Courtney Wagner is a senior majoring in advertising. Last year, along with her sister, she decided to create Small Town Staxx, a bracelet company.
Her Campus Winona (HC): How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Courtney Wagner (CW): We kept seeing bracelet designs that were similar but we found a lot of times we were saying, “I wish I could customize though” or “I would love it so much more like this” so we had our design in mind but didn’t know where to start. My sister’s boyfriend’s mom is a huge beader so my sister asked her for help and she steered us in the perfect direction to find all of our supplies and get our business rolling.
HC: How long have you been in business?
CW: It’ll be a year in July.
HC: What is the process your customer goes through when buying a product?
CW: Our customers usually hear about us through Instagram or Facebook. From there, they are directed to send us an email at smalltownstaxx@gmail.com with what color bead they want and which add-on, if they choose one. Once we receive that information, we will send them an invoice and once that is paid we will purchase the materials. We have about a two-week turnaround from the time they purchase the bracelets to when they get them because we have to get the beads, make them and then ship them to the customer.
HC: Where do you see Small Town Staxx in five years?
CW: In about five years we see Small Town Staxx to be about twice the size we are now.
HC: How do you plan to get there?
CW: With help from a few employees, and hoping to maybe have a small mobile store for pop up.
HC: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own business?
CW: Be patient in the beginning. I wanted everything to be perfect and to just take off. It’s obviously not that easy; you’ll make mistakes along the way, but those mistakes will help you grow and become a better small business.
To see some of the products Courtney and her sister make go to their Instagram at http://instagram.com/smalltownstaxx or their Facebook page at Http://facebook.com/smalltownstaxx.