112 | Scaling a Subscription Based Business with Samantha Barnes of Raddish

Hey friends, have you heard of Raddish? It's a super cool monthly cooking club that empowers kids to build confidence in the kitchen and beyond. Today's guest, Samantha Barnes the CEO and founder of Raddish, founded the company after working as a middle school teacher. A mom of two, Samantha realized the kitchen was the best place to connect with her kids in a meaningful way, and in true entrepreneurship fashion, she was inspired to start her own company. Samantha's passion for family is visible in every aspect of her company. As a female founder, she is committed to running results-oriented and flexible company built on autonomy, working smart, and a positive work/life balance.

On today's episode, Samantha and I dive into her subscription based business model and how it has evolved over time. The two of us talk about her business journey, how the company started out of her garage, how her team has evolved, the logistics of getting her product to market. We also talk about the pros and cons of running a subscription based business, how she learned how to delegate, what she does when she's feeling burnt out.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• How Samantha got the idea for Raddish
• Why she decided to go with a subscription model
• The benefits of growing slow and working by trial and error
• Creating continuous content and dealing with unexpected hurdles
• The steps Samantha took to scale up
• Her decision to keep her team lean and mean
• How Raddish cultivates the customer experience
• Learning to delegate when it's not your strength
• Avoiding shiny distractions for the long term goal
• Lessons Samantha learned in her business journey
• Two things she does to stay grounded in the chaos

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"We did not go into it having some large strategy. We learned by doing. We launched on Kickstarter in October and we shipped our first kit in January." - Samantha Barnes

"In the beginning, we were simply finding the right tool and trying to get the right quantity and have it delivered at the right time. And now we're able to go out and we custom-create our tools." - Samantha Barnes

"I live in a small house in Los Angeles. So it had its own challenges. We would have easy ups all throughout the backyard and our production line had to go out into the backyard because we couldn't fit in the garage anymore." - Samantha Barnes

"Because we are self-funded we are really careful about how we grow. Making sure we have the great product, making sure that we're minimizing our churn and really keeping members for longer is important." - Samantha Barnes

"It's a critical growth step as an entrepreneur. It's like, okay, I need to start delegating more and releasing control so that we can grow and so that we can get more done in a day." - Katie Hunt

"We call our Facebook group users the Raddish army because they come to bat for us, you know, they really want to help families understand exactly how great the product is." - Samantha Barnes

"We're definitely a word of mouth product and started that way, and that is definitely how we got off the ground." - Samantha Barnes

"Delegating is not my strength, it's something I have had to learn and I continue to learn." - Samantha Barnes

"I have the right people in the right seats and I just have the expectation that somebody is going to get that done and I don't micromanage or oversee the process." - Samantha Barnes

"My whole motivation was hiring people that were smarter than me that could teach me things. Take the tasks, run with them, and I trust them to do it well and do what we need to head towards the goal." - Katie Hunt

"Learning from others and being open to learning and talking to as many people as you can and experiencing as many opportunities is really important. That's the big picture idea." - Samantha Barnes

"I mean, I love baths and manicures and pedicures, but if I have free time, I'm thinking what can I do that's really going to inspire me and make me feel better and make me kind of reset. Reading has been a big one for me over the last couple of years because it does feel indulgent too." - Katie Hunt

LINKS

Website: http://Raddishkids.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/raddishkids

Facebook group: http://facebook.com/groups/raddishfoodandfamily/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/raddishkids

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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, Proof to Product has worked with thousands 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!