Clare Marron, owner of Monkitree, Gardiner (April 2019)
Clare Marron
I had not owned a business before this. I actually worked for a retail company, the owners retired and it has since closed. It was called Appalachian Spring, I worked for them for 20 years. It’s a small company, so I did a lot of different things — working in stores, managing stores, working in the buying department, developing training materials for managers. I feel I did a lot of different aspects of having a business even though it wasn’t mine.
The hardest thing for me and maybe the most challenging is the financial side. Fortunately, I have a computer system that keeps track of all the inventory and paying people who have things on consignment. If I had to do that (without the system) that would have been a disaster. So, yay for computer systems! For me, it’s just the constant, now I have to do the quarterly tax payments. That and the budgeting, and how much do you spend on advertising — all of that stuff is difficult.
I would also say this: It’s important to step away from your business for a vacation or a long weekend, even if you have to close your doors. You have to get out and see what else is going on. You can easily get so focused on doing this thing you do every day and keeping it going, that you fail to see trends and what people are doing and what they spending their money on. It’s an important thing when you own a business.
When Peter (Malyon) and I bought the building, the idea was I would have the first floor and that I could do what I want store-wise and we would do the renovations and live upstairs. The store bit was like, “Hmm, I could do that,” without a clear idea of what it has to be. In fact, I called it Monkitree in part because what if it needed to become something else? What if my vision wasn’t going to be supported, and I needed to turn it into, I don’t know, a cafe? I was open to whatever was possible. It wasn’t like I had to have it be like that.
I started so small. I posted a picture of the shop from 2010, and a picture from now. I had next to nothing in here. The amount of merchandise I have in the store now compared to then is kind of embarrassing when you think about it. I opened the store with, like, five things. I had wall art and a little bit of Mary Kay Spencer’s pottery from the Potter’s House, there was a little bit of jewelry. Now I have a lot inventory and options for people, which is what you need to happen.
I didn’t borrow money or any of that, and we own the building, so I can have a bad February and it didn’t matter.
Patrick Dunn, Solaris Consulting Group (formerly Cushnoc Resiliency Advisors), Augusta (March 2019)
Patrick Dunn
I thought it would be easier getting clients than it is. It’s more challenging than I thought. (To overcome that) I do more education and tweaking or adjusting the message I give during my sales pitch until I get one that seems to resonate with people. It all goes back to finding what works and what resonates with different customers, whether they are in finance, state government or manufacturing. I thought people would be more enthusiastic.
Jessica Greenleaf, owner, Loyal Leashes, Gardiner area (December 2018)
Jessica Greenleaf
It’s definitely not what you think it is. A lot of people romanticize it. They say to me, “I’m broke, I’m going to start my own business,” or, “I want to name my schedule and be able to take vacations whenever I want, I am going to start my own business.”
Both of those things are not true.
It takes a while to turn a profit out of it. Of course, there are some businesses that start right up and start earning a profit right away.
I thought, of course, like everyone thinks that I would be creating this job for myself and making money right away, and it will be easy, basically. Not necessarily the work, but the business part of it, I thought it would be easy.
I train dogs and walk dogs and care for animals. I am not an accountant, I am not a businessperson — I mean, I am now; I’m a business owner. You really don’t know how many roles you have to play in the business until you are the only one doing any of it. Even down to being your own IT person. When I had a desk job I could just call the IT person. I can’t do that anymore.
Dalziel Lewis, member of the Mill Park Farmers’ Market, Augusta (May 2019
Dalziel Lewis
The folks we brought in a few years ago, I think they are starting to learn that if you want to stay with it you have to learn the balance, however you can make that work. I don’t know if it’s a misconception or a novice’s enthusiasm. I think that’s a good thing because you need that adrenaline to get your business going and over time when you can sustain that energy or motivation you can learn what the group needs over time as well. It’s an important skill, I think, to be able to keep at it in this kind of scenario. It’s a lot easier than a store front in a lot of ways. We all have a lot of overhead in our own homes or home bases.
Everyone has to be willing to learn how to see each other’s strengths and work with each other’s differences or accept them. There is a notion of compromise in the group dynamic, especially when it’s not your family, where a lot of cultures are merging.
The farmer’s market has been going for more than a decade. In the summer, on average we have 14 to 17 vendors at different points. The outdoor market is Tuesdays, May 7 through October, from 2-6 p.m. The winter market also takes place Tuesdays.
Tara Vought, independent consultant, Lemongrass Spa Products, Fairfield (April 2019)
Tara Vought
I guess the wake-up call is that you don’t get instant income. You have to work just as hard working for yourself than you do working for other people, if not harder. It’s part time, and I like it being part-time. I feel like I would like to get more effort for what I put in, but I have a few sales a month, and I count that as success.
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