How I Built My Small Business
Welcome to 'How I Built My Small Business,' where we dive deep into conversations with guests who've carved out their own path to success. But, we're not only about the creation of businesses. Alongside entrepreneurs, I also chat with experts offering perspectives that'll benefit anyone striving to lead, learn, or improve.
This podcast is both a creative outlet and a platform to share knowledge from incredible people. My guests open up about the raw, heartwarming details of their journeys, offering expertise, simplifying business know-how, sharing money-making ideas, and imparting life wisdom—all through the power of storytelling.
By listening to these interviews and stories, my hope is that you find even one little takeaway that sparks or inspires your path.
While most of my guests make $1 million to $20 million net profit a year, some make more and some make less, but there is a lesson worth learning in each one. I also bring in special guests from brokering and mergers, mindset and meditation, entertainment and marketing, among others. So, the line-up is diverse in niche, experience and perspective - and so, so fun.
Special episodes include:
No College, No Problem
Big business founders with a focus on helpful small business topics
Expertise in hyper-niche fields
The connecting piece is that every one of my guests has started their own business at some point in their journey.
Thank you for listening.
Season 2 drops January 21, 2025. Follow the show so you don't miss out!
My Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty/
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How I Built My Small Business
Bite-Sized Business Insights: 1 of 4
Welcome to How I Built My Small Business: Bite-Sized!
I’m Anne McGinty, your host. While we take a break from full-length guest episodes for the holidays, I’ve curated a series of short, impactful episodes to keep you inspired.
Each bite-sized episode features a collection of powerful snippets from interviews, organized by topic for easy listening.
Stay tuned for quick insights to fuel your business and personal growth!
Season 2 drops the week of January 25, 2025.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
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Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business. I'm Anne McGinty, host of the show. While full-length guest episodes are on hold for the holidays, I've prepared a collection of short, impactful episodes to keep you inspired until Season 2. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2:It is fun to build and grow something and create something out of nothing and bringing something to our community. It's really a cool experience. But I would build it with no overhead or low overhead right and I would build it with the intention of selling it and with the intention of it being low work hours, not going to build something that's hard to manage with the intention of it being low work hours, not going to build something that's hard to manage.
Speaker 3:Our biggest challenge was how do we regain Turok's identity as a leading boutique guitar amplifier manufacturer? And I said I can build them, but I can't sell them. So you sell them and I'll build them. And that was kind of our relationship right away. And you know, having had the experience of running really every aspect of the business, even from the marketing side, sales, production, all of it, Having had that experience already, it really gave me the knowledge right away that like, okay, this isn't going to be a problem. Where it became a problem was probably in my lack of business acumen, because I didn't go to school for business and so learning the accounting side of things was a really big challenge right away.
Speaker 4:There's no point in marketing yourself as a designer around the world. That's where there's going to be stock and people in other countries and Upwork that they can pay very little to and not have a relationship with, but what is always going to be there? Everyone is always going to need design, everyone's going to need video and they're going to need custom work, because, sure, anybody can make a video on their iPhone and that's where you can really concentrate on your community and it's based on connection and relationship and trust and digging out their vision and being able to put it on paper. That will never go away. Their vision and being able to put it on paper that will never go away. Start by finding something that you love and believe in and it would be your dream to work for and offer it for free to someone. We started with a lot of pro bono stuff. That's my favorite way to give back as well.
Speaker 5:For me it was how can I make more money, do what I love and have more time for what I want to do outside of my business?
Speaker 2:If it's not working, pivot, figure out why it's not working. Don't think that more of the same will get you somewhere different, and keep your eyes open to opportunities, because they may not be what you came into it thinking it would be. The business that ends up being successful may not look anything like the business you thought you were going to start.
Speaker 3:Find that white space.
Speaker 6:I hear people talking about founder market fit, which is a concept I really like. It's like product market fit is can you build a product that fits the market? Founder market fit is can you find a problem that you're energized by is can you find a problem?
Speaker 3:that you're energized by.
Speaker 2:There's so much room for innovation. There's so much that's coming out that really isn't innovative. So if you have something truly innovative, stick it out.
Speaker 5:We don't advertise. We also didn't come from money. I threw everything I had at it and borrowed money and we're really banking on community and the product. My goal was to make a kid friendly community hub. It was a space where you would constantly run into people you know there and that vision really worked very well that vision really worked very well.
Speaker 7:Really, find your point of view and what is your special sauce that you have that isn't out there? Really, what is your twist on it? So what can you give authentically that will stand the test of time?
Speaker 6:So much of the time we're actually doing the dirty work. I'm the one who's sharpening pencils for four hours and, like in the early days, with blisters on my hands.
Speaker 6:I was continuing to manage our storage unit and refresh the supplies, and I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours sharpening pencils, which is just a funny thing, and some people are like, what do you do? You're like, well, actually, our business is about addressing disconnection in the workplace and leading these creative experiences that really activate people and drop them from their head to the heart and build these deep relationships, and it's very enlivening. The reality is, what does it actually mean to run a business? Like in front of a computer, having meetings, sharpening pencils, dealing with problems? It's just the way I'm spending my time is not exactly what I would have thought. Right, if you're really good at something and then you start a business doing that thing, you'll probably, after a certain point, not be doing the thing that you're good at almost at all anymore, and so running a business is a different thing than just doing what you're good at. There's so much to learn.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this bite-sized episode of how I Built my Small Business. If you enjoyed it, share it with someone who might find it helpful, and don't forget to subscribe so you're ready when season two drops. As always, have a great day.
