1 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,120 Hello and welcome to another episode, The Winning was Shopify 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:07,640 Podcast. If anyone's watching you before, 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,040 my name is Nick. It's such a pleasure to have you 4 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,320 listening to the show. If you listen and it's not your 5 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,560 first time and you've been listening at least once before, 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,360 or maybe you've been listening for three or four years since 7 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:16,880 I've been hosting. It's such a pleasure to have you 8 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:18,000 back. And we couldn't be doing this 9 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,400 show without you guys supporting us and sending us lots of 10 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:22,680 amazing messages, leaving us reviews, commenting on our 11 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:24,320 socials and following us all over the place. 12 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:26,560 And if you haven't already, I say it every single week, come 13 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,280 join the growth hub. You are completely missing out. 14 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,040 If you know what the growth Hub is, go listen another episode 15 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:31,560 and I'll explain it in more detail because people that 16 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:33,240 listen every week probably hear me talk about it all the time. 17 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:35,440 And if you haven't joined, there's a reason that you are 18 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:36,640 missing out. Say up to you guys. 19 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,720 Anyway, I spoke to the most amazing woman today called 20 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,120 Hannah, who runs the most incredible business. 21 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,080 And I won't tell you anything about the business you need to 22 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:45,880 listen to all in a minute. I'm going to give you my list of 23 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,200 random things though. We started off talking about 24 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,280 sign language, difference between American and British 25 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,520 sign language, which was nothing to do with the current business, 26 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:53,640 but you'll find out why in a minute. 27 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,960 We spoke about cotton candy, we spoke about events during Covad 28 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,600 accidentally going viral. Literally an instruction video 29 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,480 she made went viral. So watch the show to find out 30 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,240 how and why and what happened. We spoke about hiring staff, we 31 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,960 spoke about seasonality and dealing with seasonality as a 32 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:13,080 business, and we spoke about having the most crazy design 33 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,960 whilst balancing that fun with making enough revenue. 34 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,680 We spoke about when Shopify themselves emailed her and said, 35 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,160 Hey, we want to do a partnership with you, which a lot of stores 36 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:25,600 have never had and will never have. 37 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,280 It's really interesting. It's the first time we've had 38 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:28,560 someone on the show you actually talk about that. 39 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:31,360 So definitely check that out. And finally, we, I asked her at 40 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:32,960 the end, like, what are you guys planning? 41 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,560 And she told us about some really, really big dreams, which 42 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,720 might spark some ideas for you guys as well. 43 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,360 Hope you enjoyed today's show. Thanksgiving for tuning in. 44 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,360 If you haven't already, hit subscribe, leave us a review and 45 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,360 I hope you enjoy this episode. So, Hannah, welcome to the show. 46 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,240 Joe, how are you? Oh my gosh I am so great. 47 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,440 Thank you for having me. I'm super stoked about this. 48 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,080 Well, I'm so excited to have you on the show and for people 49 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,480 listening at home, most of you guys, and I probably said this 50 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,240 in the intro as well. I record them slightly 51 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:57,920 separately, but I've probably seen the intro. 52 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,040 If you're not watching this, if you're just listening, I 53 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,360 recommend our YouTube channel because Hannah, you are 54 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,320 completely on brand right now. Like there is nothing pink in my 55 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,400 shop for our pink branding. But you look like I'm on the 56 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,360 website at the moment, like, and we're going to talk about 57 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,680 branding of it as we go through. But if anyone's just literally 58 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,880 tuned in, skipped the beginning bit, or has never heard of Floof 59 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,040 or yourself, tell us a bit about your background and then tell us 60 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,600 how you started the business and what the business does and kind 61 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,840 of how it all fits together. Yeah. 62 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,760 Well, I, I, you know, I'm the owner of and founder of Floof 63 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,040 Cotton Candy, which is a cotton candy company, and we specialize 64 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:37,360 in cotton candy cakes. But before that, I was a sign 65 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,480 language interpreter. I studied American Sign Language 66 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,880 and was an interpreter. I had no plans to start a cotton 67 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,640 candy company, although a seed was planted. 68 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,880 I was traveling all over Australia and I was working at, 69 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,600 like, a carnival. And I remember seeing the line 70 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:58,960 for fairy floss is what they call it over there. 71 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,840 And just. Yeah, just being amazed at how, 72 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,360 like, magical it wasn't. But also the profit margins 73 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,800 really of like, you know, a tablespoon of sugar is now $5. 74 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,840 And I do remember that seed being planted and going, I, I 75 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:15,440 would love to start a cotton candy company. 76 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,960 That would be so fun. So when the pandemic hit, I I 77 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,120 went for it. Awesome, awesome. 78 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,840 And it's funny, you say, was it a fairy Floss, they call it in 79 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,760 Australia. They call it fairy floss in 80 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,040 Australia. Yeah, Dragon's beard I think is 81 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:29,640 where they call it in maybe China. 82 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:31,680 They there's a lot of different names for it. 83 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,080 Yeah, so we call it candy floss is what is known as in the UK. 84 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,280 Yeah, yeah. So Eddie Carnival, so one of my 85 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:38,880 colleagues said that and I was like, that's not what they're 86 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,320 calling it. These guys must be from from the 87 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:41,600 other side of the pond like this is. 88 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:42,800 Yeah. It's slightly different. 89 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,320 Yeah, we are based in Northern California and what we ship all 90 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,560 over the US and to Canada now and it yeah, we call it cotton 91 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,160 candy. Nice, nice. 92 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,040 Which is the American the American term. 93 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,800 Isn't it amazing. So like you were in OK, so you 94 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,720 were doing sign language and I feel it fascinating. 95 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:01,400 American Sign Language actually is what we also use here in the 96 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,640 UKI googled it the other day. So my wife mentioned it. 97 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,560 The difference between British sign language and American Sign 98 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,360 Language and American I think is simpler, which means people can 99 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:13,040 pick it up quicker than British. So actually we have adopted 100 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,000 American like almost globally. Interesting. 101 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,560 Sign language which I I thought you probably know way more about 102 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,360 this than me. Well, we American Sign Language 103 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,600 got their influence from French, Sign Language from the French. 104 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,240 So gosh, you know, we're all borrowing and and sharing. 105 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,280 And it's all Latin at the end. Of the day, Isn't it Latin? 106 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,400 Everything and we all made our own versions of it, but OK. 107 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,320 So yes, so you started started the business. 108 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,360 What year did you start it in and kind of what, what was the 109 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,880 first kind of big few, first few challenges you had to overcome 110 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,480 to start getting some revenue, get a get a store set up or get 111 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,120 customers purchasing? Yeah, we just celebrated 4 years 112 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,320 of floof cotton candy. Congratulations. 