803: How Many Customers Do You REALLY Need?

0:01This episode is supported by What Should I Do With My Money? From Morgan Stanley. Okay, can we just talk about how money is legitimately one of the hardest topics of money. up. Like even when you think you have your stuff together, there's always this really weird awkwardness around it. That's why I am obsessed with this podcast. It actually makes money conversations feel approachable. I recently listened to an episode about affording multiple big life things at once, like a wedding, a house, an IVF, if they were all happening at the same time. And honestly, it hit home. So many people are wondering, can we actually have it all without sacrificing our sanity or our savings.

0:42What I love is that they bring in real experts who help break down these massive costs into actual doable steps. It's like having a money mentor in your ear who gets it. Search for What Should I Do With My Money in your podcast player. We'll also include a link in the show notes. Many thanks to What Should I Do With My Money and Morgan Stanley for their support. There's so much history there. There's so much levity of like, oh, I forgot to had the baking soda and they went flat. And you know, like there's so many stories that you can tell that I think would make you feel more confident in hitting send, but also make the receiver more excited to open.

1:21I'm Jenna Kutcher, your host of the Gold Digger podcast. I escaped the corporate world at the age of 23 with nothing more than a$300 camera from Craigslist and a dream. Now I'm running a seven figure online business that feels even better than it looks all from my house in small town, Minnesota with my family. Here, we value time as our currency. We mix the woo and the work, and we are in the pursuit of building businesses that give us the freedom to live lives that we love. I've always loved turning big goals into reality, and I'm here to help you do the same. This isn't just a peek behind the curtain.

1:58Come along with me and my guests as we tear the whole curtain down. Every week we tackle practical, no-fluff marketing strategies and host honest discussions on what works and what doesn't. Join me and my expert guests for actionable insights to help you grow your dream business with confidence. Pull up a seat and get ready to be challenged, inspired, and empowered. This is the Gold Digger Podcast. Calling all brick and mortar business owners. If you want to get more eyes on your business and more people into your location, then this coaching episode has your name written all over it. And let me just preface it and say, I was really nervous for this one.

2:38I felt like I was out of my league. And yet when we wrap this episode up, I was so on fire for what Heather is about to do. So who is Heather? Well, as a young girl, Heather Davis had always loved baking sweet treats. And although she initially took a more traditional career path to become a teacher, she continued to develop her craft as a baker. Though Heather would often bring her fresh baked goods to her school just for the love of baking, her fellow teachers started placing orders and encouraged her to sell them. So in 2011, she made the life-changing decision to launch a bakery, Chic Sweets Fine Desserts.

3:14Now, since 2014, so a decade ago, Chic Sweets Bakery has partnered with the finest coffee shops and cafes, including Nordstrom Department Stores, Saks Fifth Avenue, Rice University, and Aramark Corporation. And a little over a year ago, Heather opened her first brick and mortar location in a suburb north of Houston, Texas. And that's exactly what we're talking about today. Now, although I have never owned a brick and mortar myself, I actually had a lot of questions, I had a lot of thoughts and I had a lot of ideas. And I got to say, I had some tricks up my sleeve for Heather in order to think outside of the box on how to get more organic and paid customers into her bakery.

3:52And dang, I'm like excited about the advice spilled in today's episode, I know you will benefit from it too. Speaking of you, if you are someone who is listening into these coaching episodes and you're like, I want in, I want to be coached on the show, make sure you are a part of our Facebook community. It is the Gold Digger Insiders Facebook group. We've linked it in the episode description in the show notes for you. And inside of it, once a month, I will ask volunteers to sign up for a coaching session, to ask questions, get mentored and help other listeners along the way. And of course, to be on their favorite podcasts at the same time.

4:25So make sure you are a part of our Facebook community and perhaps you and I will hit record together soon. Now, without further ado, let's dive on into my coaching session with Heather. It's no secret that starting a business is hard. Even if you have an amazing idea, bringing it to life can be super overwhelming. HubSpot's new entrepreneurship kit is designed to help you go from idea generator to full-fledged business owner. And let me tell you, I wish I had this when I was first starting my business. This all-inclusive kit takes the guesswork out of entrepreneurship with step-by-step guides, practical resources, and easy to use templates.

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5:43Did you know that a podcast could be your next best platform? That's right. Whether you launch your own podcast or advertise your business on other shows, there are a lot of ways podcasting can contribute to growing your business. But where do you even start? And what's the best strategy? There's a recent episode of a great podcast called This Is Small Business with Andrea Marquez that's all about this. You'll learn how to think strategically about podcasting as a marketing tool, how to grow an audience, and so much more. And Andrea is joined by none other than my friend, Halataha, the host of the Young and Profiting Podcast, and the founder and CEO of the Yap Media Podcast Network.

