As one of the judges for the 2014 City of Monmouth’s Retail Business Competition, it was my great pleasure to welcome to class as our guest speaker the co-owner of one of the Competition’s Award Winners: Erin Elliott of Maude Specklebelly’s Shopping and Retail Boutique. The young but already prosperous company’s Facebook page can be accessed at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maude-Specklebellys/263760583817935?sk=info&tab=overview
Below, today’s class blogger Edith Mendoza de Gabel does an excellent job of discussing some of the main points of Erin’s presentation. She even adds what is called in the world of scholarly and market research “an ethnographic perspective” by including in the data used to write this blog entry a personal visit to the Maude Specklebelly’s store in downtown Monmouth.
Of particular note is the discussion of how even though Erin and her business partner seemed very well prepared for the opening of the business in terms of financial planning, they still significantly underestimated the total cost of start-up. Luckily for the two beginning entrepreneurs, their planning was good enough and they were able to adapt fast and smart enough to have a very successful opening and first several months of business. Many lessor an entrepreneur has come and gone in but a few months when faced with similar–and amazingly common–circumstances.
Regards,
Prof. Gabel
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Erin Elliott has been the earliest stage entrepreneur guest speaker in our Midwest Entrepreneur’s class. She is the Co-owner of Maude Specklebelly’s Shopping and Retail Boutique located right here in Monmouth. This is the place to go to find that unique gift for someone special (or just for yourself). As it is stated on Maude Specklbelly’s Facebook page, this boutique offers “unique, limited quantity, hand-selected goods, many of which are created locally.”
The idea for starting the business happened in an informal setting, when Erin and some of her friends were celebrating the 4th of July in 2014. They were having a good time; chatting and partaking of some drinks. During the relaxed conversation, they talked about the “retail business competition” then being sponsored by the City of Monmouth. The idea of participating in this competition sounded to them like a fun thing to do but they also knew that they would have to take it seriously. Out of the group of friends celebrating the 4th of July, Erin and her old friend Jaime Ballard decided to participate in the contest.
Erin holds a degree in Marketing and Jaime is a Graphic Designer. Both had fairly extensive corporate retail experience in the past. Jaime was a home-stay mom for many years but she definitely believed that they could start and run a successful business in Monmouth. However, shortly after deciding they would enter the competition, Erin and Jaime did not know exactly what kind of store they wanted to have. But they knew that they had to have a plan to become successful entrepreneurs.
Erin told us that the initial plan they created for the competition was done in a very short period of time. One area that both Erin and Jaime were not very strong in was the financials of running a business. So, they got help from Erin’s father, who is a financial specialist. He was impressed with their plan, which was then entered into the retail business competition. Even though they were, as Erin put it, “in the game super late,” their plan was chosen as one of the top plans in the initial round of judging. They then did a presentation to the panel of judges. In the end, to their surprise, “we won!”
Another surprise came shortly after beginning to get the business ready for opening. This surprise involved the amount of money it would take to buy inventory and otherwise start the business. Even though Erin’s father and the contest judges had been very impressed with their financial planning, Erin and Jaime soon learned that it would cost up to three times as much as they had initially thought. There were also delays in having their building ready. But, as Erin told us, this actually worked out to be good because they needed some extra time to get all their utilities set up and get their merchandize entered into their POS inventory system.
While speaking to the class, Erin was asked the inevitable question of where the name “Maude Specklebelly’s” comes and “What does it mean?” Even though the word “specklebelly” means a type of “goose,” that has little to with the origins of the name of the store. The inspiration for the unusual name comes from Erin’s father and, ultimately, her late mother. When Erin and Jaime were thinking of what name to use for the store, Erin and Jaime asked Erin’s father for some advice. He texted back the word “speckelberry.” This comes from the fictitious name of “Maude Speckleberry” that Erin’s mother had signed to letters sent to a friend in the past. After giving it some thought, Erin and her husband agreed that the name, with “Speckleberry” changed to “Specklebelly” to give it more meaning to others outside the family, would be the perfect name for the store.
All along, Erin and Jaime had a clear vision in mind for their business. They wanted to have a “cool store… with cool staff.” They wanted to offer a special shopping experience where customers would “feel like they are at home.” This vision became reality on December 5, 2014 when the doors to Maude Specklebelly’s were first opened; just in time for Christmas shopping. As Erin told the class their first month’s sale were great, far exceeding their expectations. And then after the hectic Christmas shopping season had ended, Erin and Jaime said: “now what?” To their surprise, the following months were great as well; to which Erin said: “cool!”
Another issue that came up in class is how do Erin and Jaime get the unique items they sell in the store? As Erin explained, they go to Chicago and many other places looking for those “just right” unique things that will be in demand in Monmouth. They personally choose the items; they have to be nice, unique, and of high quality. Most of the time, the two partners agree on which items to buy. Erin mentioned this frequent agreement between her and Jaime in a wide variety of types of decisions as being one of the keys to success for the business.
Erin also informed the class that if we want to become an entrepreneur we have to “believe in what we are doing.” Erin and Jaime believe exactly that. They also believe in the importance of supporting local businesses and the Monmouth Community. As a result, Specklebelly’s carries articles made by local artists, writers, and other businesspersons that need a space to sell their art or goods in.
Erin showed us some of the items that they sell in the store. Some of these items included a customized throw pillow (with Monmouth’s 61462 on it), books, some jewelry, handmade soap, barbecue sauce, and even some special “beard oil.” This gave us a good idea of the very unique and high quality items that they have in the store. Erin also discussed with us the idea that even though most of the items are relatively high priced, they are selected on the basis of the believe that there will be enough customers willing to pay the price asked for that “just right” gift or specialty item.
Before writing this blog post, I thought of going to the store since I hadn’t been there before. I wanted to “feel the shopping experience” that Erin had told us about. So I did… As soon as I entered the store, a lady with a beautiful smile—not Erin or Jaime—welcomed me. The inside of the store is really nice, with a lot of items nicely placed everywhere. While I was there, I saw some customers with little kids. It seems that the kids found something for themselves too. I stayed in the store for about 15 minutes and I saw more customers of all ages coming in to the store. For some reason, everybody seemed to be in a good mood and they were talking happily to each other. I met Jaime but she was too busy to talk because she was serving customers. By actually going to the store, I could understand better what Erin told us about “feeling the shopping experience” at the store. You feel welcome and you can definitely find in Speckebelly’s that unique item for that special someone or for yourself.
Edith Mendoza de Gabel
