Jorgito’s Pollitos, Richard Valentine, and cousin's small business. Screenshot by Shanelle Lopez
When starting a small business, the preparation and execution are not as easy and swift as the thought that comes to mind. Artists and creators have turned to start small businesses selling their work. The start of a small business has the potential to pave the way for the rest of your life. Many did not see themselves in the positions they are in with the mini successes of their work.
“Millennials and Gen Zers are 188% more likely to have the aim of creating a side business, compared to baby boomers,” statistics shared in SalesForce, 2019.
The pandemic has forced some people to create small businesses online, to help them survive. Small businesses are easy to conceptualize - but are tougher to execute.
According to Guidant Financial, 2019, “55 percent of respondents said that they were opening their own business because they wanted to be their own boss.” This was the same motivation Taylor Toran, owner of “Mookiesince96”, a small business that sells custom clothing, had when she started her entrepreneurial journey.
“Being able to be in charge of my own stuff is what I enjoy most about starting my small business. I am the boss, and no one can tell me what to do,” Toran said.
As popular as starting a small business may be, it is rather difficult to get started. Toran admits to “Mookiesince96” being her fourth or fifth business.
“Starting a small business is so hard. I have failed so many times, it's insane. This seems to be the only one actually bringing in money,” Toran said.
There are many key elements to running a small business, the success does not come easy.
“Plan very clearly, develop your roadmap to success. To make dollars, your business needs to make sense,” said Tom Morley, Director at Rockland Regional NY Small Business Development Center. Morley has been working with small businesses for thirty-plus years, along with also having several small businesses from electronics manufacturing to aviation.
Also on the list of elements within a successful small business Morley also listed,
“Sales, sales, sales. If you don’t or can’t sell anything, the business will be a challenge. Planning. It is essential to plan how one will conduct the business. Always be able to answer the question of why. Why will people buy your product? Why will they want it? Why yours as opposed to the competition’s?”
The “why” for each business is different. For Grace Mercado, small business owner of 8Ball an online jewelry shop that sells rings, bracelets, and earrings using crystals. Mercado’s why is pretty simple… she wanted to share her interests with potential customers.
“I started this business after developing an interest in crystals and their properties. I wanted to share my love and knowledge for these earthly stones. So I opened my shop of affordable handmade crystal jewelry,” Mercado said.
On the other hand, the start of a small business can also be a way of the surviving day today. Richard Valentin created Jorgitos Pollitos, with his sister and cousin to sell their art and create a source of income.
“I was running low on money and needed to buy supplies to paint and desperately wanted to move out of my mom's place,” said Valentin.
Although this was his plan, he knew the success of a business was not going to come easy.
“It’s so difficult, it took me about a month to design the website alone. You have to force yourself to be social and reach out to potential business partners or potential clientele,” Valentin said.
Even more, difficulties arise when you are an artist as well,
“Since I can’t have my work put up in physical spaces to be noticed that way, it’s like I am shoving my work in people’s faces shouting ‘NOTICE ME’ in order to have my work seen,” Valentin said.
Creativity and artistry have been the main motivator through the creation of small businesses. Leslieann Flores sells raw healing crystals through her online shop, Leslie’s Crystal Jewelry.
“Starting this business has given me my first outlet for my creativity,” Flores said. “I really just wanted to see what I can put out there and this made me less afraid and more willing to share what I have to offer.”
Similar to Toran, Flores enjoys the ability to be hands-on with her items that are sold in the shop. The skills learned while pursuing a small business are ones that Flores was able to mirror in other responsibilities.
“I was learning how to manage my time better, manage money for the first time, make a spreadsheet, and market myself. I inspire myself to keep going after I figured out how to do all of the hard work first,” Flores said.
The term “marketing” is one that hits the top of the list when it comes to the preparation of a small business. And when asked what is the most important element of a successful small business Morley quickly responded with,
“Having a product or service that meets a need, in other words, a product or service that has a market, that has sales.”
He then followed up with a closer definition of what is meant by marketing and sales in the small business world,
“Marketing is the science of defining numbers and market characteristics (how many people might need a particular product or service). Sales are the art of convincing people to part with their money because your product or service satisfies their need or desire.”
Along with marketing and sales, there is an important element of knowing your customers. The more you know about your customers and their demographics the easier it will be to market and share your product information with them to generate more sales.
“In short I can begin to understand why they want a product and how I might reach them with information about my product and begin to convince them of why my product meets their needs,” Morley said.
When asked, “What is the primary reason that new businesses fail,” statistics shared that,
“42% of small businesses fail because of lack of market demand,” according to CB Insights, 2019.
Starting a small business during a pandemic may not be the best idea for many entrepreneurs, but for others, it is the spark that started it all. Melody and Miranda Delancey started their shop Crystal Healers because of quarantine. Crystal Healers is a metaphysical shop specializing in healing crystals.
“Quarantine made us start. We always knew we wanted to start this business and first began talking about bringing our dream to life three years ago. We thought, ‘what better time than now?’.”
Both Melody and Miranda Delancey have decided that this is what they want to do for the rest of their lives, starting at this point was just the beginning.
“We want to be our own bosses and we want to do this on our own terms. We’re so confident now and we’re gonna keep striving. This just confirmed our passion for this is real and we want to keep going.”
While some journeys began with the pandemic, unfortunately, many businesses were disrupted negatively by it.
“COVID-19 has rendered 31% of small businesses in the U.S. currently non-operational,” according to statistics shared on Facebook.
Although statistics have shown that small businesses are suffering right now due to the state of our country, and the fact that “more than 50% of small enterprises fail in the very first year.” This did not make the owners of these up-and-coming crystal shops, clothing brands, and art sellers nervous. The top digital marketing channel among small business owners is currently social media.
“Running a business during a pandemic hasn’t honestly been too bad. Most of my sales come from social media engagement and that is something I can do from the comfort of my home,” Flores said.
In past semesters Flores was able to sell her crystal jewelry on the Plaza on campus, she admits that not being able to do that has hurt her business.
“It does hurt, not being able to sell on campus during events or have photoshoots with friends for my jewelry.”
For Valentin, the struggle of starting a business during a pandemic surfaces when he has to motivate himself to create new content.
“When every day begins to look the same, I feel out of touch with reality. My work suffers a bit because socializing is something I love doing. It’s tough for me to find inspiration and motivation to create being trapped home all day.”
Although starting a small business is a challenge it can also be a rewarding experience to many. Morley was able to share one last piece of advice for all small business owners out there:
“Be committed, be passionate, believe. If you don’t believe your product meets the customer’s needs, they won’t believe it either. If you don’t believe in your own potential for success, no one else will.