113 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,040 So thank you. I'm, I'm very, it goes so fast. 114 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,800 I can't believe it's been 4 years, but I started with a 115 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,600 cotton candy cart and I, I, you know, had this idea of starting 116 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,680 a cotton candy company and there were no events going on because 117 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,280 it was in the middle of the pandemic. 118 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,360 And yeah, my employee calls it the Panini instead of the 119 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,760 pandemic. I just think it's hilarious. 120 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,840 I, I know, but it just, it's, it's, it's, it's a happier word 121 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,000 than you know. Anyway, so during the Panini, I 122 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,680 was starting this cotton candy cart thinking one day events 123 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:30,520 will happen again and I'll be, I can do events, but there were no 124 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:35,280 events at that time. So I spent a lot of time making 125 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:37,960 cotton candy. You know, I make my own sugar 126 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,600 bases so I can make peanut butter, cotton candy, champagne. 127 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:47,240 You know, I was, I was really playing in the kitchen creating 128 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,560 cotton, cotton candy. You know, I would mostly just 129 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,640 put it in a tub or put it in a bag and give it to friends or, 130 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:58,080 you know, I was just starting and I didn't know what it would 131 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,920 be, but I was very energized by all of it like I would the. 132 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,600 Sugar that would that would. Help Yeah, maybe that would I do 133 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,880 feel like the sugar comes on my on my face, all over my face, 134 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,480 all over my body and it yeah, it probably seeps into my skin and 135 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,200 my body very energized. That's a great point. 136 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,360 And yeah, I, I didn't know what it would be. 137 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:29,200 And, and then I, I, what I did was I put, I started putting a 138 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,040 bunch of cotton candy in a larger tub. 139 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:33,840 I still have it, it's like a, it was a big Costco size, which 140 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,360 Costco is like, you know, a big, big giant shopping center 141 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,640 cottage Costco size cottage cheese container. 142 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,000 So it was huge. And I was pushing the cotton 143 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,040 candy in it into it and really pushing it down. 144 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,560 And I remember just being like, I, I flipped it over on my table 145 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,680 and, and, you know, lifted the container up and I've realized 146 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,640 this was like a cake, like a full cotton candy cake. 147 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,880 And I just like knew like this, I thought this was so cool. 148 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,160 And I'm like, I think I can, this is going to be my thing. 149 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,520 I just, I've had this feeling, but it, it, that even that 150 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,640 didn't take off for a while. It was just in the back of my 151 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,320 head and I didn't know if anyone would want that. 152 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,760 And it, it was a challenge to, to start during the pandemic and 153 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,200 not know, you know, I was just selling locally, you know, local 154 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,400 pickups or drop offs. And people were excited, but I 155 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,560 didn't know really how to grow. I had never taken an 156 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,200 entrepreneurship class. I had never taken a business 157 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,440 class. I didn't think I would ever be a 158 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,600 business owner. But here I am four years later. 159 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,040 So we're still going. Yeah, yeah. 160 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,320 No, it's amazing. And I need to ask, we've had a 161 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,800 few guests on the show that have like invented something that you 162 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,320 either use or taste. There was, and I cannot remember 163 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,200 the name of the business, so apologies if you're listening, 164 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,240 but there was a chewable toothpaste. 165 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,920 It was a lady who was travelling a lot and she didn't want to 166 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,040 take like hold luggage on planes as she's flying around the US. 167 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,680 So she just wanted hand luggage. So she wanted a like solid 168 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,720 toothpaste. And she had some disasters where 169 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,680 she lost her own taste and things like trying the product. 170 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,360 You must have just just to ask her a funny point and then we'll 171 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:13,600 talk probably about marketing in a SEC. 172 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,440 But you must have had some interesting experiences with 173 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,840 some of the flavours or I don't know if you tried anything like 174 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,480 really wacky. Yeah. 175 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:27,640 I mean, I remember I trail run in this in my community here in 176 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:32,840 Auburn, CA and I would bring my invention, my new flavors to my 177 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:34,559 running club and have them try it. 178 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,400 And yeah, some people would be like, this is way too strong or 179 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,400 this, you know, I don't taste the, you know, Kiwi strawberry 180 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,280 in this. And it was helpful to get those 181 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,040 that feedback. I think peanut butter was a 182 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,800 really weird one. I made it green so it was really 183 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:50,520 hard for people. To like, yeah. 184 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,000 They understand what was going on between, like, the color and 185 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,800 the flavor of, like, peanuts. It was just, yeah, it was fun. 186 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,920 It was fun to play with. I don't know how many disasters. 187 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,320 I think the disasters probably came from, like, machines 188 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,520 breaking and not knowing how to, you know, fix. 189 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,200 I've, I know I'm very good at fixing a cotton candy machine, 190 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,800 but I had to learn to be a little, you know, mechanic in 191 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:14,680 that sense. So. 192 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,840 Yeah. Amazing, amazing. 193 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,760 So in those four years, when would you say it was like, OK, I 194 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,400 because you mentioned I think it's before we start recording, 195 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:24,400 but you've got a team around you now. 196 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,320 You mentioned one of your team and they say it's obviously 197 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,440 grown. There's obviously people around. 198 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,000 What was that first step would you say to like, right. 199 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,560 I now have customers like was it when you built your first 200 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:35,040 Shopify store? Like how long from four years 201 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,160 ago when it was like, OK, we're going to start this thing up 202 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:39,960 until like today? At what point did you kind of go 203 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:41,280 right? We've now got an operation like 204 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,080 this is a business and we can start actually building 205 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:47,360 something here. Yeah, I, well, I went viral and 206 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,720 I didn't mean to. And, and, and that really kick 207 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,240 started me to figure, figure out more. 208 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,760 And yeah, so I, I honestly don't think I had a website at that 209 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,600 point. I was on Instagram sharing my 210 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,600 creations and you could like, you know, e-mail me or, or 211 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,920 direct message me if you wanted to order. 212 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:11,360 And again, at this was local pickup. 