081 – Delivering a Shock and Awe Experience with Diane Campbell of Gratitude Goodies
Diane Campbell is the CEO of Gratitude Goodies, LLC.
Diane has always had a passion for food and creativity. She recognized that a core value was missing in corporations across America … that was saying “thank you.” So she focused on the concept of building stronger relationships within businesses by expressing gratitude through delicious gourmet gift baskets.
What started as a homebased business, today operates out of a 1,500 square foot facility. Gratitude Goodies, LLC has been providing meaningful ways to say thank you to clients in Atlanta and across the nation for 8 years.
Diane is married to Dan and soon they will be celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary. They have three daughters, two grand kids, and a dog named Nugget. She enjoys cooking, travel, quilting, and sharing her business knowledge with other entrepreneurs.
Business Inspiration
Being a “foodie” was the initial inspiration behind Gratitude Goodies. [4:30]
The original idea and the reason for change. [5:43]
Candle Flickering Moments
The drama behind purchasing another gift basket business [27:10]
Business Building Insights
Advice on being homebased and getting started in business. [7:43]
The business plan discussion including budgets and social media plans. [8:44]
Networking is the most important business building activity Diane does. [10:59]
Why and how she moved out of her house to a production facility. [15:02]
A full description of Diane’s staff and the responsibility breakout. [18:34]
All about staying focused on the core business. [22:22]
The importance of systems and her basket “build list.” [23:22]
The Shock and Awe Experience. [30:30]
Success Trait
Tenacity and sticking to the plan is most important. “Do what’s right, even when it hurts.” [32:23]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
iMovie – It’s never been easier to make videos. Just choose the clips you want to use. Insert titles, add effects, and create a full soundtrack with powerful tools that are as simple as drag and drop.
Valuable Book
E-Myth Mastery by Michael E. Gerber
Gratitude Marketing by Michael F. Sciortino
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 81.
Speaker:You never saw two people move so fast to save the
Speaker:chocolate. Hi,
Speaker:this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz on wrapped your source for industry specific
Speaker:insights and advice to develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome back to the gift biz unwrapped podcast,
Speaker:whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I have joining us,
Speaker:Diane Campbell.
Speaker:Diane is the CEO of gratitude goodies,
Speaker:LLC. She has always had a passion for food and creativity.
Speaker:And back in 2008,
Speaker:she recognized that a core value was missing in corporations all
Speaker:across America and that core value insane.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:So she focused on the concept of building stronger relationships within
Speaker:businesses by expressing gratitude through delicious or make gift baskets.
Speaker:What started as a home-based business today operates out of a
Speaker:1500 square foot facility.
Speaker:Gratitude goodies LLC has been providing meaningful ways to say thank
Speaker:you to clients in Atlanta and across the nation.
Speaker:For the last eight years,
Speaker:Diane is married to Dan and has been married for 27
Speaker:years. So that's a huge accomplishment right there.
Speaker:They have three daughters,
Speaker:two grandchildren,
Speaker:and a dog named nugget,
Speaker:Diana enjoys cooking,
Speaker:travel quilting,
Speaker:and sharing her business knowledge with other entrepreneurs.
Speaker:And for that,
Speaker:I am so happy to have you welcome to the show.
Speaker:Diane, thanks So much,
Speaker:Sue. I'm so grateful to be here.
Speaker:I like to start off right away with the tradition that
Speaker:we've created here on gift biz on unwrapped.
Speaker:And that is by having you share a little bit more
Speaker:about yourself through the description of a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to describe your perfect candle,
Speaker:what color would it be and what would be the quote
Speaker:on your candle?
Speaker:There is not a problem with that at all.
Speaker:My favorite color has always been purple.
Speaker:So I'm going to go with a purple or lavender color
Speaker:candle with the scent of lavender.
Speaker:And I'm going to wrap that with a beautiful Sage green
Speaker:bow. And the reason I do those two together is the
Speaker:green bow represents my company,
Speaker:but I also have just a love for the fall season
Speaker:and the Juul tones of fall,
Speaker:the beautiful Tuscany,
Speaker:yellows and oranges,
Speaker:and the green is the basis of all of that.
Speaker:It reminds me of nature and things like that.
Speaker:So if I had to put a quote on there,
Speaker:that is a challenge for me,
Speaker:I would say that Proverbs three,
Speaker:five, and six,
Speaker:I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me is
Speaker:my quote,
Speaker:but I have others as well,
Speaker:but you Want to go with that one?
Speaker:That's your main one.
Speaker:You've got to go with That one.
Speaker:There's a funnier one that I have that I just can't
Speaker:ever seem to get out of my head.
Speaker:Now you've peaked their curiosity.
Speaker:So you have to tell us that one too,
Speaker:Could interject a New York accent here.
Speaker:When I say this,
Speaker:this is coming from my uncle,
Speaker:Pete. And I'll tell you what it means to me after
Speaker:I say it.
Speaker:It's just simply,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:everything, you know,
Speaker:nothing. So it kind of tells me to be humble and
Speaker:to always be open to learning new things.
