Two years after John announced on our honeymoon that he wanted to quit his job and “do something in cheese,” we unlocked the front door to our very own cheese shop on February 11, 2010. They have been asked many times since, “Why a Cheese Shop?” and the answer is simple. After putting ourselves through cheese bootcamps, running a cheese club out of our house, attending cheese conferences, interning for French affineur Herve Mons, journeying through Europe, and eating our way through thousands of tasty cheese morsels, we honed in on our true passions. Then, over a bottle of wine one evening, we realized that working behind a cheese case would allow us to fulfill them all: eat great cheese, talk to whomever would listen, travel the world and spend more time together.
Listen to great story on how John quit his job as a CPA (right after his honeymoon) to start his business education not through a MBA, but by working at a diner in Austin as a host, washing dishes and learning the ropes before he started his own cheese shop.
His tips and strategies includes:
- Starting simple and add on as you go. Starting simple decreases your risk and allows you to create marketing buzz for each piece of product you deliver when you introduce it to the market.
For marketing, he uses PPC, Google adwords, weekly newsletter and advertising through their local NPR network.Be passionate with what you do.SPONSORS:
Grasshopper for $75 credit towards any plan! If you’re looking to get a phone number for your business with multiple extensions, call forwarding, getting your voicemails transcribed and the ability to send business text message, go to Grasshopper to get $75 credit towards any plan, that can be equivalent to 6 months free for the pay as you go plan.
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Website: Antonellischeese.com/
Ecommerce Platform: Volusion
Email Service Provider: Constant Contact (or checkout Convertkit for 1 month free here)
Other tools: One SasS to connect multiple applications
Payment Gateway: Authorize.net