Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Acela Troffer, Owner of Rhapsody red T-shirt Quilts, located in Windermere, FL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I preserve memories through quilts. All those t-shirts you can’t bare to throw away or give away after you don’t wear them anymore can be sewn together into a quilt and turned into a beautiful quilt with so many memories.
My clients are either mothers gifting their kids t-shirt quilts from the kid’s events or mothers/wives memorializing their deceased husband for themselves or their children.
Tell us about yourself
My initial incentive for starting Rhapsody red T-shirt Quilts was to counter the cost of my personal quilting hobby and to keep myself busy after retiring from my career. As I started getting orders and getting to know my clients, I realized I was providing such an important service to them. Preserving their memories is critical to them. Clients cry when they see their quilts for the first time. That says a lot. What I do is so much more important than the benefits I get from the business.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Making people cry! Tears of joy to see their quilt.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
I am not a technical person or oriented to social media activity, so dealing with anything on the internet is excruciatingly painful, I can’t figure it out. I pay a lot for my website service compared to the small size business I have, but I need to. It’s also been a long road to understand social media, and I am lucky I have a very patient daughter who also has a business that helps me.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Get mentorship early on. It will pay off.
- Spend the time to dig into anything you need to learn, don’t just kinda know it. YouTube is your friend.
- Be patient, be gritty, and be super persistent. There are always reasons to quit. Don’t do it.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://rhapsodyred.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhapsodyredquilts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhapquilts/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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