Speaker:I agree.
Speaker:Do you ever meet anybody who thinks they know?
Speaker:Absolutely. It's a little irritating to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:someone knows everything,
Speaker:but it's unfortunate too,
Speaker:because they don't know what they're missing.
Speaker:Exactly. And this quote,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:everything, you know,
Speaker:nothing. Encapsulizes that whole thought process in one quote.
Speaker:So way to go,
Speaker:uncle Pete,
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I agree with you totally.
Speaker:And a good thing for us all to remember just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we always should be learning.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:And the world is always changing.
Speaker:So if you think you knew everything yesterday,
Speaker:maybe you did,
Speaker:but you probably don't today.
Speaker:Think again.
Speaker:Yes. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. All right.
Speaker:I want to start back in the beginning.
Speaker:Diane, talk to us about how you decided to go into
Speaker:a gift basket business,
Speaker:a little more depth than what we did in the intro
Speaker:and just your thinking of why this was the right business.
Speaker:And talk to us a little bit about how it all
Speaker:developed. Well,
Speaker:as I said in the intro,
Speaker:I am a foodie and there's no greater pleasure for me
Speaker:than if you could walk with me through Chelsea market in
Speaker:New York city,
Speaker:you'd be seeing on both sides of the aisle,
Speaker:beautiful displays of produce,
Speaker:just gorgeous red peppers and green broccoli.
Speaker:And then you smell coffee,
Speaker:all those things that come together,
Speaker:just the motivate me.
Speaker:And I love to be able to put the idea of
Speaker:food in pictures,
Speaker:just eating it.
Speaker:But food is my favorite dish.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:when I'm walking through these places,
Speaker:I get so inspired and I want to photograph them.
Speaker:So that is just the nature of it.
Speaker:I love how food brings people together.
Speaker:It's cultural,
Speaker:it's emotional,
Speaker:it's all of that combined into one thing.
Speaker:Wonderful. And so how did that evolve into gourmet gift Baskets?
Speaker:I worked in a couple different places.
Speaker:Pruett design company.
Speaker:I worked there and I've always been around food,
Speaker:working in a bakery in one of the grocery stores here
Speaker:as well.
Speaker:I'm half Italian.
Speaker:So that should explain A lot there.
Speaker:So Wanting to be around food,
Speaker:I got this idea that I wanted to marry the foodie
Speaker:part of me with the creativity part of me and that
Speaker:entrepreneurial itch was always kind of there.
Speaker:So originally my was to partner with local artisans where I
Speaker:could find them and bring those into a gift basket that
Speaker:we could sell to corporations across America.
Speaker:What I found very quickly was artisans,
Speaker:or at least the ones that I was encountering are not
Speaker:capable of doing the high volume that I wanted to do.
Speaker:If I came to them and I said,
Speaker:I need 500 pieces of this.
Speaker:I would see their eyes just kind of glaze over and
Speaker:say what?
Speaker:So a lot of them were more interested in maybe selling
Speaker:those things at crafts fairs or just adding some extra income
Speaker:to their family's income.
Speaker:You found a challenge within just the local artisans.
Speaker:I would imagine that the shelf life might've also been an
Speaker:issue. Absolutely.
Speaker:That is the shelf.
Speaker:Life is a big issue in gift basket design.
Speaker:We did find some artisans that we liked and could partner
Speaker:with. We found a chocolate tier that was just amazing.
Speaker:And we found some other local vendors as well that knew
Speaker:at cutoff wholesale and they could talk shelf life.
Speaker:So we do partner with them,
Speaker:especially on our Georgia theme baskets.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:I want to challenge you to go back,
Speaker:not where you are today,
Speaker:but to go back in the beginning when you were,
Speaker:I believe you said out of your base,
Speaker:Yes. 800 square feet of space.
Speaker:My size to get started in,
Speaker:I have to say,
Speaker:think back to yourself at that time.
Speaker:Is there any pieces of advice or any guidance you would
Speaker:give someone who's considering starting any type of business?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:gift baskets as an industry traditionally do start out of a
Speaker:home and then grow and leave the house.
Speaker:But any advice for anybody starting out of their home?
Speaker:Well, I would say,
Speaker:definitely use the tax advantage if you're in your home,
Speaker:use that tax advantage for having a home-based business,
Speaker:but make sure you have a business plan,
Speaker:make sure you have your financials all in order before you
Speaker:launch out into the big wide world.
Speaker:And we did when we did that.
Speaker:But to make sure you have all those things,
Speaker:all the legalities of a business in all your ducks in
Speaker:a row,
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:If you could see me now,
Speaker:I could be on my knees bowing to you because I
Speaker:am such a proponent of that as well.
Speaker:So many people will start a business and just go off
Speaker:the cuff and they have the idea.
Speaker:And then by next week they're trying to open their business
Speaker:and it just doesn't,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:not for the long haul,
Speaker:it doesn't work that way.
Speaker:So talking about the business plan,
Speaker:I'm really,
Speaker:really glad you brought it up.
Speaker:If you were to just talk about couple of crucial elements,
Speaker:that should be part of that plan.
