Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Shawn Valor, Owner of ASC Music, located in Jonesville, VA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I own several businesses. To keep income evergreen, it's good to appeal to multiple clientele that shares your vision and interests.

CBD Extreme is about health and agriculture. We produce CBD Salve for anti-inflammation. Our customers care about their health and benefit from CBD's uses in curing muscle aches and swelling and being more productive throughout the day, thanks to highly effective products.

ASC Music supplies vintage and niche instruments as well as rare guitar parts. Our clients love to play and collect, and we usually have that one guitar they have been waiting years to find.

The 3D Place is my latest business venture which specializes in custom 3D printed orders through 3D scanning technology and replicating rare plastic parts in multiple industries. Our clients have custom ideas that are not supplied OEM and need generic uncut parts to produce their dream.

Tell us about yourself

I had a passion for and knowledge about every business I pursued. For the things that I didn't know, I made a point to educate myself. As I was driven by my passions, they are things I would do daily anyway. My motivation is the pure pleasure that I get to be who I am daily and make a living off of it.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

While being independent through my businesses is something I'm proud of, it would be the awards I received from GHP UK and Runner up in Cannabis Science Conference in working with Hempijuana based on bringing more information to the social conscience in Hemp and CBD through the book Farming Industrial Hemp: Not Your Daddy's Tobacco.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Free time without a doubt. When you run many businesses, there are times you get swamped when everything hits at once, and then your life becomes all about packing and shipping. Each business requires a set of time to make and create in order to market. Most guitars that come in aren't ready to sell on the market at high quality as is and require restoration. Salve requires time, a close watch, testing, and packing before it can be put out. 3D Printing isn't always automatic work and also requires a careful watch to make sure adhesion is correct, non-mentioning the plentiful pre-setup work to make sure everything is correct dimensions.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start with your interests and go from there. You may not want to hear this, but whatever you choose will come with hard times; that's a fact of business—not everything when conducting business is going to be fun. Finding something you value and enjoy your time working with makes up for those hard times.
  2. Understand your niche. If there is one thing most important to the success of your business, understanding your customers is a huge one. This will come from lost money, trial and error, and lots of experiments. Because when you fill a need in the market that you see, it may not play out the way you think because not everyone is like you, and you will need to be flexible to find that out and learn other peoples' points of view. The business you have may not be the exact thing you started out with, but that is okay because it might make people happy in a different way than you ever thought.
  3. Don't be afraid of it being side money. It's okay to work a job while working your business. We always look way into immediate success rather than long-term building. People give up too soon when their business can't be their main source of income. There is nothing wrong with sticking to your business being side money to get your feet wet and your experimentation period done.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://reverb.com/shop/asc-music
Twitter: https://twitter.com/The_Good_Writer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-valor-318248192/

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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