Holy WOW, we have keys… in hand.
This is moving along at lightning pace and it’s an exciting time!
It’s also a bit scary, as I just watched our biz bank account take a hit for that first bout of rent + deposits, etc. This is no joke. Buckle up Sarah!
Shop Talk is the new series where Sarah and I document our journey toward opening up our first brick and mortar shop in Southern Pines, NC.
Okay, so for today’s Shop Talk, let’s jump into a business best practice that Sarah and I have been thinking about since day one, and that is identifying our unique value proposition.
Successful entrepreneurs, internet wide, always have some version of this to say:
BE YOU. BE UNIQUE. KNOW YOUR VALUE. COME TO THE TABLE WITH SOMETHING TO ADD.
It’s no small wonder there are about 5 jillion motivational posters on Pinterest hand penned by ladies like us, reminding ourselves that the dream is free but the hustle is sold separately.
Whether one seeks to be Refinery29’s next big Ladyboss or just a humble shopkeeper selling wares to a small community in North Carolina… it’s a valuable business practice to identify a mission and a unique value proposition at the outset.
So, we are looking to define our true north.
Follow our journey on Instagram, via #TeotShopTalk
In order to keep ideas in check and values in place, we intend to look to a statement of values, a commitment to our future and to our partnership. We promise to consult our mission for guidance along the way. Through growth and through hardship! Forever and ever Amen. You may now kiss the bride.
Yeah yeah,but it’s not feeling done just yet. I’m not publishing it because it’s perfect, I’m sure it is terrible… but we’re in this together at this point, so I’m trying to put my finger on the language.
So yeah, the following is a work in progress:
The Estate of Things was founded in 2007. We are a growing online interior design and home decor brand, presenting a strategic plan for expansion into an eCommerce Home Goods Sales with a flagship Brick & Mortar store in Southern Pines, NC.
Product/Service
The Estate of Things, since 2008, curates and publishes original content to entertain, inform and delight fellow home decor and real estate enthusiasts.
Additionally, The Estate of Things produces/provides the following products/services:
- Architectural Renovation & Consultation
- Interior Design & Home Decor Consultation
- Custom Furniture & Home Decor Product Development
- Space Planning
- A curated selection of home decor accessories and “eclectibles” for sale in our shop, online and in our physical retail location(s).
Plans for Expansion or Growth
The Estate of Things seeks a commercial space for a brick and mortar home decor retail shop in Moore County, NC as well as the launch of self-hosted and self-supported Ecommerce website with select vendors and a curated collection of goods.
How is TEOT different?
- Proven successful presence in the interior design community online for over 8 years.
- Bevy of biz skills, the principles cover an impressive number of traits required for launching and maintaining a business.
- Exposure online
- via 30k pageviews a month for our current publishing platform
- a combined reach of over 8k fans and followers across multiple social media platforms.
- a growing email subscriber list
- contacts in the press and media world
- We compel shoppers to experience our collection of products and our services through a high touch editorial lens.
- First we meticulously identify our product offering
- then daily we present products and ideas in an editorial light, inspiring delight and driving desire through the curator’s lens, a presentation that design lovers throughout the nation have come to love, expect, even demand online.
- Through our Makers Collective program, we collaborate with makers and manufacturers on exclusive custom products available only to the TEOT
- On select goods, The Estate of Things works directly with manufacturers and makers to ensure your custom home goods meet the highest standards. We compete with other eCommerce retailers by passing on the benefit of our manufacturing relationships directly onto the customer, while we take care of the design decisions on their behalf.