Speaker:What would you say?
Speaker:Setting a budget?
Speaker:Definitely. You know,
Speaker:and here's the thing to springboard off of that business plan.
Speaker:If you're not good at that,
Speaker:find someone who is,
Speaker:I've been blessed to have a business manager work alongside of
Speaker:me. Her name is Marianne and she loves to make the
Speaker:paperclip stand up straight.
Speaker:She is a math Wiz.
Speaker:She likes to call me the entrepreneur,
Speaker:the balloon that is floating in the air and she is
Speaker:led weight that pulls me back down.
Speaker:So you have to have that kind of push pull relationship
Speaker:with someone in your business.
Speaker:You have to be accountable to a person that has a
Speaker:business mindset while you're over here,
Speaker:busy creating this,
Speaker:that, and the other that other person is going to be
Speaker:saying to you,
Speaker:well, how are we going to pay for that?
Speaker:And that's where that balance comes in.
Speaker:Okay. So part of the business plan,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you've got your budget.
Speaker:What else would you suggest is in there?
Speaker:I would suggest big thing in most businesses today,
Speaker:especially small businesses is to have a social media presence.
Speaker:I would definitely look into what that means for your business,
Speaker:because it's such a crucial piece in my business today,
Speaker:and it can consume you 40 hours a week if you
Speaker:want it to.
Speaker:And it's important for that,
Speaker:but make sure you understand how to push your social media
Speaker:out. What is search engine optimization?
Speaker:How do you analyze the data that's coming in?
Speaker:If you're gone viral,
Speaker:do you want to pay for your social media marketing?
Speaker:Do you want to hire someone to do that?
Speaker:All of those questions are very important if you're pushing a
Speaker:business out there,
Speaker:especially if it's an online business like ours tend to be
Speaker:Okay. So we've talked about for a business plan,
Speaker:definitely have a budget.
Speaker:I'm a pay as you go girl all the way,
Speaker:but depending on what your situation is,
Speaker:make sure you account for all of your dollars,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:And then social media presence,
Speaker:or I guess I'd expand that also,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in a full marketing plan,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just because you start a business and you're open for business,
Speaker:doesn't mean that everyone knows about you.
Speaker:So you need to have a way to be sending out
Speaker:the word that you're open for business.
Speaker:So a couple of great points here.
Speaker:Awesome. So,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:Sue, I want to mention the most important thing I do
Speaker:is network.
Speaker:I am out four or five days a week,
Speaker:networking in groups in my chamber in networking groups that have
Speaker:20 or more that are accountable to each other.
Speaker:It's accountability,
Speaker:networking. No one holds my seat and my close category group.
Speaker:So networking has been the real key in driving my business
Speaker:forward. Wonderful.
Speaker:So a combination of the two,
Speaker:or would you put networking on the top?
Speaker:Networking for me is the top top of the list.
Speaker:Okay. So let's talk about this a little bit because I
Speaker:find this as a big topic when I'm scoping or doing
Speaker:any type of live streaming.
Speaker:People want me to continue talking in this?
Speaker:I think a lot of people are really uncomfortable with the
Speaker:whole networking realm,
Speaker:getting up,
Speaker:going first,
Speaker:all the very first meeting where you may not know anybody.
Speaker:And then the 32nd speech,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all of that,
Speaker:any advice on those things,
Speaker:how do you integrate in if you've never networked before?
Speaker:Well, that's a great question.
Speaker:And one of the ways that I do it and have
Speaker:done it is to join a Toastmasters group.
Speaker:Now, I don't know if most listeners know what that is,
Speaker:but Toastmasters is a group where you go to develop your
Speaker:speaking skills.
Speaker:And while you're there,
Speaker:you're also working on your leadership development skills.
Speaker:So between those two that has really helped me because you're
Speaker:doing your 32nd infomercials or your one minute infomercials,
Speaker:and then you'll have opportunities now.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:to do either a six,
Speaker:seven or 10 minute presentation on what you do.
Speaker:And that's where you get into the more meat of your
Speaker:business to communicate that to others,
Speaker:you'll have a chance to dig a little deeper,
Speaker:but if you're not willing to get out there and network,
Speaker:this is going to sound a little harsh,
Speaker:but you need to get over that.
Speaker:The biggest thing I think about networking gift,
Speaker:business nurse,
Speaker:and those of you who are concerned about that is being
Speaker:your authentic self.
Speaker:And I hate to use that word kind of because it's
Speaker:getting so overused authentic,
Speaker:but the point is really true.
Speaker:You just need to go out and show the world who
Speaker:you are good,
Speaker:bad, and ugly,
Speaker:nervous, not nervous.
Speaker:Being able to perfect your skills through Toastmasters.
Speaker:Like Diana's saying really helps with your confidence and your presence,
Speaker:but it is true getting out there and showing yourself,
Speaker:especially when you're starting and you're a young business,
Speaker:you are the brand of your business and people will fall
Speaker:in love with you,
Speaker:what you see as faults and all the only way to
Speaker:show yourself is to get out there in person.