6:20So you know this episode has some great advice. It's called How Podcasting Can Grow Your Business and Increase Revenue, and you can listen to it right now. This is Small Business answers so many of these kinds of questions like why you need an email list, how to accelerate your business growth, how good design can help increase sales, and so much more. If you love Gold Digger, check out This is Small Business, an original podcast from Amazon on your favorite podcast app. And big thanks to This is Small Business for sponsoring this show. I am so excited to spend time with an amazing listener of the show, Heather.

6:56Heather, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you for having me, Jenna. I feel like you have a story to share. I do. I do. I discovered you or your podcast, the Gold Digger podcast four years ago during the lockdown from COVID-19 and you were my saving grace. All I had during that time, you know, we were quarantined and locked down. So the only options were either to go to the grocery store or walk the park. There weren't very many options. And it was during my walks in the park that I discovered your podcast. And all of my customers, all of my customers were canceling orders. My brother was like, what are you going to do?

7:42And I just say, you know what, God's going to make a way. And it was because of your podcast that I was able to continue communicating with my customers. Like I told you, I had customers canceling orders and these were really good customers. I catered for ExxonMobil. I supplied Nordstrom department stores, both locations here in the Houston area for eight years. I supplied their coffee bars and all of them canceled orders. And I just thought, what am I going to do? And I discovered the Gold Digger podcast during my walks in the park. And you taught your audience how to stay connected with their customers.

8:24And it was during that time that I took my email list seriously. I had about 300 300 subscribers. Yes. I had about 300 subscribers at that time. And I just crafted my messaging and just said, Hey, we're still here. And I credit you for helping me keep my head in the game during that time. I am so grateful. This is such a full circle moment. And I'm just so grateful you found me. And I'm also so grateful that our paths are crossing. And I was telling Heather before this, and I'll share my vision because I was literally thinking of you in the middle of the night. My five-year-old came into my room last night and then I was awake and I was just thinking about our conversation today.

9:08And one thing that I think is so beautiful about these coaching conversations is that it requires you to put things through the Heather filter, right? I can give all the advice in the world. And I think, you know, so many of us are so hungry for advice, but I think like the true action comes when it really resonates and it feels aligned. and it's also supporting your vision. And so today I consider this, it's going to be a very collaborative coaching experience because I slightly feel intimidated because we're gonna be speaking about brick and mortar and I run a digital company. And so I'm gonna rely on you to kind of school me in some of these things of like, would this work or would this not work?

9:50So I consider this to be a collaborative coaching experience, which I'm really excited for. So thank you for being willing to come on the show in this way. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure and my honor. Okay. So give us a synopsis. So we kind of caught a bit about your company. So give us kind of the landscape of where your company is today. So we kind of have the vision of where you were at in 2020. Tell us where you're at today in 2024. Yeah. So I discovered a bakery in my neighborhood during 2022. And at that time, I was baking for coffee shops. That was my main line of customers were wholesale.

10:35And so I baked for different coffee shops throughout the greater Houston area. And lo and behold, one of my favorite bakeries closed. And I just thought, you know, it would be nice to have a home because I used hourly commercial kitchens during that time. And so I toured the kitchen, fell in love with it, actually toured the bakery, fell in love with it 10 minutes away from where I lived. And in theory, it sounded like, oh, yeah, this is a no brainer, right? I can continue to bake for my coffee shops and open up a storefront. It is the biggest challenge that I've ever conquered. I still, you know, thankfully I have a home for my business and I can continue to bake for the clientele that I've built up over the years.

11:26But just the storefront itself and the customer service and, you know, I feel like I've opened myself. I feel very exposed right now. However, I have no regrets. It is it's a challenge, but I have no regrets. Okay. But the challenge is getting people through the door. Yes. And what marketing can I use or what avenue can I use to bring them in and be consistent? Okay. So here's my first question. And this is slightly nosy, but I promise it ties in. Do you know why the past bakery failed? Yes, I do. Okay. I do. The couple that closed their bakery, They have been so generous with knowledge and they've actually coached me and they continue to kind of guide me, you know, through the whole permitting process and opening up and what I should carry.