213 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:16,320 I, I was, I wasn't shipping, but there were a lot of people in my 214 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,000 area ordering and I was on TikTok very new and early on 215 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:26,600 TikTok and where people were still making fun of me for like 216 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,080 being on TikTok, you know, now, now it's like you have to be. 217 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,120 But I created like an instructional video on how to 218 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,520 slice and, and how to how to care for your cotton candy cake 219 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:41,160 because it's not a normal cake, you know, and you, it's, it's 220 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,840 better to use a serrated knife and make sure it's not the dried 221 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,840 knife isn't wet because what water and cotton candy don't mix 222 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,040 well. And, you know, you can put, you 223 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:50,920 know, candles and cake toppers on your cake. 224 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,000 So I was, I was making this instructional video I could send 225 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,840 out to the, you know, customers who had could order you had 226 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,120 order it. So I stopped getting all the 227 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,800 emails and it was a it was a clear, beautiful video. 228 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,280 It you know, shows showed the cake and and our cakes are, you 229 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,360 know, gluten free, dairy free, very allergy friendly and. 230 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:09,600 It's just sugar, isn't it? So it's pretty. 231 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,640 Yeah, it is vegan, yes, vegan and you know, egg free, nut 232 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:15,840 free. And there's so many allergies 233 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,280 right now that, you know, it really caters to that. 234 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:22,160 But I, I make this video, I put it on on TikTok. 235 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:25,080 It was around the holidays. So that was about one year in 236 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,680 and it it blew up. It really did. 237 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:30,920 I think there's like, I don't know, 14,000,015, maybe 20 238 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,760 million views at this point. I have another a few. 239 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,920 I've had probably over 20 videos go viral. 240 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,240 Not, not to not to brag about that, but at the power of 241 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:45,040 organic marketing and TikTok it, it was really, that's really 242 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,040 what has helped grow my business. 243 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:48,480 We, I mean, we, I know we're going to talk about the 244 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,000 marketing, but that about a year. 245 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,920 And I was like, oh, OK, everyone. 246 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:55,880 I mean, I thought the cake was really cool. 247 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,640 I would have like loved to have that as a kid or, you know, so 248 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,840 it was really validating to know, OK, other people are 249 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,600 interested in this, but how do they want it shipped? 250 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,800 And I have, I don't, I'm in my house, I have, you know, we call 251 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,720 it a cottage food permit. So I'm allowed to, to make this 252 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,000 in my house. But the, at the volume I, you 253 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:15,160 know, I didn't know how to do how I would do it. 254 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,400 So I actually moved my website to Shopify. 255 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,880 I, I think I at that point I might have had a smaller webs. 256 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,200 I used a different platform, moved to Shopify. 257 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,080 So they, they, because they had, you know, more options for me so 258 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,200 people could pick a delivery date and things like that. 259 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:38,160 And I would tell people like please, please, it's coming. 260 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,480 But I, I need to get my, you know, back end and my system in 261 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,040 place before I can ship it to you. 262 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:45,800 Yeah. So there was a lot of late 263 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,480 nights in, in that first, you know, year or two. 264 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,240 Yeah, I think it's fascinating because you're like you're 265 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,120 almost like building the business off the back of the 266 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,080 demand that's coming in. You're trying to provide the 267 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,440 supply, which is such a healthy way of doing it rather than like 268 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,120 a lot of businesses ago, like like when I started my my 269 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:03,760 Shopify store, which doesn't exist anymore, I just went on 270 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,000 Alibaba and spent $5000 in sunglasses and was like, I've 271 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,000 got a sunglasses shot. And I was then trying to force 272 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,400 people to buy these things rather than what you've done it 273 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,880 the opposite way. And I would say a much, I know 274 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,680 it's sugar. It's a healthier way from a 275 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,240 business perspective actually to try and build off the back of 276 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,200 people want this thing. It's cool. 277 00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,320 Now what you didn't do is just go like, right, we're going to 278 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,440 make 1000 a day and then try and sell them. 279 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:27,640 It was like actually building, building the other way around. 280 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:29,720 Where where did you get your first staff member? 281 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,440 Like when did kind of managing others and stuff really come 282 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:34,120 into play? Because that you must. 283 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:36,080 You don't have to share any stories on this, but as someone 284 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,360 who employs people myself, it's a whole world that no one has 285 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:40,400 made before. A whole. 286 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,360 It is, it really is, and that's a great way to put it. 287 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,840 There's there's no way in, in preparing for that. 288 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,720 I at that point was doing weddings and cotton candy carts 289 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,320 at my I brought, would bring my cart and make fresh cotton candy 290 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:56,640 cones at weddings. And it was actually a wedding 291 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,240 that I did of a of, of, you know, a bride, the bride. 292 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:04,960 And she and I ended up, you know, kind of putting out a 293 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:06,840 post, you know, please, I need help. 294 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:08,280 I need someone to come work for me. 295 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:11,800 But they had to be in my home and it was very like, you know, 296 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,920 we had to get along. So I, yeah, I, I hired my first 297 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:21,680 full time employee, just kind of a friend at that point and 298 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:27,360 trained her and yeah. And, and now I have, you know, 299 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,600 the staff has come and gone and, you know, hiring is really a 300 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:32,640 real challenge. I'm hiring right now and, you 301 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,520 know, the interviews and making sure they're trained and, you 302 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,480 know, no one is ever going to do it. 303 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:41,240 Like you like the, like the owner who really cares. 304 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,760 I mean, not that these employees don't care, but it is a 305 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,240 different energy. And it's, it's really cool when 306 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,120 you can find someone who cares as much as you do or just about 307 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,560 as much. And yeah, so I, I have 3 308 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:59,800 employees now and hiring more now for, for the holidays. 309 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:03,440 So any ebbs and flows, you know, it really does. 310 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:05,760 Yeah, yeah. And I guess your business is up 311 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:06,720 and down like that though, isn't it? 312 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,520 Because I think if it's raining and it's like February, you're 313 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,400 probably going to really struggle to sell products on, DO 314 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,320 events and get orders online Than if it's like middle of 315 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,280 summer and everyone's at the carnival, as you say, holiday 316 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,240 season, like imagine, yeah, you must be kind of completely sold 317 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,760 out for Halloween, which at the time of recording this guys, I 318 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,560 don't know exactly when. Halloween's tomorrow as well. 319 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,280 So it's obviously massive holiday in the US and you know, 320 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,720 for you guys. But how do you manage staff then 321 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,480 when like there's going to be big seasons and small seasons 322 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,200 when actually a lot of people are like, well, I've got bills 323 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:38,120 to pay all year. Like every week I've got bills 324 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:39,880 to pay. Yeah, You know, what's 325 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,520 interesting is February is one of our busiest months because of 326 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,960 Valentine's Day, so much time. So yeah, Well, you know, and, 327 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:49,760 and, and the summer is a little bit slower. 