054 | Jessica McSweeney, Little Well Paper Co. on shifting from a service based business to a product based business and why relationships are critical in business

Jessica McSweeney is the owner of Little Well Paper Co, a letterpress greeting card company aimed at celebrating and deepening the connections between loved ones. Prior to starting Little Well she taught herself calligraphy and offered wedding calligraphy and invitation services. Jessica's calligraphy work has been featured in The Knot, Southern Weddings Magazine, and Once Wed. Jess attended Paper Camp in fall 2016 when Little Well was just a spark of an idea, and she launched to the retail and wholesale markets in fall 2017.

On today's episode we're talking about shifting from a service based business to a product based business, her vision for Little Well Paper Co., and why relationships are critical to building a successful business.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• How she got started her calligraphy business & Little Well Paper Co.
• Taking online courses to learn calligraphy
• The impact relationships within the wedding industry had on her business
• What the calligraphy side of her business looks like now
• What prompted Jessica to create Little Well Paper Co.
• The most challenging part of adding a second brand and a new business model
• How she manages both the retail side and the wholesale side of her business
• Fostering relationships with her wholesale customers
• Her decision to do New York Now last minute & her experience sharing a booth
• The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product based business
• What's next for Jessica McSweeney & Little Well Paper Co.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"I'm a big believer that business is 90% relationships." - Jessica McSweeney

"To me, to have a card that can be a vehicle to help somebody else start a conversation with someone they love about something that might be really hard like that is just the best thing." - Jessica McSweeney

"So many of the logistical things were things that if I hadn't gone to Paper Camp, I would have no idea about." - Jessica McSweeney

"I felt if I don't change this, I will be way more uncomfortable than if just taking this leap of maybe this won't work out, this new venture." - Jessica McSweeney

"It's important to have a brand voice that carries through everything, that brings in retail people and wholesale people alike." - Jessica McSweeney

"Make sure that what you're doing is something that feels good for you that you can be passionate about that also is not something that is already saturating out there." - Jessica McSweeney

CONNECT WITH JESSICA:

Website: http://www.littlewellpaperco.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/littlewellpaperco

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/littlewellpaperco

SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT:

If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list.

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!