5 Ways To Build An Accidental Business Into An Empire
How will you apply these lessons learned to your business?
Here’s proof to the adage “When one door closes another door opens.” Meridith Baer’s career as a screenwriter was drying up. At the same time, Baer found herself kicked out of her home. She had done such as good job fixing up her rental, her landlord realized he could sell it for a handsome profit, which he did.
Baer had furniture and 250 plants that she had to store quickly. A friend was trying to sell his place, so she offered to decorate it with her belongings. While the home staging industry had been around for a couple of decades, it hadn’t taken off in Los Angeles in 1998. Baer didn’t know there was a business in fixing up a home so it sold faster and in a shorter timeframe.
Her friend’s home sold in a week for a half-million dollars over the asking price. The brokers who represented the buyer and seller in the deal wanted Baer to do this for their other clients, and Meridith Baer Home was born.
Baer shared with me five ways she has grown her business into a $25 million empire.
1. Do what you love
Baer had always loved fixing up her home, and doing what you love is one of the reasons American women entrepreneurs are among the happiest people in the world. Now Baer could do this for others and get paid for doing it. What could be better?
2. Dream big
In 2004, Baer hired her nephew Brett, who had an M.B.A. At first his plans for growth terrified her—now, she’s pushing him. The business doubled from last year and is projected to generate $25 million in revenue in 2014. Meridith Baer Home employs approximately 140 people.
3. Expand your product lines
Baer works for the rich and famous. When Robert De Niro does a movie in Los Angeles, the studio rents him a home and Meridith Baer Home decorates with leased furniture. In fact, renting furniture has become its most profitable line of business.
4. Learn to speak finance
Baer tried to get financing several times, then gave up. She didn’t know how to explain that she was reinvesting all of her profit into growing her business and therefore couldn’t show a favorable bottom line. Then she hired a Stanford MBA as CFO. On his first day, he was able to get the company a $3 million line of credit at a very low interest rate. Now banks are fighting to get her business.
5. Don’t forget to protect yourself
In the beginning, Baer learned the hard way. Her second client, some hot-shot from the music industry, tried not to pay—he claimed selling his home was an opportunity for her to learn the business.
Read the full article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/geristengel/2014/09/24/5-ways-to-build-an-accidental-business-into-an-empire/?ss=forbeswoman
Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.
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