328 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,760 August is, is a slower month because we do really rally 329 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,560 around the holidays and, and what holiday, you know, we'll 330 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,080 make a Valentine's Day cake or, you know, a 4th of July cake. 331 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:05,360 And it, it is, it's seasonal. And that can be a challenge. 332 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,400 You know, I, I, I don't like even saying that it's a seasonal 333 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,960 business because there are birthdays all, all, all year 334 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,360 long. And we continue to grind and 335 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,400 work and, you know, push all year. 336 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,080 But Oh my gosh, yeah, November, December. 337 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,760 We really, we, we're very busy. So I will hire more temporary 338 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,520 employees to, to get us going. And it's such a party in here. 339 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,400 I if, yeah, if you're seeing, you can see this, this pink wall 340 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,680 behind me. It's, there's rainbows 341 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,360 everywhere. We got a rainbow light over 342 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,120 here. I mean, the whole place is 343 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,000 covered in like edible glitter and sugar. 344 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,760 It is, we have a really good time. 345 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,440 Try to keep it light. But we and, and there's a lot of 346 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:48,840 standing. It's actually a very physical 347 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,800 job, standing and and spinning cotton candy all day. 348 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,160 I think it's, it's it's mad though, Like I was, you know, 349 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,000 my, my lovely granddad passed away a few years ago, but when 350 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,360 he was still with us, I was trying to explain what the 351 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,320 workplace was like. And he was like, what do you 352 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:03,800 mean? You've got a dart board like, 353 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,079 and a table tennis table. I was like, yeah, granddad 354 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:09,920 likes, you know, staff want to hang out And actually like so 355 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,760 often when we leave the office now at like 5:00, half five, 356 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:15,079 there's people playing table tennis, there's people chatting. 357 00:17:15,079 --> 00:17:17,800 The music's been turned out like we've even got, I don't know how 358 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:19,760 many people, how long people have been listening to this, all 359 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:21,800 of you guys. We've even got a turtle who 360 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,119 lives in the office and a massive town. 361 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:25,000 And he was a gift. Oh, I love that. 362 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,280 Yeah, it. Was a gift for one of our 363 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:28,359 podcast guests. How many turned up was only like 364 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,720 an inch big, but you make this amazing environment. 365 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,480 And I, I asked some of my staff recently like what what are the 366 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,520 top three or five things that make you want to work here? 367 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:41,040 And they all fortunately listed some important employment parts. 368 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,280 But they did say like the fact that we've just got a fridge 369 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,600 full of like diet Cokes and there's loads of sweets 370 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:47,920 everywhere and chocolate and stuff, although it's not the 371 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,640 healthiest thing. They, they really, like, really, 372 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,280 really loved that. And every time a shop turns up, 373 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:54,560 like everyone's off their seat going, yeah, I'll help unpack 374 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:55,640 the shop. Like, you know, what's going in 375 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:56,960 the kitchen and like, and everyone kind of does. 376 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,280 It was like a team activity. And I'm sort of sitting there 377 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,560 going, you know, between between all of you listeners and Hannah 378 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,800 and myself. It cost me like 100, maybe £200 379 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:07,920 a month. Like it's not a lot at all. 380 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,000 You can pay someone's salary or an insurance bill or something 381 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,600 like that or an advertising. It's nothing. 382 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,400 But it improves the workplace so much. 383 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,320 So I think like if you, if you told me like you just had a 384 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,560 really plain boring warehouse with no decorations and stuff. 385 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,240 I mean, for anyone listening, Hannah's also got a pink beanie 386 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:24,560 on. Like she's so on brand. 387 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,440 The moment she appeared, I was like, wow, you're on brand. 388 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,640 And she laughed. And that was that was how we 389 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:29,480 said hello a minute. Ago. 390 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:30,560 This is me. Yeah. 391 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,240 My business is an absolute extension of who I am. 392 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:33,840 Yeah. Yeah. 393 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:35,280 And making it fun. It's so important. 394 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,120 It is so important because I think and also like customers 395 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:40,600 and this is I think a really good question to ask you next 396 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:42,360 time. How do the customers like? 397 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,000 And I've been on your website as well. 398 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,520 And if no one if other people haven't, I do recommend going on 399 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:47,920 it and tell us the web address in a SEC. 400 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,520 But how? Do you, how are you guys like 401 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:51,960 check it out? How are you guys like? 402 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:54,920 Bringing that kind of brand, that excitement, that fun, how 403 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:56,520 do you actually bring that to customers? 404 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,840 Do you want to up your influencer marketing game? 405 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:00,400 Do you want to meet more influencers? 406 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,040 Have a better working relationship with influencers? 407 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,160 You might even be struggling to talk to them in the first place. 408 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,320 Or you can get them to talk about your product and post it 409 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,760 to their audiences without winning. 410 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,560 With Shopify, we have teamed up with a fluencer which is an app 411 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:13,600 you can install on Shopify and it comes with a 30 day trial. 412 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,800 And even in those first 30 days you can meet a load of 413 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,400 influencers and start promoting your product. 414 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,520 So there's no excuse. Go and install the app, start 415 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,080 the 30 day trial and give it a go yourself and see how you get 416 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,440 on when so many websites are like white background. 417 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:28,960 Here are some products which ones you want. 418 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:30,400 It's feature LED, not benefit LED. 419 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,840 How have you guys really brought that to life to the customers as 420 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,320 much as making the the kind of work environment for you guys 421 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,560 internally a good place? Yeah, I want, I mean, our 422 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,000 website is, is really fun and I hired help for that, that my 423 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,880 first website. I, one of my best friends helped 424 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:49,960 me with it and it was still fun. But yeah, this floof is meant to 425 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:54,160 be extra and bring joy. Like this is not a necessity. 426 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,160 A cotton candy cake, you know, I mean, for some people who have a 427 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,440 food allergy, they finally get to enjoy a cake and and that's 428 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,120 exciting. But yeah, having really 429 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:05,680 consistent branding and like I said, this is it. 430 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,400 Floof is my soul. Like my heart and you can feel 431 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,440 that and see that and I think that's it's it makes it so 432 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,480 customers can connect with that and like believe that we're not 433 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,680 putting on a show. You know, this we we want to 434 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:27,160 send joy and and you know, fun to to your home. 435 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:32,360 And so finding a really good, you know, does that web designer 436 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:36,600 and discussion. I'm, I'm, I'm blanking on the 437 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,880 name, but graphic designer, all of that is, is really important. 