SDH 243: How to Bounce Back with Only $400 in Your Business Account with Christina Stembel
Does growth sound like an exciting business goal? How about a little scary and overwhelming too? Do you need to raise capital to achieve this level of exponential growth? When do you reach that step and what are the hurdles you’re going to have to leap over?
Today’s guest, Christina Stembel, founder and CEO of Farmgirl Flowers is all about that 100% growth. Farmgirl Flowers is direct to consumer e-commerce flower company, offering designer quality arrangements at the same generic e-commerce prices. It achieves this price by providing a few curated flower options that reduce the choice for consumers and the amount of waste.
In this episode, you will…
Gain the tactical tools to reach the same level of exponential growth
Understand the benefits of focus groups
Hear how Christina bounced back from $411 in her business account
Develop ways to remain authentic, while scaling your company
Know why having culture is crucial for success
Learn why it’s hard for women to raise capital
INSIGHTS:
“I was that person who drove everyone nuts with a different business idea every week, sometimes every day. I had an idea notebook with me at all times and I would really annoy all my friends and family. Every girls’ night would turn into a beta testing night.” Christina Stembel
“Look at what the market size is and see what your potential is within that market, how much share you can take from other people or grow a new category in something.” Christina Stembel
“Amazon, with their prime, is really changing the way consumers purchase online a lot, where they just assume shipping should be free...”Christina Stembel
“I’m very big into getting your minimum viable product out there. I knew I needed to stop talking about shipping and just do it.” Christina Stembel
“I think the worry of money, not having money and constantly the struggle of not running out of money actually made us healthier. Because I know every dime that we spend at the company; I still do. This is going to be the hardest point for me, to give up some control of, as we continue to grow.” Christina Stembel
“Financial knowledge, being really aware of what you’re spending money on, and your responsibility to your team is really big.” Christina Stembel
“Less than 2% of all capital goes to women-owned businesses. I love stats. I love numbers. I don’t think you can argue with numbers. People try and say ‘oh, it’s just because women aren’t starting businesses as often' that’s not true; over 50% of all new business are started by women.” Christina Stembel
“I pitched over 30 companies back then and all of my male counterpoints were able to get funding, pre revenue or with far less revenue numbers than us. And the only difference is that they had a pedigree and that they’re male.” Christina Stembel
“I was fighting hard to help save an industry that didn’t necessarily want to be saved by me.” Christina Stembel
“I’m getting beat up a lot in the flower industry right now for just stating what’s going on, but as a person I believe if you sweep things under the carpet, nothing is going to change. So I just want to be real about it, because I want to see change.”Christina Stembel
“I put a lot of thought into the company as far as what benefits are we providing, what’s our pay, how can we make sure we’re providing good jobs and I thought that was enough. But it wasn’t enough, because I didn’t put any energy into our culture and it hit a breaking point.” Christina Stembel
RESOURCES
Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Braving the Wilderness Brené Brown
