Barb Newman has been a frequent, eloquent and passionate guest speaker at our monthly classes for new business owners, sharing her experience and insights. The participants truly appreciate hearing from someone who has started their own business and her advice is always incredibly valuable. And, given the nature of Barb’s business model, she had to find another way to make it all work with the slowdown and restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we interview and salute Barb as part of Women’s History Month.
Can you tell us a little about your background? How did you get started? Are you an artist? As a small business owner, I often get asked, ‘Why a painting business? You must be an artist.’ This question always makes me chuckle a little inside, so let me begin by saying no, I am not an artist, I am not a marketing professional, and no, I have no business degree. My degree is a Bachelor of Science, so let me share my story.
As a mother of 2, I was fortunate enough to stay home while they were young, but when I was ready to re-join the work force, I was told I was no longer hirable. This started my quest to find something to help my family’s financial future. After researching many different franchises, we found Pinot’s Palette. While I didn’t know anything about running a business, it didn’t deter me. The resources with the JCCC SBDC helped bridge the gap of my knowledge.
What challenges have you faced? As a small business owner, you not only have to wear every hat, but you must know when to seek people to help you. There are always challenges, some are bigger than others. To survive the big ones, you will have to learn to pivot and grow. My business focuses on having people come into the studio and paint. As you can imagine, not being allowed into the studio makes that rather difficult. Fortunately, being a franchisee, I have some REALLY resourceful teammates that have created our new product line of Paint at Home options that helped to keep me in business.
What triumphs have you had? My most notable triumph is my 3-year partnership with the Kansas City Royals. We have had several Paint at the Park events, and we hope to continue post-COVID.
How do you set goals for your business? For me, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals is how I gauge my success. Yes, I am a business, so monetary gain is always a goal, but so is growing my community’s awareness of my business. Along with my sales, I also have goals for my social media reach, fundraisers, mobile, and private events.
Would you do anything differently? Looking back at how I got started there really isn’t anything I would do differently. While some experiences seemed awful at the time, I have learned A LOT from all of them, and feel that they have made me a better business owner.
What one word best sums up your small business experience? Persistence
What is the one piece of advice you would give a beginning business owner? Love what you do and never take no for an answer. There is truth in the saying, ‘where there is a will, there is a way.’