438 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:45,560 And I think our content on social media with our, you know, 439 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:50,440 in, with our website, you can really feel this is fun and, 440 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,880 and, and that's exactly what I want. 441 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,560 And we could always do a better job. 442 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:56,840 You know, there's always more that you can do as a small 443 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,840 business owner, but I'm really proud of like the what we've 444 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,760 built so far and and the energy we put out. 445 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:05,760 And I think just something you remind me of that I always 446 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,280 suggest to clients and always kind of look at ourselves as 447 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,480 well as don't hire a designer just because they're the one in 448 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,920 front of you. With designers, I think is 449 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,440 whether it's a web developer, a designer, graphic designer, 450 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,760 branding person, hire someone that's designed loads of stuff 451 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,520 that you're like, make us look like this because I've, I've 452 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:24,960 certainly found that they're like, although there's a limited 453 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,800 amount of pixels on a screen or there's only so much you could 454 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,000 put on a piece of A4 paper that people could still read. 455 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,200 That said though, that there are different themes, designs and 456 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,400 every designer will have their own creative flair for what they 457 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,680 do and what you really do not want to be doing with designer. 458 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,000 The way to get the worst result is to try and get the wrong 459 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,240 designer design the wrong thing that doesn't come naturally to 460 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,160 them. So like when we've looked at our 461 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,280 own websites or like even our logo, for example, I went to 462 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,200 someone who said look, you specify in helping brands stand 463 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,480 out and look different. You work with disruptor brands 464 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:58,600 and everything you design actually looks quite different. 465 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,520 Like there isn't a theme in the design itself. 466 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,120 It's in the they are all disrupting different industries. 467 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,720 And to be frank, when people are looking on Apple podcasts and 468 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,720 they look at podcasts, they're all black, they're all white. 469 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:12,040 They're all quite boring. Make us pop, make us so 470 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,840 incredible. And and he was like, you're not 471 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:14,920 going to like what I designed it. 472 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:18,000 And I was like, I I need to learn to not care is what I said 473 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,680 to him. So he was also called Nick. 474 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,560 And I said, Nick, design us what you think will work best. 475 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,320 And he came back with this bright pink. 476 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:25,720 I could barely look. At the Pink. 477 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:27,840 Yeah. And I was like, I was like, do 478 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:29,400 it, It works. And he's like, but you don't 479 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:30,440 like it. And I was like, I don't care, 480 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,840 it's not for me. And we've had a lot of feedback 481 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,080 and we can see in the stats now that we get way more people 482 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,760 clicking on our and we've been playing loads of our YouTube 483 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,000 thumbnails the same as you guys will be with your social 484 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,400 content, playing with what's the thumbnail they see? 485 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:44,000 What's the first thing that happens on each video? 486 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:45,880 How do we improve that engagement? 487 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,160 And most of how do we convert that engagement to revenue? 488 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,200 Because otherwise the engagement is fun, but pointless. 489 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:53,360 And so I guess really good question. 490 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,240 I think to ask you is how do you make that connection between 491 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,360 because if you're, if you're anything like me, you must have 492 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:01,120 days where you're like, Oh my gosh, I've got my whole team on 493 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:03,800 this side project. That's fun, but it's never going 494 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:05,440 to pay for anything. And I don't want them all to be 495 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,400 disappointed at the end, but we kind of need to stop and do 496 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,280 something that actually does generate sales. 497 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,840 But like, how do you kind of intertwine the two things of 498 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,600 like, we want to be fun and we want to be creative. 499 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,960 We want our brand to really pop and people to engage with it, 500 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,440 but we we've got to pay the bills. 501 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,280 Otherwise like they have to work in tandem. 502 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,040 How do you get that balance in a in a small business like yours? 503 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,440 Yeah, well, like, like you mentioned before, like I waited 504 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,680 until that demand was there, which I was so lucky that, you 505 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:33,080 know, I have a, a product that can go viral because it is so 506 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:34,880 interesting and new and like brand new. 507 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:36,880 You know, people had never seen this before. 508 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,000 So I, I really did wait. And as a small business owner, 509 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,400 you know, it, it can be hard seeing other businesses maybe 510 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,960 grow a little bit faster. And I can tell, oh, they are 511 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:51,640 pouring money into their business and, you know, pushing 512 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,360 advertising, pushing this. But I really did. 513 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:56,760 I've never been in the red. I've never taken out of business 514 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,680 on. I waited until I had the funds 515 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,400 to. And then, yeah, like interviewed 516 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,040 a lot of different designers. I made sure I found someone who 517 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,160 really, I really clicked with. And they were, I mean, I think 518 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:08,680 they were in Cuba. They were far away. 519 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,200 And she's an amazing designer. I can tag her and I want to 520 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:13,960 shout her out if I can because. You do. 521 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:15,240 What's her name? How can? 522 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,120 People. Yeah, Her name is Melissa. 523 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,800 I don't have her handle right now, but I can. 524 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:22,280 Put it in description so. Yeah. 525 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:23,920 Hold Melissa. We'll put her decent 526 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:25,760 description. Your design is awesome. 527 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:27,960 Like nothing short of awesome. It's so crazy. 528 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,400 She made me a cotton. I am a cotton candy cone. 529 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:33,840 Like with my beanie and my glasses. 530 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:35,120 I mean, she's of course that's you. 531 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,240 Yes, no, I see it now. So I'm on, I'm on the website as 532 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,160 much as yeah, as much as we're chatting, but. 533 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,760 So yeah, I'd love to, I'd love to support her and, and get her 534 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,840 some more work if you're wanting fun and exciting design. 535 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,440 So I, I don't know if I did it the right way, but I did it the 536 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,600 smart way. And I, and I did wait until I 537 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,400 felt comfortable and had the funds to then reach out and, and 538 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,360 I'm grateful and God, and I think every small business 539 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:08,200 owner, especially woman, women business, women in business, I 540 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:13,000 think we try to do a lot ourselves and we're like, I can 541 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:14,440 do that, I can do that, I can do that. 542 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,560 And then you're doing way too much. 543 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,440 And it's it, it made, I got to a point where I, we weren't able 544 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:24,560 to grow because I was almost holding us back doing so much. 545 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,360 I, I think we've, yeah, I think, I think most small business 546 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,520 owners have. And it's actually hard to let go 547 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:34,360 and, and say, OK, you need to be in charge of, you know, customer 548 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:38,120 service like, so it's, it is a hard balance. 549 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,600 And, and we, I have made a lot of mistakes. 