Speaker:So I do agree with you that harsh get over it
Speaker:and talk thing.
Speaker:Nobody's going to be as passionate about your business as you
Speaker:are. And no one's going to see the vision or communicate
Speaker:that vision for your business as you do.
Speaker:So even if you stumble over your tongue,
Speaker:which I do all the time,
Speaker:you're not going to get over that Sue,
Speaker:unless you get out there and do it sitting at home,
Speaker:worrying about it,
Speaker:it's not going to help.
Speaker:It's true.
Speaker:And the other thing that I try to tell people here
Speaker:too, is you think you're way more important than other people
Speaker:are looking at you.
Speaker:Like, if you say something wrong,
Speaker:it's not like,
Speaker:Oh, we'll never do business with that person ever.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:people aren't that tuned into you.
Speaker:They want to be tuned into what you're saying and the
Speaker:value that they can receive from your business,
Speaker:Right? Do people actually want to help you grow your business,
Speaker:especially other small business owners,
Speaker:but you need to communicate what you do to those business
Speaker:owners so they can help you.
Speaker:So let's close up this little networking portion now,
Speaker:but this was really,
Speaker:really valuable.
Speaker:I want to continue on with the growth of your business.
Speaker:So you were out your basement,
Speaker:clearly growing the business.
Speaker:What was the trigger point where you decided,
Speaker:okay, I need to move this business from the house to
Speaker:a facility.
Speaker:How did that happen?
Speaker:I would say it was more of a 18 Wheeler.
Speaker:When you have an 18 Wheeler backing up to your house
Speaker:to deliver products,
Speaker:and then you have four or five delivery drivers backing up
Speaker:to your garage,
Speaker:loading up and delivering things through the holiday season.
Speaker:It kind of gets a bit overwhelming.
Speaker:So the 18 Wheeler was the clue that I didn't want
Speaker:this to be in my home.
Speaker:And I found for me personally,
Speaker:there was no separation,
Speaker:no boundaries between the downstairs business and the upstairs family.
Speaker:So I wanted to create that boundary and I want it
Speaker:to be perceived as a real business.
Speaker:Now, for me,
Speaker:that was important.
Speaker:It may not be important for another type of business,
Speaker:say in a different industry,
Speaker:but for me,
Speaker:and since we were focused on corporate clients,
Speaker:I wanted to be perceived and have clients come visit us
Speaker:here at the shop instead of in a coffee shop,
Speaker:for instance,
Speaker:because when they come here to the shop,
Speaker:it's very much a show and tell,
Speaker:and they're actually in awe of everything that we do.
Speaker:And so what were the first steps that you took to
Speaker:find a location?
Speaker:Walk us through a little of that.
Speaker:Well, I drove around,
Speaker:I'm always looking,
Speaker:Oh, wait,
Speaker:I'm even looking now for a larger space to grow into,
Speaker:but you have to be out in the community and asking
Speaker:people, driving through strip malls or where you perceive you want
Speaker:to be for us.
Speaker:It's not a retail storefront.
Speaker:It's more of a production facility that we can receive guests
Speaker:to. And it's very nicely decorated inside here.
Speaker:And it's definitely perceived as a production facility.
Speaker:And the other real big caveat we had to have was
Speaker:air conditioning.
Speaker:Because since we're doing a lot of chocolate gift baskets here,
Speaker:we wanted to make sure and we had to have air
Speaker:conditioning to make sure they remained sheltered.
Speaker:Perfect. And I want to point out something to everybody that
Speaker:Diane was talking about.
Speaker:She started with looking at who her customer was and she
Speaker:had a defined customer within her industry gift baskets.
Speaker:You could say,
Speaker:Oh, well,
Speaker:everyone could use a gift basket.
Speaker:She's not doing that.
Speaker:She's saying specifically,
Speaker:we're going after the corporate business.
Speaker:So it's also different products that you're going to purchase.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:knowing your avatar then controls every decision that you make within
Speaker:your business because so true.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:you know how to market cause your information,
Speaker:even in social media posts or networking meetings is going to
Speaker:be talking to that group as well as product purchasing all
Speaker:the way through.
Speaker:So I really,
Speaker:really am thrilled that you brought up the fact.
Speaker:And the first thing you talked about is who your customer
Speaker:is, even when you're looking at where your facility is going
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:Cause it a gift,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:a gift basket business can run through the calendar year on
Speaker:every holiday,
Speaker:but we are focused primarily almost 90% on the corporate client.
Speaker:So that may be a little harder to get,
Speaker:but we start with small businesses,
Speaker:but ultimately we're looking for those larger companies that you may
Speaker:see on every street corner in America that are appreciating their
Speaker:clients, valuing their employees and saying thank you every single day.
Speaker:Talk to us a little bit about how your production is
Speaker:working. Do you have people in there helping with gift baskets
Speaker:at this point?
Speaker:Yes. We have four people that are consistently here at gratitude
Speaker:goodies to our production part-time and each of them,
Speaker:they kind of have a personal skill set that we lean
Speaker:to when we need it.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:my daughter works here,
Speaker:she's 20 and Chelsea can do production.
