A bomb dropped in the retail space this morning. With Amazon's $13.7 Billion purchase of Whole Foods, a slowly expanding gulf between niche and mass market has finally become a gragantuan divide. The news just dropped a few hours ago, and I'm still developing my thoughts. Completion of the sale is subject to approval by Whole Foods' shareholders, regulatory approvals, etc., but in the … [Read more...]

When our member, Christina Wennstrom of Soap Seas in Redondo Beach, California, reached out to me a few weeks ago to ask if I would like to blog her and fellow IBN member Kristina Nanninga's upcoming "road trip of a lifetime," I immediately jumped at the chance because I knew it would be fun and I knew you would love it. Here are the Indie road trippers. That's Christina on the left, and Kristina … [Read more...]

Have I ever mentioned that IBN's private Facebook group is not just a business community? It is heavily focused on business (as it is designed to be), but we also have fun in a really unique and amazing environment. For example, last week, I posed this simple question in our community: When it comes to your brand, are you DISCOUNT DEBORAH, or HIGH-END HILLARY? I figured our members … [Read more...]

I am thrilled to be participating this week in the first virtual Makers Biz Summit hosted by Deborah Engelmajer of Tizzit Design Company. Deb's business is located in "the land of plenty" in beautiful Australia. I hope to visit someday, but for now, I have to settle for this appearance as a part of an amazing virtual business event. My topic is Leadership the Indie Business Way: Build Your … [Read more...]

The first time I went house hunting, a friend cautioned me not to get sucked into buying a house I could not afford. More specifically, he warned me not to buy so much house that I didn't have money left over to furnish it. In other words, he advised me not to be "house poor." Recently, it occurred to me that the "house poor" caution is a good one for Makers and Handmade Entrepreneurs to … [Read more...]