BATCH CELEBRATES SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
Batch is proud to call ourselves a Small [very mighty] Business. Since inception, we’ve grown - much with the help of our amazing rolodex of brand partners - to host seven collections, 108 brands and thousands of items in the Showroom.
Not too bad for a one-year-old company!
In honor of this year’s Small Business Saturday, we’re taking some time to recognize the small businesses in our Homemade Holiday Collection. We recently sat down with a few of them to get their advice on launching, scaling and nurturing a small business.
See what they had to say below:
Catherine Weis, Bestowe Gifting
“I have a tendency to jump right into a new idea, which in the case of starting Bestowe is good, because I didn't have time to talk myself out of starting. The piece of advice I can give is to trust your gut. If you believe in it, so will others and the growth and excitement around your project/business will happen naturally. If I hadn't trusted in my idea I would have come up with 500 reasons not to do it and I'd be in the same place I was before. My job engages me to learn and grow. My brain is exploding with all this newness, but it keeps me alive!”
Zach Mangan, Kettl
"Starting from a place of passion is so important. Loving what you do, what you sell, and truly caring about your customers is key - the rest of the business will naturally align around that genuine passion and care".
Tina Cheng, Capsul
“There’s no perfect execution in entrepreneurship. Passion, persistence, and willingness to take market feedback are the keys to overcoming the inevitable challenges and failures. “
Rose Shattuck, The Foggy Dog
“I wish I had been told what I had to learn the hard way: hire people to help BEFORE you think you need it. I tend to be stubbornly scrappy, and during our first holiday season, I fulfilled all of the orders myself instead of hiring help. After weeks of ten-hour days solely spent packing up orders, I was at a low point and starting to re-think my life choices. This holiday season, I have two people helping me and the difference is magical!”
Sherry Lee, Esselle
“Find your strength quickly and outsource everything else because you are capable of anything, but you cannot do everything!”
Lauren Butler and Brandon Alpert, Yes Cocktail Co.
“Our advice is to commit 100 percent to your dream. Toe-dipping rarely leads to a full-fledged business. As Ron Swanson says “Never half-a** two things, whole-a** one thing. “ You’ll never really know if your business will take off unless you put everything you’ve got into it.”