Speaker:She can do QuickBooks and she can also do photography work.
Speaker:She has a beautiful camera and she takes pictures of other
Speaker:things that interest her.
Speaker:So we engage her into shooting our photos here in house.
Speaker:The other person,
Speaker:Emily is our lead designer and production worker.
Speaker:She is focused on making the flow of our baskets go
Speaker:smoothly and she can almost always oversee what's going on with
Speaker:another production worker,
Speaker:say a temporary that we bring in.
Speaker:And then there's Marion.
Speaker:Marion is the business manager and she is primarily an in-house
Speaker:person. She does all the buying and we function like partners,
Speaker:but I'm a hundred percent owner.
Speaker:She pays the bills.
Speaker:She takes care of the taxes.
Speaker:She deals with all the legalities of things,
Speaker:which I personally is not my strong suit,
Speaker:but I'm so grateful that she's here.
Speaker:And I am the face of the business.
Speaker:Like most business owners should be the face of their business.
Speaker:I'm the one who's out networking and communicating what we do
Speaker:with other business owners and seeking more,
Speaker:leads, more referrals in any way I can get it.
Speaker:And I'm also in charge of the social media part,
Speaker:which we do.
Speaker:I movies through here.
Speaker:I shoot movies of our videos of me inside the facility.
Speaker:And you might find me tasting some chocolates that we have
Speaker:or sipping some hot cocoa mix that we're promoting any of
Speaker:those things.
Speaker:That was such a great run through in terms of how
Speaker:you're breaking everything up and the responsibilities.
Speaker:And I have found even through my own experience,
Speaker:having people be in charge of certain segments is really helpful.
Speaker:And having that very clearly defined Diane,
Speaker:I'm going to ask you a question.
Speaker:I have never asked any of our guests yet the podcast.
Speaker:So get ready.
Speaker:I hope I have everyone's attention here.
Speaker:Tell us how tasks changed when you started.
Speaker:You were probably the only person I'm quite sure you didn't
Speaker:start with four people.
Speaker:How did the evolution and the division of tasks evolve over
Speaker:time? And if you would,
Speaker:so many people I know are so afraid to release responsibilities
Speaker:to people.
Speaker:So any insights on how that worked out for you in
Speaker:terms of handing over responsibilities for different portions of the business?
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:that's another great question.
Speaker:And as the business grows,
Speaker:you can't keep all the plates spinning.
Speaker:So when I met Marriott Marian and I go a couple
Speaker:of years back,
Speaker:we met in church and we kinda got away from each
Speaker:other because of the church,
Speaker:things changed and we met again and she said,
Speaker:what are you doing?
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:well, I'm starting this business and I'm going to take a
Speaker:QuickBooks class.
Speaker:So this is kind of divine intervention.
Speaker:She said to me,
Speaker:what are you doing that for?
Speaker:I can do that for you.
Speaker:So she was looking for something to do,
Speaker:which is a blessing for me because QuickBooks is something I'm
Speaker:continually learning.
Speaker:I'm right there with you.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:She and I,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:function as partners,
Speaker:but she allows me to do the creative side and the
Speaker:sales side,
Speaker:which she dislikes.
Speaker:And I allow her to do all the business side,
Speaker:which I dislike,
Speaker:but we kind of meet in the middle on creativity.
Speaker:So as the business grew,
Speaker:the mission and the vision for the company has to be
Speaker:United in where you want to go.
Speaker:So when you're focused on corporate clients or any business that
Speaker:is focused on one thing is always going to get pulled
Speaker:in a million other different directions.
Speaker:And I used to say to Marian shouldn't we do Valentine's
Speaker:day or shouldn't we do mother's day or shouldn't we do
Speaker:this, that or the other.
Speaker:And she says,
Speaker:well, we could do that.
Speaker:But our main focus is going to be on corporate.
Speaker:And I agree with that.
Speaker:And so I use her to stay accountable,
Speaker:to stay on track,
Speaker:Staying true to your core vision and your core product.
Speaker:Yeah. When we bring in production workers,
Speaker:we had to really evaluate what is the best use of
Speaker:my time Diane's time and what is the best use of
Speaker:Marion's time.
Speaker:So when we put that together,
Speaker:it's not necessarily always building the basket.
Speaker:What we have done here at gratitude goodies is we use
Speaker:QuickBooks manufacturing software to create kind of a build list.
Speaker:And when we do that,
Speaker:it allows a production worker to open a binder,
Speaker:take out the basket,
Speaker:let's call it a chocolate basket,
Speaker:take out the chocolate basket.
Speaker:And it has the parts list there.
Speaker:And on the parts list,
Speaker:it tells you to pull this basket off the shelf,
Speaker:put this much tread inside of it,
Speaker:take product a,
Speaker:B, and C and place it here,
Speaker:here, and here we shot pictures of the build process.
Speaker:So if you could think,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you've been in some franchise restaurants where they have a plate
Speaker:for instance,
Speaker:and on the plate,
Speaker:the meat goes here and the potatoes go up here and
Speaker:the vegetables go over there.