12:23But what happened with their business is they had a franchise and the relationship just it, the relationship didn't work. And so they broke ties with their franchisor. And now, unfortunately, they're in litigation with, with their franchisor. Okay. So it wasn't necessarily like a foot traffic issue. It wasn't that right. Not necessarily because they were driving traffic to the brick and mortar. Okay. Okay. So yeah, they didn't necessarily rely on foot traffic. However, they, yeah. Okay. So here was my like middle of the night thoughts. And again, put this through your lens and I'm just gonna share it and then we can dissect it.

13:17So I was thinking about you in the middle of the night and I was thinking about how you had this business that was incredibly successful, right? You didn't have the storefront, but you were baking and you were doing wholesale. And my curiosity was in the expansion in that it looks really successful, right? To have your own space. It's a different type of ownership, but it probably isn't feeling super successful in some of the challenges that you're facing and all that. Like, for example, what I was thinking about in the middle of the night is that there's a really successful restaurant here in our city.

13:58And we're like a city of 10 ,000. And they opened up a secondary location, downtown Duluth, like thinking like, this is going to be amazing. And honestly, I'm pretty sure their successful chain in the small town is funding this big city one. And it's not necessarily maybe working out how they thought. And I think my question that I was asking myself in the middle of the night on your behalf was just is bigger, better in the feeling that you want to have for your life. And this doesn't mean that anything is wrong. Again, I don't have a brick and mortar, but I have never wanted a brick and mortar because of some of the challenges that you face of, you know, starting each month in the red and knowing like, I need to like hit these numbers, even to just break even and just kind of where you start each month in that space.

14:50And so what comes to mind? Like, what are you noticing as I'm sharing this? Oh, this resonates with me. I can totally relate. I'm known for my lemon bars and my coconut cake. And I think to myself, like you in the middle of the night, gosh, you got to sell a lot of lemon bars just to cover the rent and the overhead. And it's very sobering. sobering. Yeah. I, you know, I'm a very hard worker and I never turn down a challenge unless it's something, you know, ridiculous, but this is the greatest challenge of my life. And I am, I'm here to like conquer it. Yeah. Let's be real. As business owners, we know a reliable connection isn't optional.

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17:56And so which version of the business felt better for you or felt more in alignment with like your values of who Heather is? Or can you say that? Oh, wow. You know, I would say the brick and mortar. Good. Good. This is clarity. Tell me why. Why? Because I've always envisioned it. Since I was little, since I was eight years old, I thought about I dreamt of owning a bakery. I think the imposter syndrome set in as I became an adult and it was very sobering to actually open up a brick and mortar. But this was pretty much a turnkey process. It was just ready to go. It's a gorgeous space and it's everything that I had envisioned, you know, I know you've had guests on your show talking about manifesting.

18:53And I feel as though this is a manifestation of dreams. Like I'm coming full circle. Good. So this, this brick and mortar feels more in alignment. Good. Okay. That answers a huge question. Something that just came to me. So the, the question that we're kind of tackling with Heather is just like getting more traffic, getting more people in, like, what does that look like? And one of the things that I was pondering is, and this could be totally out of left field. So you can like correct me and put me in my place. But as you were working in, you know, kitchens before and having to kind of rent that space, what would it look like to use the bakery in a way that you were using those rented kitchens as the main source of income?

19:36And the reason why I'm asking this is to me, it would make more sense if you could get one more corporate client that would likely be more profitable than trying to get 50 daily customers. Does that make sense to me? And so when I was thinking about marketing, I was just kind of thinking about like Heather's time and energy and money. And that doesn't mean that you aren't serving the consumers, because I think that you have a soul that wants to connect with other people in that exchange. But from a business standpoint, if you could almost leverage the bakery space as a commercial kitchen for some of those bigger clients, all you would need is one more corporate client to help kind of float some of those costs so that then you have more time and energy to spend with like the customers in those exchanges.

20:29Have you considered that? Yes. Yes. So you, you bring up a very good point. Okay. The summer of 2022, I had a proof of concept. It's basically you showcase your product to a group of people at Aramark. I'm sure you've heard of Aramark Corporation. Yep. Red logo, right? Yes. Yes. And Aramark services MD Anderson Hospital here in the Houston area. MD Anderson treats cancer. They're in the business of treating and curing cancer. They're not in the business of, you know, preparing food and, you know, taking care of their patients. And so they contract all of that to Aramark. And this is kind of a lengthy, a lengthy story to get back to your question.

