Business experience. Anne-Marie Faiola: “Success comes from a bit of luck and from a lot of hard work”
March 11th, 2010
In January 2008 I posted a story of Anne-Marie Faiola from Bellingham, Washington, who started her own successful home business making flavoured soap . This post became popular and I’ve got a very positive feedback from my readers. That’s why when few weeks ago Mrs. Faiola contacted me, I decided to take advantage of situation and asked her for an interview. Below you will find some helpful information for those who only plan to start own business as well as for those, who are in the beginning of the path and need some inspiration.
1. What was the main reason for you to leave a full-time work and devote yourself to soap making? Was it a hard decision?
I was working as a correctional officer and found that it was not a great fit for me. The natural thing to do was to start to make soap and sell Soapmaking supplies as a full time job. I had been selling soap part time since I was 16 years old and loved it. So when it came time for me to quit my job, it was a natural thing for me to transition into.
2. What difficulties did you encounter starting your business?
Resources were scarce –from a money, time and knowledge standpoint. I had no savings and no alternate source of income. I had no formal business background or education and there was no time to learn since I had no savings. I learned everything on the fly and along the way, made many many mistakes.
3. What was the amount of initial investments?
$15,000 on a credit card
4. What would you advice to those who’s about to start a home based business?
Since I had been selling soap since I was 16 part time through college and high school, I had a basic understanding about business that made it easier for me to decide to follow my passion. I would recommend those who are interested in starting a home based businesses to research the business they’re interested in going into and make sure that they have at least 6 months of living expenses saved up before they start.
5. There are many companies who sell flavored soap and competition is severe. How do you think, what are the main reasons of your success?
a. Bramble Berry’s success comes from a bit of luck (right place, right industry, right time) and from a lot of hard work. Every day is a series of repeated successes – meaning, if there’s something that works, I do it over and over and over and over again. Sometimes staying the course can be boring but success isn’t about one big leap. It’s about taking small baby steps every day until you reach your ultimate goal.
b. My favorite business books are “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield, “The E-Myth Revisted” by Michael Gerber and “The Rockefeller Habits” by Verne Harnish. If you read all three books and do 100% of the exercises in them, you will have a better understanding of what it takes to run your own business and increase your chances of success.
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March 11th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Thank you so much for the interview. It was lovely of you to highlight our business success as a possible inspiration for others.