Welcome to Episode 79 of the Indie Business Podcast! Today's Indie Story introduces you to Patricia Nizalowski of Green Valley Herbal, in Grand Junction, Colorado. Patricia is a massage therapist and health and wellness coach who purchased her business based more on her enthusiasm for the brand and less on on traditional business and financial considerations.
You'll enjoy hearing about how Patricia purchased her business under less than desirable circumstances, and is slowly turning the financial corner. You'll also be inspired by her passion for the brand, and the courage and fortitude she is displaying as she manages a business that came with so many unforeseen challenges. Enjoy my interview with Patricia NOW!
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Episode Show Notes
Here are the topics discussed in this episode, with time stamps to help you find the information that interests you most:
- How Patricia came to Indie Business, and how she started her business. (starting at 1:35)
- Patricia shares the process of purchasing Green Valley Herbal. (starting at 3:25)
- What Patricia considered when buying the company, which had been in financial distress. (starting at 6:24)
- How Patricia figured out how to handle the financial distress by changing product pricing. (starting at 9:00)
- Patricia's typical day. (starting at 11:22)
- Patricia's background as a massage therapist and natural health and wellness practitioner and coach (starting at 14:00)
- How Patricia markets her products and massage therapy services. (starting at 16:06)
- How Patricia's family members help her make products and manage the business. (starting at 23:05)
- How Patricia decides what products are good enough to be in her line. (starting at 25:18)
- Customizing products for consumers and for private label. (starting at 28:12)
- How Patricia has pivoted during COVID-19. (starting at 32:40)
- A bit about some of Patricia's products. (starting at 37:22)
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
In this episode, Patricia and I mentioned the following resources.
- Green Valley Herbal's Website
- Green Valley Herbal on Facebook
- Community: Goddess Girlfriends Network
- Education: Evergreen Clinic of Natural Medicine
- Entrepreneur services: Energize Colorado
Important entrepreneurial insights from Patricia
I want to emphasize something Patricia said that I thought was especially insightful.
1. About buying a business …
Patricia didn't know what to look for as the potential buyer of a company, but she had a passion for the brand — so much so that she didn't want to pass up the opportunity. She's happy with her decision as she looks back on it, but one of the issues she's having trouble sorting through is a full restructuring of the company's product pricing by doing such things as raising prices, standardizing packaging, and in some instances, keeping the same price but decreasing product size. It's a massive undertaking. Costs and product pricing are two of the important things you'll want to in advance if you're considering buying a business.
2. Filling a market need
Patricia's experience highlights the importance of aiming your products at specific marketplace needs. For example, her Working Hands product was renamed Washing Hands as the pandemic created additional demand for moisturizers as people washed their hands more in the wake of COVID-19. She was able to rename an existing product to accommodate increased marketplace demand. That's a great strategy!
Enter to win the Goddess Aromatherapy Mist Collection
Would you like to be entered to win the Green Valley Herbal Goddess Aromatherapy Mist Collection? Here are the three aromatherapy blends you'll get: Awaken (peppermint and grapefruit essential oils); Bliss (tangerine, rosewood & lavender essential oils); and Tension Tonic (lavender and rosemary essential oils). Doesn't that sound amazing?!
Here's how to enter to win! All you have to do is share this blog post on Twitter (you can use the “Tweet This” option below), and tag @indiebusiness on Twitter by Saturday, March 13 at 11:59pm ET. We'll check you out and pick a winner at random and notify you via Twitter DM.
And if you don't win, you can buy them here.
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