550 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,920 We made push cotton candy, push pops. 551 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:46,800 So it's this little push pop container and you put a bunch of 552 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,360 cotton, you know, cotton candy in and then you push it up and 553 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,960 it's so cute. And I spent a full year push 554 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:55,120 pops, push pops. Pushing. 555 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:01,600 Pushing, pushing this product and people loved it. 556 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,040 They loved it. It was like a handheld little 557 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,920 thing they could have for parties and but it was not 558 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,800 making enough money and it was so time consuming. 559 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,280 But everyone loved it and the feedback was so good that it was 560 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:19,920 like a drug. And I'm like, we have to keep 561 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:23,080 going like push pops and and at the end of the year, I was like, 562 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,000 that was not the right choice. Yeah. 563 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,400 And you learn, you learn. Sometimes, sometimes you need 564 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,760 to, I think, I think you need to waste enough money to know what 565 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,840 to spend your money on. And we the the biggest flashback 566 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,720 puts in my mind, we used to run so many meetups in London with 567 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,920 like other agencies and we used to, we used to spend loads of 568 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:45,240 money on it. And then we started getting 569 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,040 sponsors and one of them, we had like 3 or 400 people rock up one 570 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,680 evening, free beer and pizza, 3 talks. 571 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,760 I did, I did one of the talks and two of the interviews, like 572 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,000 I was centre stage. And it got to like the end of, 573 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,800 we put this for like two or three years, a bit longer than 574 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,840 you go to the end of it. And my, my team were like, oh, 575 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,520 we love doing these, These are so great. 576 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,400 And I, I will, I looked at our client list and every single 577 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:07,840 invoice we'd raised and I was like, I cannot trace any of it 578 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:09,920 to those events. Literally none of it. 579 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,080 Some apart from like one or two people came along, didn't really 580 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,640 talk to anyone, didn't really gel and also didn't say like, 581 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,400 wow, that was amazing. Thanks much for being they said 582 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,680 nothing and they were clients of ours and I was like I would 583 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,200 still have that client without the event. 584 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,800 What a waste of like 100,000 lbs like. 585 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,000 Every few years. That was not a good use of 586 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,200 funds. And it's yeah. 587 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:34,920 And it's good for us to be and for you to share those stories 588 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:39,480 on your podcast because it's it is hard to learn that way. 589 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,040 And I think, you know, I don't actually know how long you've 590 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,240 been doing this, but I, you know, I'm four years in. 591 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,320 It's really helpful to listen to these podcasts and know, OK, I'm 592 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,600 not the only one who spent, you know, a year sort of on a 593 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,560 tangent, maybe, you know, learning. 594 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,240 That's not the best use, especially time. 595 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:04,080 I think it was such a time suck. And that is money, you know, our 596 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,280 energy at those late night events or like late night push 597 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,160 pop parties, you know, and I'd have all my friends come over 598 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,000 and it was fun. But like, yeah, not the best use 599 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,640 of time and. Energy, it's funny you mentioned 600 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,800 the podcast because that exactly the same. 601 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,400 So we've actually been running it about four years. 602 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,080 I've been running my agency since 2011. 603 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,560 So that's been 13 years now. I'd be 14 in Feb Feb's our 604 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,040 birthday and maybe we should do something on the podcast for a 605 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,000 bit. You should. 606 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:29,120 Celebrate it. Yeah, exactly. 607 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:31,160 And and maybe we can get some of your products. 608 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,280 There we go, cake. I was just going to say I'll 609 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:39,200 send you a food cake. Magic, everybody, we are we're 610 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:40,960 not wasting for you another order for you. 611 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:44,360 But I did yeah, at first we're running the podcast and at first 612 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,120 I didn't want to run it. I bought a business that came 613 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,200 with it from my friend Caroline. And and so she used to host this 614 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:50,680 and she was like, you got to do a podcast, Nick. 615 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:52,960 I did 1 and got hooked and I was like, wow, this is fun. 616 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,760 My egos gone through the roof like, and I can interview 617 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,880 people. I look amazing and well, I sound 618 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,200 amazing. It was, it wasn't video at 619 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,480 first, but we did that. And then I hired someone and was 620 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,120 like, wow, this is great. And I got to the end of the year 621 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:06,880 and I looked at my accounts like I'm paying them. 622 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:08,880 The podcast is making nothing and the rest of the business is 623 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:11,200 just not working. She ran it really well, but I 624 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:12,400 can't run it the same way she did. 625 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,880 It's just not working. And then it was, but then we 626 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:16,840 what we did with it, and I think there's probably a middle ground 627 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,640 for some of these things is we got quite creative with it and 628 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,520 said, do we just charge people to listen? 629 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:22,640 No, we don't think that's going to fly. 630 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,320 It's hard enough to get people to listen to it anyway, let 631 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,280 alone having a fee to it. So we got, we charged someone to 632 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:29,600 come on as a guest and they were like, yeah, we pay that. 633 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,800 And we were like, great, well, we've got 52 slots a week, 52 634 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,360 times by that amount of money. Wow, his salaries paid. 635 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,480 We've made a bit more. And then how do we get clients 636 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:38,960 from it? OK, we need to establish 637 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,360 ourselves. That's going to take some time. 638 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,680 So we kind of really built it and the sponsors now we earn 639 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:45,840 good money from we've got, as you guys would have heard in my 640 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,760 intro, we've got a community and that community is completely 641 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:50,360 free at the moment. There's no sponsorship on it, 642 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,120 nothing. We have plans to monetize it one 643 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,320 day, but we're not going to be not going to be like charging 644 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,640 tons and tons of money for it. It will be some sort of value 645 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,240 adds it almost like one of the ideas has been floated we could 646 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,760 offer is how do we offer like a sort of $10,000 a month's worth 647 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,840 of agency fees for like $50.00 a month, just $50.00. 648 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,720 And it's like, ah, I reckon I can make that happen. 649 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,520 And so the team now are working on some ideas and thoughts like 650 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,840 that to help people like yourself and, and lots of other 651 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,920 people listening. But I do think that mid, there's 652 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,200 a middle ground of like, OK, we're getting traction here. 653 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,440 We've got attention, but it's not converting. 654 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,800 And I think that's when you need to take a step back and go, how 655 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:28,840 far will this go? How much of my time does it 656 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,000 drain? Could it generate anything and 657 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,880 how much it going to cost me to go down that road? 658 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,200 And sometimes, like my sunglasses business, I just 659 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,520 click the button, put me all our stock on eBay and I was out and 660 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,160 that was it. And I actually made my money 661 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,320 back in the end, but I didn't get my time back. 662 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,920 And it's like if I just signed one more client in my agency 663 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:49,520 instead of doing that whole exercise. 