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Pivoting your business - with Kate Smith - the Makery
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Today on the podcast I'm talking to Kate Smith from The Makery. Kate set up The Makery in 2009 on a mission to teach the world how to craft. Fast forward 14 years, two books, a Dragon's Den appearance, an internationally distributed product range, and nearly 150, 000 customers having attended her craft workshops and events.
Covid, Brexit and other challenges led Kate to pivot her business, and she is now dedicating much of her time to helping other creative entrepreneurs achieve their full potential and run successful businesses doing what they love.
The power of this conversation is that Kate has navigated real highs and real lows in her business. Kate explains how the highs came about via the power of yes, and the mindset tools she needed to navigate the lows and make huge decisions about the direction of her business.
There is so much to take away and I am sure you will be inspired after listening.
Listen in to hear Kate share:
- An introduction to herself and her business (01:25)
- Why she set up The Makery to run craft workshops (03:31)
- Getting a book deal (05:25)
- Being on Dragon’s Den (05:41)
- Getting a licensing deal for her products and kits (06:32)
- When things go wrong (07:44)
- Pivoting the business online after the pandemic (10:02)
- The realisation that she didn’t need physical premises to run the business (10:58)
- What to do when a major source of income disappears (12:51)
- How to mentally deal with challenges and setbacks in business (15:52)
- Creating products with a licensing deal (17:07)
- The power of saying yes (26:31)
- Why she stopped selling physical kits (27:38)
- How she moved into consultancy and running a team who teach crafting all over the country (28:48)
- Her number one piece of advice for product creators (37:30)
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Have you ever had a great idea for a product? Or does creating a product to sell appeal to you? Where do you begin? How do you come up with a product idea? Or, if you have an idea, how do you know if it’s even viable? In Bring Your Product Idea to Life, I take you through the process of creating your product, step-by-step. From developing your product idea, to finding suppliers and launching your product we cover it all. The book includes advice on how to price your product, where to sell it and how to find out if anyone will actually buy it. Designed to help you make real progress, Bring Your Product to Life is both practical and motivational. Every chapter includes clear action steps, so you know exactly what to do and when. This isn’t just a book for reading - this is a book for doing.
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