21:24But I was given an opportunity with MD Anderson and Aramark in 2020 when the lockdown, when COVID struck. And I held on to that opportunity. And basically, they had to wait until COVID was completely clear before they opened up their doors because of the unique population. their clients have cancer. And so they, they just stopped wearing masks at MD Anderson. And I just supplied them at an event with pastries for the first time. And it's taken six years. So they gave me the green light in 2022 and it still took another two years for them to place their first order. And to be honest, they're the reason why I got the bakery because yeah Aramark takes care of everyone yeah yeah so that's where I was like thinking because I was almost thinking of like if we as in I'm your business partner now hello if we used the bakery almost as though it is a commercial kitchen with a retail experience therefore people don't have to go to Nordstrom in order to experience and enjoy what you create But if we almost treated it and flipped it on its head of like, I'm a commercial kitchen serving these large clients.

22:51And if an average consumer wants to come in and enjoy it, they can. But in my mind, it's kind of brought me back to even my wedding photography days of like, I only need like 20 couples to say yes. I don't need to appeal to the masses. It's so hard to appeal to the masses these days. And I feel like the friction that you're experiencing as a business owner is in trying to appeal to the masses to get the masses to come in. And to me, I'm like, from a money and energy standpoint, getting that one more corporate client and treating it as a commercial kitchen with the opportunity to serve consumers, it shifts kind of the energy, it shifts kind of the business model a touch.

23:33But it also gives you that security that I believe you might be craving of just knowing like we're not in the red every month, like we're starting out with the contracts that like give us the green light so that we can serve our community on a higher level, but also so that we're not creating out of that feeling of like fear or urgency. You're exactly right. You're exactly right. I have, um, it's just been the weight, Jenna. Yeah. The weight for Aramark to, it takes a while for the corporate contracts to come around. Yeah. You know, I kind of got spoiled with Nordstrom because that happened overnight.

24:14But I've just been waiting for Aramark and they're worth the wait because they take care of, you know, they take care of everyone. They supply Nordstrom, they supply, you know, the university of Houston all over America. So yeah, you're right. Okay. So let's focus on that as like the main vision, but let's also talk about the other side. because I do think that other brick and mortar people, they're like, wait a minute, I can't get an Aramark. What do we do? Okay. So let's talk about a few things. So one of the things I was thinking about is just like our local coffee shops and like the ones that I frequent.

24:52And one thing that I think is really compelling that I think a lot of people miss the opportunities for, no matter what type of brick and mortar company you are, is giving people an excuse to come in. And so it's like, what like specials do you have that then it becomes a part of somebody's natural rhythm. So maybe like I'm thinking of even when we used to spend time on Maui, there's this one gluten-free restaurant and it was like every Tuesdays they had cinnamon rolls and you had to like call to reserve your cinnamon roll and go pick it up. And like, we didn't miss a Tuesday. Like it became a part of our rhythm.

25:26And so one of the things that you might be lacking in the more consumer side of the bakery is having urgency and also like having specialty. And so it's like, if everything is available all the time, it hinders people from actually making decisions. And it's like a lot of times we need that like scarcity urgency. We need that time bound decision to help us take action. And so one of the things I was considering from the bakery standpoint is like either having like theme days where again, then it becomes a part of people's natural rhythm or having scarcity on some of the items where you know, people like go nuts for it, but like, they've got to get their foot in the door and show up in order to get it.

26:07It might be something interesting for you to experiment with. And what I would challenge anyone listening is like, just try something for 30 days, like just try and like, see what insight you get, see what people are really driven towards, see what is helping people get in the door. So how does that sound? Does that sound in alignment at all? Oh, I love that. I love that we have specials. Yeah. Just, we can do a better job of advertising them. Okay. Yeah. Cause I love, I love like where it feels special. Like it's called a special, right? But like a lot of times it's available. I'm like, it's just a menu.

26:46And so I was like thinking about like, what makes me like jump out of my seat or even there's a local coffee shop in Duluth one 90. And like in the summer, They make these like watermelon lime slushes and they're just like so good. And so I got so excited the other day because they had a board out of like, they're coming back. And I'm like, yes, they're coming back. I'm coming back. And so it's like some of those simple things, just like Starbucks, love them or hate them. They have the pumpkin spice latte every year. And it's like having some of those more like cyclical trends of like this is happening and it's going to end makes people want to increase their frequency.

27:20I think that they're really smart in how they do that. And so it's like looking at just some different ways to market. It's time for Black Friday, Dell Technologies' biggest sale of the year. That's right. You'll find huge savings on select Dell PCs like the Dell 16 Plus with Intel Core Ultra processors. And with built-in advanced AI features, it's the PC that helps you do more faster. From smarter multitasking to extended battery life, these PCs get the busy work done so you can focus on what matters most to you. Plus, earn Dell rewards and enjoy many other benefits like free shipping, expert support, price match guarantee, and flexible financing options.

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