Speaker:And every single time the plate comes out the same way
Speaker:Building processes for your business really helps you.
Speaker:Scale helps you grow.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:and it,
Speaker:and there's no specific time.
Speaker:I think when it's time to start doing that,
Speaker:if you are in a business where you have a situation,
Speaker:or maybe it is gift baskets,
Speaker:maybe to another type of a business where there is some
Speaker:type of a production process,
Speaker:starting to document it earlier is way easier than going back
Speaker:later and trying to build all of that information in the
Speaker:other thing,
Speaker:I'm sure you're doing Diane is your build process.
Speaker:As you call it,
Speaker:the format is consistent.
Speaker:So regardless of which basket it is,
Speaker:it's the same type of concept.
Speaker:It's different information,
Speaker:but it's the same type of concept.
Speaker:So when one of your people who are creating the baskets
Speaker:are on the production floor,
Speaker:can then virtually do any basket that you make,
Speaker:including new designs that come in,
Speaker:even if they've never seen them before.
Speaker:Exactly. And Marianne and myself,
Speaker:we're the ones that do the designing.
Speaker:We shop all of the food shows and we're bringing in
Speaker:the products based on what we know our customers are looking
Speaker:for. Be it a price point,
Speaker:a sweet spot for a price point or a certain combination
Speaker:of products that typically sell well.
Speaker:So when we bringing these products,
Speaker:we are designing them with that price point in mind.
Speaker:And we want to be able to have a temporary worker,
Speaker:for instance,
Speaker:come in,
Speaker:open the book and pull these certain items from this shelf
Speaker:and have it come out consistent every time when you don't
Speaker:have those systems in place,
Speaker:then your business,
Speaker:it loses some value.
Speaker:I think if I want to sell this business in X
Speaker:amount of years,
Speaker:then having those systems is where the value is.
Speaker:In my opinion,
Speaker:Absolutely agree with you there.
Speaker:Yeah. Let's move on to a different topic.
Speaker:One of the fallacies and when people are listening and anybody
Speaker:who really hasn't started a business yet,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we bring people on and all of this sounds so easy.
Speaker:Like it's just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:she started in the basement,
Speaker:she got business,
Speaker:it grew,
Speaker:she found a location.
Speaker:She has someone helping her.
Speaker:Now she has these systems and it sounds all great.
Speaker:But what you always get to see is the results and
Speaker:the good things that have happened.
Speaker:Let's just totally debunk that right now.
Speaker:Right? That's not reality.
Speaker:Kick that one to the curb.
Speaker:Absolutely. So let's get real here.
Speaker:Talk to us about something that was a struggle in this
Speaker:path of growth that you've experienced.
Speaker:The season of growth is a struggle.
Speaker:You grow and then you plateau or you have a struggle
Speaker:and then you grow some more and then you struggle.
Speaker:What they don't see is when you say blood,
Speaker:sweat, and tears,
Speaker:we literally have done that in our business here.
Speaker:About four years ago,
Speaker:we purchased a basket company that was closing.
Speaker:So in the two week time span,
Speaker:they had to vacate their space.
Speaker:They had 4,000
Speaker:square feet of space and they were a 20 year old
Speaker:company, but they didn't disassemble any of the industrial shelving that
Speaker:was in that shop.
Speaker:We had to do that.
Speaker:So in two weeks we had to get financing,
Speaker:disassemble that whole business,
Speaker:which was a 4,000
Speaker:square feet of industrial shelving,
Speaker:which is very heavy.
Speaker:It was very high and it was very hot in there
Speaker:because they had turned the AC off.
Speaker:And this is in the summer in Georgia,
Speaker:in August,
Speaker:I'm climbing these shelves with a saws all and a screwdriver
Speaker:electric battery operated screwdriver,
Speaker:this assembling shelves.
Speaker:Oh man,
Speaker:over and over again.
Speaker:So that was in Atlanta about 35 miles South of us.
Speaker:So this went on for two whole weeks that we were
Speaker:moving stuff.
Speaker:It's physical,
Speaker:it's demanding.
Speaker:And though let's talk about when the air conditioning breaks in
Speaker:your facility and you have chocolate,
Speaker:what do you do then?
Speaker:Well, you never saw two people move so fast to save
Speaker:the chocolate and the AC couldn't be repaired for another week.
Speaker:So we cleared out our shelves in a span of an
Speaker:hour and a half,
Speaker:loaded them into air conditioning cars and drove them to Marion's
Speaker:house where we unloaded it quickly because it's 85,
Speaker:90 degrees outside.
Speaker:And we're just sweating bullets trying to preserve the chocolate.
Speaker:That is what you don't see,
Speaker:what everybody sees is the duck that is just sailing across
Speaker:the water.
Speaker:They look elegant and graceful,
Speaker:but there's a whole lot of blood,
Speaker:sweat, and tears underneath all that.
Speaker:Absolutely. And you have to be resourceful.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that was a very creative solution because you had to act
Speaker:then in there,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's no time to wait.
Speaker:Exactly. No thinking about it.
