061 | Rhonda Warren, Color Box Design & Letterpress on how word of mouth referrals make up almost 70% of her business, why she'll never give up custom work and how she knew it was time to hire a team.

Rhonda Warren is the owner of Color Box Design & Letterpress, a letterpress studio located in Dallas Texas. Rhonda has a multi-faceted business. She has a line of paper goods that she sells to both the retail and wholesale markets; as well as a bustling custom invitation arm through which she creates wedding invitations, corporate event invitations and everything in between.

On today's episode Rhonda jokes that she accidentally started this business that is still going strong after 13 years. She shares details about the custom side of her business and why relationships with local vendors and word of mouth referrals make up almost 70% of her business. Rhonda also shares information about her team - how she knew it was time to hire, everyone's roles and why she wished she had hired sooner.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• What Rhonda was doing before Color Box Design & Letterpress
• How she first go into letterpress by accident
• Where she gets her inspiration from
• How Color Box marries three different design styles and aesthetics into one brand
• Her team's roles & how she splits up responsibilities
• How her business & products have shifted over the years
• Her experience with certain products being a good fit for retail but not wholesale
• The need to educate consumers, store owners, & wholesale customers on what a product is and how it is supposed to be used
• What Rhonda loves about custom work
• The importance of networking and how she meets people and establishes relationships
• How she balances all three arms of her business -- custom, retail, and wholesale
• Rhonda's advice to those just starting out in custom work
• How she defines success
• The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product-based business
• How she knew it was time to hire a team

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"I fell into letterpress by accident." - Rhonda Warren

"We're kind of an eclectic brand, which is how we marry it together." - Rhonda Warren

"We come up with ideas and at the end of the day we honestly don't know who came up with the idea and who finished it." - Rhonda Warren on how she designs with her team.

"You don't have to sell everything to both wholesale and retail. If it doesn't work for your margins to wholesale it, you don't need to sell it there." - Katie Hunt

"It's a little bit of trial and error, trying to explain your product when you're not there to explain it." - Rhonda Warren

"I love getting to hear about an event and then having that come to life in someone's mailbox so it's an introduction to the event." - Rhonda Warren

"I don't think we'll ever give up that [custom] side of the business just because we all love it and it's the money maker." - Rhonda Warren

"The [wedding] planners are key just because of the repeat business." - Rhonda Warren

"If the clients happy, I'm happy." - Rhonda Warren

"It's good to step out there before you think you're really ready to do it." - Rhonda Warren

"When you need to hire people you should hire people. It's only going to help you. It's scary at first but it always gets easier." - Rhonda Warren

"As we would get where we just couldn't handle it all then we would bring on another person." - Rhonda Warren

CONNECT WITH RHONDA:

Website: www.colorboxletterpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColorboxDesignLetterpress/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colorboxletterpress/

BOOTH BLUEPRINT:

If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass.

I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register!

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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!