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