Speaker:It just got to act.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:that is pretty much,
Speaker:we are very resourceful here in how we call it.
Speaker:We are masters of creating jigs for things,
Speaker:things that make other things work easier.
Speaker:How we measure our ribbon,
Speaker:how we put the ribbon on a spool,
Speaker:all those things we create jigs and devices that help make
Speaker:our jobs easier here at the shop.
Speaker:So gift biz listeners,
Speaker:if you're business already,
Speaker:or if you're considering it,
Speaker:just know that that is part of the journey.
Speaker:And don't think,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I could tell you time after time on my end as
Speaker:well. It can be so frustrating.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:why did I do this?
Speaker:But accepting the fact that it's part of being in business
Speaker:for yourself,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's so many pros,
Speaker:but there are going to be times when it is very
Speaker:challenging and just,
Speaker:it doesn't mean you've done anything wrong.
Speaker:You just have to figure out how to move forward and
Speaker:get things done.
Speaker:It's just the way it is.
Speaker:Would you agree that entrepreneurs work 80 hours so they don't
Speaker:have to work 40?
Speaker:Yeah, got it.
Speaker:That I would go with that,
Speaker:but I would also say,
Speaker:I don't mind putting in 80 hours because I love my
Speaker:business. I'd much rather be doing that than working 40 hours
Speaker:in something that I really didn't like,
Speaker:or wasn't challenging me.
Speaker:It's so true because I just love what we do here.
Speaker:Because at the end of the day,
Speaker:when the gift is delivered,
Speaker:we like to call it the shock and awe experience.
Speaker:We come through the door with a gift and the recipients
Speaker:are usually shocked.
Speaker:They kind of look around and say,
Speaker:is that for me?
Speaker:And they say,
Speaker:wow, somebody thought of me.
Speaker:And then when they open up the sentiment card,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:Oh, they really thought of me.
Speaker:So it takes gratitude to a new level and it takes
Speaker:the business relationship from a business relationship to an emotional relationship.
Speaker:And that's where it really just speaks to me when you're
Speaker:able to say,
Speaker:thank you for that business relationship.
Speaker:And they come back and call you again,
Speaker:because you said,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:And that's a really cool thing.
Speaker:Absolutely. And that drives to your mission for the gift baskets
Speaker:overall. I mean,
Speaker:you're not in the business of gift baskets,
Speaker:you're in the business of corporate client retention,
Speaker:appreciation and growing sales for your businesses.
Speaker:Not that you are a gift basket company and I'm sure
Speaker:that's how you speak when you're networking and everywhere else.
Speaker:Yes. Well,
Speaker:because we're gratitude goodies,
Speaker:it encapsulates what we do in two words.
Speaker:And so we want to help businesses express gratitude to their
Speaker:clients, to their coworkers,
Speaker:to their employees and to those referral sources,
Speaker:all of that,
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:we're going to move now Diane,
Speaker:into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you and how you have been
Speaker:successful and grown along the way.
Speaker:Is there a trait that you call on regularly that maybe
Speaker:some of our listeners will also recognize in themselves?
Speaker:So it'll kind of ground them for something that they're looking
Speaker:at doing in the future,
Speaker:but is there a natural trait that you have that you
Speaker:think has helped you to be successful?
Speaker:Well, I have to say that we're very tenacious here.
Speaker:We stick to it and we stick to the plan.
Speaker:We work very hard.
Speaker:Christmas time is pretty rough in our industry.
Speaker:So it's not unusual for us to be on our feet
Speaker:all day long,
Speaker:but we do what it takes to get the job done.
Speaker:And our motto here at gratitude,
Speaker:goodness, is to do what's right.
Speaker:Even when it hurts,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:sometimes it really hurts to do what's right.
Speaker:But that's what we do here at gratitude goodies.
Speaker:We like to make every penny scream and we measure everything.
Speaker:Even if it's ribbon to Springfield,
Speaker:to the paperclips are counted here,
Speaker:the twist ties,
Speaker:we know everything and how it boils down to the penny.
Speaker:So we count everything that we do here.
Speaker:So sticking to the plan,
Speaker:staying focused,
Speaker:driving forward and not getting distracted is really important.
Speaker:Not going off your path,
Speaker:you're supposed to be going on vacation and you're headed East,
Speaker:don't turn off a fun road that it's going the other
Speaker:direction. You're never going to get to where you're planning to
Speaker:go. So really important and so easy to do very easy.
Speaker:Yeah. What tool do you use regularly to keep productive or
Speaker:to create balance in the hours after ADL?
Speaker:Well, I have to say that one of the things that
Speaker:has really changed my life and it's also helped me to
Speaker:be able to talk in front of a camera is my
Speaker:iPad. And this was introduced to me through a guy I
Speaker:met in one of the networking groups and he taught me
Speaker:how to create movies on my iPad.
Speaker:And I did this with just a $5 app and the
Speaker:app is just called I movie.
Speaker:So if you have an iPad or an iPhone,
Speaker:you could do this with your business.
Speaker:My first movie,
Speaker:I totally messed it up.