664 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:51,760 More money. But it was fun and the team. 665 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,120 And I'm sure you learned a lot. And I that's where I, what I 666 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,320 take with me is I am, I am always learning. 667 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,320 And it, it will help me in the future or someone else. 668 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,760 Hey, maybe don't do the sunglass business like I I did that or 669 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,920 you know, yeah. There was no USP, it was just 670 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,240 wooden sunglasses. My wife and I had a great time 671 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:10,720 on a holiday, like taking pictures of them. 672 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:12,160 Wow, this is going to work so well. 673 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,520 And then it was so depressing that you put with a new images 674 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,320 live and do social poster like for likes. 675 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,120 Oh, all right. We just, we spent like 2 days 676 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,800 taking pictures and editing them and everything. 677 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,720 But I guess I'm kind of bringing it, bringing it back down to 678 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,960 marketing and maybe I think it's a really powerful point to stop 679 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,480 on was to kind of finish on Shopify and you guys, you guys 680 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:37,240 did something together that sounded absolutely incredible 681 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,440 and I almost missed it from my show notes until you mentioned 682 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,240 it before we hit record. Tell us you got a phone call 683 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,760 from Shopify. Tell us what happened. 684 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,080 Yeah, Shopify emailed and they said we we would really like to 685 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:53,280 to work with you, you know, you know, yeah, give us a call. 686 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:57,880 Can we hop on a call and Shopify, at least this 687 00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,560 department is based in Canada. A lot of Shopify is in Canada, 688 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:07,720 if I'm, if I'm correct. And yeah, they, their team kind 689 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,480 of the, the filming team, they, they wanted to come down and 690 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,040 they did, they were here for four days and they filmed for 691 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:16,160 four days. I think they were here for 692 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,680 longer than four days, but we filmed for four days and they 693 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,280 wanted to tell my story because it, I mean it, it's, it's an 694 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,800 interesting 1. And I think a lot of, I think 695 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,640 people can relate when they're starting a business and they 696 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,640 don't really know what they're doing because that, that's my 697 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:36,320 story essentially. And yeah, we went from, and I 698 00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,840 had just gotten my storefront. I have a store, a kitchen and a 699 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:42,760 storefront now, but for years I was doing it out of my home. 700 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:47,960 And you know, the, the reason, excuse me, they reached out was 701 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,200 because I was, you know, I have been very active in posting so 702 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,240 much on social media and sharing my story and sharing my 703 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:56,760 products. And they found me that way, 704 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:00,920 which, which is why I, I do tell you know why I'm like, I think 705 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:04,160 it's just so important to, to keep sharing and posting behind 706 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:06,520 the scenes. But it was an amazing 707 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:13,160 opportunity to really share the beginning, start of my business. 708 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,840 And then we sort of ended where we got to see, you know, me be 709 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,880 able to grow into this kitchen and it, yeah, just a lovely 710 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,360 experience. Shopify team was amazing. 711 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,880 I, I really adore all of them. Yeah, yeah. 712 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:30,600 Amazing, amazing. And what was the output of it 713 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,000 like? Did they they start posting it 714 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,840 on the Shopify channel? Did it become one of their ads? 715 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:35,280 Like what did? You guys get? 716 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:36,440 Off the back of it, Like, was it? 717 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,920 Was it as crazy and viral as everyone will assume? 718 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:43,800 You know, it, it's fun. I still people like I have a 719 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,520 neighbor upstairs who's like, I keep seeing your ad, like I keep 720 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,960 seeing your face and I don't, I have no control of what they do 721 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,240 with those videos, you know, but they did, they did post on all 722 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,360 their socials. You know, there's a full 4 723 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,840 minute YouTube video. There's a shorter video that was 724 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:02,840 put on their social media and then they took clips for ads. 725 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:08,719 So I know in America people you know, have seen Shopify ads with 726 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:10,719 with my face and a little bit of my story. 727 00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:14,880 And because I do, I did, I really did move my website to 728 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,560 Shopify so because they could handle what I needed. 729 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:21,880 And this isn't an ad for them. I just really, it really does 730 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:25,920 work for me and I really like my Shopify website with them so. 731 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,040 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And obviously I wouldn't be 732 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:29,960 running this podcast if I didn't like Shopify. 733 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,760 Yeah, it's such an, it's such an amazing way, I think for like a 734 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,600 tech company, like thinking of all the other platforms I've 735 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:41,000 worked with, like Jumbler and Drupal and WordPress, they would 736 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,120 never reach out and do anything like this. 737 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,080 I think that like I was having a discussion actually with someone 738 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,960 over the weekend that they sort of said like how much 739 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,280 affiliation does your podcast get with Shopify? 740 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,080 And I sort of said actually not much, but at the same time, like 741 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,280 I feel really connected. Like the support we get as an 742 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,960 agency is incredible, like 24/7 live chat. 743 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,960 And if you talk to someone, that person owns your query, they 744 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,320 will e-mail you immediately afterwards. 745 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:06,560 They'll organize follow up calls. 746 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,160 Quite often live chat turns into a video call within a few 747 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:10,480 minutes. And they say like, right, show 748 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:11,800 us the problem. We'll try and fix this. 749 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,000 Click here, click here. I've clicked something and they, 750 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:15,360 they can actually do stuff for you. 751 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:18,840 I, yeah, I normally reach out. So when I'm stumped and I'm 752 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:20,920 supposed to be one of the experts, it's like even then 753 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,640 they normally get their second line support team. 754 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,600 If you get second support, you know, you've nailed it. 755 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,040 Like that's, you know, you've put the really technical guys on 756 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,280 the call. And but I do, I do feel that 757 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,400 sense of you're actually very well, like we're all very, 758 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,480 quite, very connected to them. And I think it's, it's, it's 759 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:38,000 really powerful like advert, I think for the way a tech 760 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,560 platform can run. And it does remind me a lot, 761 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,080 actually, of some of the biggest tech pioneers that have ever 762 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,880 existed, like Google. Most of us pay nothing for 763 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,440 Google, use Gmail, you use Google Photos. 