This Saturday, we are celebrating the 15th anniversary of Red Barn Mercantile and the 5th anniversary of Penny Post with flowers, frozen custard, and fancy tote bags that get you 20 percent off when you fill it. I wrote about our plans last week, and you can get your tote bag here, but this week I wanted to share with you some advice. Often, I’m asked by folks interested in starting their own business how I got started and what advice I might offer. That’s probably true for every one of my fellow Stylebook contributors. Well, on the eve of such a big anniversary, I thought I might share six nuggets of advice that I hope you find useful should you be interested in launching your own endeavor. Today I’m sharing the first three.

Know your tolerance for risk. It’s a fallacy that entrepreneurs are somehow risk-averse. That could not be farther from the truth. We are just as risk averse as the next person; it’s just that we have identified how big a risk we are willing to take and have mitigated that risk as best we can. To start, ask yourself if this venture should fail, what am I willing to lose? Once you figure that out, you bet accordingly. Is it the proverbial farm (or house if you need collateral for a loan) or a few thousand dollars and a year of your time? To hedge your bets, get a great lawyer to read through your lease, save the money for the startup instead of getting a loan, or keep your day job while you are working that side hustle. It’s completely personal so figure out what makes you the most comfortable. And, for goodness’ sake, don’t compare yourself to others, for their level of comfort may not be the same.  

Stretch just a little farther than is comfortable. Okay, this is going to be a little counterintuitive to my first point but stay with me. Starting your own business is scary, but if you want to be successful, then push a little past your comfort zone if you can. I’ll give you my best example. When I started looking for the location for Red Barn Mercantile, I had the opportunity to open on King Street. When we went to lease, I panicked at the terms and canceled the deal. I thought it was going to be too expensive, and I didn’t like that there would be fees due at the end of the year for which I could not plan. Instead, I decided to play it safe with a larger but less expensive space on a side street - 113 South Columbus Street, to be exact. Boy, was that a mistake! It’s amazing how far half a block off King Street is and how many people aren’t willing to make the trip. Had I stretched myself just a little bit out of my comfort zone, I would have been on King Street, made more money faster, and be in a better position than I am now. Those first five years were a good training ground (or trial by fire), but they are lost years for revenue. Don’t make that mistake.  Sometimes it costs more because it’s worth more.

Be willing to evolve. Evolution is one of our core values because I believe if we are not improving, changing with the times, learning new ways, and challenging old ideas, then we will become relics. While Red Barn Mercantile and Penny Post have stayed true to our original intent, both have evolved since opening. For instance, Penny Post wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t experimented with cards and paper goods at Red Barn Mercantile and then grew that category based on our customer’s demands. We incubated Penny Post for five years before opening it.  (See point one again.) Red Barn Mercantile used to sell antiques, but once we saw that we couldn’t keep up with the demand, it was clear we had to drop that category.  I hated disappointing folks, but for the company to thrive, we had to make tough choices. 

More to come tomorrow…