Speaker:I held it the wrong way and you should be holding
Speaker:your iPad horizontally to get the best picture.
Speaker:So I've used this to communicate what we do here at
Speaker:gratitude goodies.
Speaker:They see our baskets,
Speaker:they'd see me talking to people.
Speaker:They see me interaction with other clients.
Speaker:And so I pushed that out onto iTunes with some key
Speaker:words and that's a social media thing and it goes viral.
Speaker:So, and that ends up on my blogs.
Speaker:It ends up on LinkedIn.
Speaker:It ends up on Facebook.
Speaker:We use it a lot,
Speaker:Check out I movie.
Speaker:And I love the fact that you talked about creating a
Speaker:single piece of content and then sharing it out in multiple
Speaker:ways. Not everybody,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and a couple of people might see the same thing,
Speaker:but everyone has their favorite social media sites.
Speaker:So producing ones and putting it out on multiple channels is
Speaker:key. Yeah.
Speaker:Diane, is there a book that you've read lately that you
Speaker:think our listeners could find value?
Speaker:Well, I have to say that my favorite business book has
Speaker:to be E-Myth mastery by Michael Gerber.
Speaker:And he talks in there.
Speaker:It's kind of a story,
Speaker:how he takes a young female entrepreneur and takes her through
Speaker:all the different processes of developing a business.
Speaker:And she also communicates in there,
Speaker:the struggles that she's had.
Speaker:And when I read this book,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:Oh my God,
Speaker:they're in my brain.
Speaker:So, and it was such,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:Michael Gerber has a way of communicating that resonated with me.
Speaker:So that was my business book.
Speaker:And most recently I picked up this little book called gratitude
Speaker:marketing, and it kind of speaks to what we do here
Speaker:at gratitude goodies.
Speaker:Basically, it's how to create clients for life.
Speaker:And it's just simple secrets that you can use to keep
Speaker:those relationships strong in your business.
Speaker:I love that book as well.
Speaker:Wonderful. We'll give his listeners just as you're listening to the
Speaker:podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book.
Speaker:I know E-Myth mastery is on audible.
Speaker:I'm not sure about gratitude marketing,
Speaker:but you can get a book for free if you haven't
Speaker:done so already,
Speaker:all you need to do is go to gift his book.com
Speaker:and make a selection.
Speaker:Okay, Diane,
Speaker:at this point,
Speaker:I would like to invite you to dare to dream.
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:I love this question because it involves food.
Speaker:Of course,
Speaker:Yes. You've got to be consistent.
Speaker:Well, You know,
Speaker:that's who I am.
Speaker:So what I want to do is to be able to
Speaker:travel to Italy and cook my way through Italy with my
Speaker:husband. Oh,
Speaker:would gosh,
Speaker:darn it.
Speaker:I was going to ask if I could join you.
Speaker:You absolutely can on the second trip.
Speaker:Okay. On the first trip,
Speaker:I want to make pasta and I want to just be
Speaker:with him in Tuscany and all these beautiful places and be
Speaker:able to cook together.
Speaker:That to me is a dream come true.
Speaker:And that means that my business is just super successful and
Speaker:we could do that in Italy.
Speaker:And then the next year we can go to France and
Speaker:do it there.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:super. So what year is the Italy trip scheduled for 2018.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:It's marked on the calendar.
Speaker:Now you got 365 days to choose from for your takeoff
Speaker:to your trip.
Speaker:Yeah. I actually have a travel agent working on that now
Speaker:for us.
Speaker:Super love hearing that.
Speaker:So if you were to tell us one single place that
Speaker:anyone who's listening wants to learn more about gratitude,
Speaker:goodies, or connect up with you,
Speaker:what would that single place?
Speaker:The best place to reach me is by email.
Speaker:And that is Diane,
Speaker:D I a N e@gratitudegoodies.com.
Speaker:Or you can go to our website at gratitude,
Speaker:goodies.com and check us out there.
Speaker:Perfect. And as most of know,
Speaker:if you've been listening to me for a while,
Speaker:we'll have other places of contact for Diane on the show
Speaker:notes page.
Speaker:So you just need to jump over to gift biz on
Speaker:rap.com forward slash gratitude goodies.
Speaker:And you'll see all of that information.
Speaker:Diane, thank you so much.
Speaker:I really appreciate your taking the time today and sharing all
Speaker:of this information.
Speaker:I love that we started digging into networking at the top,
Speaker:talking about that,
Speaker:talking about your journey with gratitude goodies,
Speaker:and I know you're just going to continue providing those shock
Speaker:and awe experiences for years to come.
Speaker:And who knows,
Speaker:who knows what you'll be bringing back from Italy after that
Speaker:trip? Yeah,
Speaker:a good recipes.
Speaker:I hope there you go.
Speaker:And may your candle always burn bright?
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your set up for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone like texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever grant your products,
Speaker:have your logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica bourbon to add to a gift,
Speaker:right? A checkout it's all done right in your shop or
Speaker:across video in second check print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listen to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:by subscribing rating and reviewing help to increase the visibility on
Speaker:ground. It's a great way to pay it forward,