764 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:51,400 You go on Google and you look for everything you shop and look 765 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,320 for. You go on Google and you do that 766 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,600 on Google Chrome, which is also free. 767 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,880 It's a really effective model. And Shopify is very similar, 768 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,440 like we're going to charge you next to nothing until you start 769 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:03,600 selling products. And if you do like yourself, 770 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,320 we're going to really encourage you to grow here. 771 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,640 We've had Shopify on the show a few times making announcements 772 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,080 and they've never announced like, oh, there's a new button 773 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,080 that saves you 5 minutes on your reporting. 774 00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,360 It's always like, actually, we're going to help you finance 775 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,440 your business to grow. If you're growing steadily 776 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,040 enough, we'll give you cash upfront to grow faster and we'll 777 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:21,280 take it out your transaction fees. 778 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,240 And it's like, oh, that's a really effective model actually. 779 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:27,320 And certainly I shouldn't, I shouldn't say this, but as you 780 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,520 asked me before we hit record, well not affiliated with 781 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:31,200 Shopify. So I can say if you think 782 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,920 Shopify Plus is too expensive, read, reach out and tell them 783 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,000 that and they'll do something on the price It's. 784 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:37,440 Yeah, there you go. Hey. 785 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,000 Many, many clients have gone before us and got really good 786 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:41,320 deals with them. The same with other tech 787 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:45,440 platforms as well, but. Yeah, and I actually did an ad, 788 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,480 an ad with Google Workplace. They reached out as well, Google 789 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:50,880 once said. So I do like those, the 790 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:56,960 companies who want to show the stories of, because that's what 791 00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:59,200 Shopify is really pushing like right now. 792 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,880 They're like, look at what these small businesses are able to do. 793 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,960 I just think that's really cool. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, 794 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:07,120 absolutely. And I said it was going to be 795 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,640 the last question, but I, I now realize I lied. 796 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,160 I didn't know the time, but I now realize I do want to ask one 797 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:14,160 more. And just in the last sort of two 798 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,440 or three minutes, where are you guys like heading? 799 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:19,040 What's what's on the horizon? What are you excited about, 800 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,560 worried about? Like what's what's kind of, I 801 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,640 know it will change in the next 10 minutes anyway, but what's 802 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,360 kind of front and center right now? 803 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:27,320 Like where are you guys just trying to head as a as a 804 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,320 business and as a team? That's a great question. 805 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,160 And I have, I'm a dreamer, so I have big dreams and I, I put 806 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,400 them on the shelf and sometimes they need to stay on the shelf 807 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,080 and sometimes it's time to bring them them off the shelf. 808 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,320 I love that. So I, I really want to keep 809 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,600 pushing my floof cakes. I think, I don't think enough 810 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:51,360 people know about them. And I I really wanted to be 811 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,240 almost like a household name, especially for people who do 812 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:56,920 have food allergies, which that rate is growing rapidly. 813 00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,720 I'd love to be able to ship internationally. 814 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:01,840 Right now we're in America and Canada. 815 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:05,040 I'd love to ship to the UKA lot of people ask for floof cakes. 816 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,080 I would love to. And yeah, yeah, that's, that's 817 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:09,440 that's a goal that's on the list. 818 00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:14,880 And I have a dream of franchising my cotton candy cart 819 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:21,280 and giving people an option of having a side hustle that is 820 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:25,560 already set up and successful for them to, to be at events and 821 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,760 yeah, make, make cotton candy, bring joy and make some money 822 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,000 for them and their family. So that's that's, that's what's 823 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,560 on the horizon. Yeah, yeah. 824 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,480 And you're absolutely right. I think about the shelf and I 825 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,960 think sometimes we as entrepreneurs, sometimes, 826 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:40,680 especially when we've had our fingers burn or we've had a 827 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:42,400 couple of like false start things. 828 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,200 Sometimes we do. And you probably probably do 829 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,400 this as much as an idea, which is not enough. 830 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:50,240 It's like you take a day out and just go and not be in the office 831 00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:53,000 on a work day and just sit with a blank piece of paper and go. 832 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,240 I know everything I know today about the business. 833 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:56,600 I'm probably not better than anybody. 834 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,400 Like I know all the intricacies. I know how my staff tick and all 835 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,400 my customers are like I started this thing. 836 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,680 No one does anything that hasn't been taught by me or taught down 837 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,720 from me at some point. What what am I missing? 838 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:09,360 Where can I grow? What are the things I need to 839 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:10,840 do? And I think that sometimes you 840 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,400 grab the big dreams and and if you told me we'll be running 841 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,400 this podcast as well as we are now four years ago, I'd be like, 842 00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,000 get out of here. Like that's ridiculous. 843 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,880 And unless you got I got spotted by about four people at a 844 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:22,040 conference recently here in the UK. 845 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:22,920 It's. Amazing. 846 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:24,280 Most of our listeners are in the US. 847 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,840 It was an e-commerce podcast, but people were like, do you run 848 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,280 winning with Shopify? Yes, yes, that's me. 849 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,680 And they're like, I love your show and I'm like, oh, that's 850 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:33,760 great. Like my wife doesn't. 851 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:37,200 I'm too carried away. She never listens. 852 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:37,960 No. Good for you. 853 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,640 She's never going to hear. This, I hope she listens to 854 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:41,720 this. I'm going to. 855 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:43,560 We need, we need her to listen to this one. 856 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:46,000 She's great, though. She is also the reason I keep 857 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:47,920 going every day. There's a get out there. 858 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:49,680 I love coming today. I'm like, yeah, that's it, 859 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:52,400 that's it. But look, Hannah, thank you so 860 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:53,920 much for your time. I really appreciate you coming 861 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:55,840 on the show. So many amazing bits of your 862 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,760 story and sharing so humbly as well some of the things that 863 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:00,360 haven't worked and stuff. So yeah, thank you so much for 864 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:02,320 your time. This was so fun. 865 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:03,960 You're great. I I really need to fight. 866 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,400 Find a way to get you a floof cake. 867 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,360 I would I would love that I yeah, we'll chat after we. 868 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,120 Finished recording, yeah. As I say, thank you so much and 869 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,080 for everybody listening at home as well, you guys play a massive 870 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:14,320 part in this. So if you haven't already, 871 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:16,280 please hit subscribe, leave us a review on whatever platform 872 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:17,720 you're on and come check out the Growth Hub. 873 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,000 We'd love to get to meet you guys and invite you some of the 874 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,000 awesome events get you on the new platform we've just launched 875 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:22,960 as well. I'm very proud of the new 876 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,440 platform because it's so awesome and you guys can chat to each 877 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,760 other, share stories, share experiences, etcetera. 878 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,840 So thanks for tuning in today. Back again next Friday and we 879 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:30,480 hope to see you there.