Beets & Apples founder Ruby Hong is a second-generation small business owner who grew up watching her mother own a small business with a sense of pride and joy. Ruby thought one day she might come up with an idea to have her own small business as well, finally striking inspiration when she realized one of her favorite ways to relax could become a business.
“One of my favorite ways to de-stress is taking a long hot bath,” Hong says. "[It] occurred to me that, using these products, Why don’t I make it for myself? That’s how it started. I started giving out the products like bath salts, and soaps, and candles to my friends and family, and they loved it.”
Ruby tested, learned from, and sold to her local community, setting up shop at farmers markets and selling to friends before jumping into online sales after getting an invitation from Amazon Handmade. After meeting and learning from her customers face-to-face, she knew it was time to make the leap to selling her products online.
“I was gaining confidence in myself as a business owner and in my products in those six months that I was selling at farmers markets, I knew that I had a great product,” Ruby says. “I started listing it on Amazon Handmade and it started getting a lot of attraction and orders.”
I wish I had joined selling online sooner. Time is money. Once you start your first step of selling online, you will figure it out.
Listen to episode nine of Amazon’s This Is Small Business podcast to hear how Ruby of Beets & Apples navigates selling online, her stumbles, and successes. Plus, hear from Nicole Leinbach, owner and founder at RetailMinded.com about how businesses can transition from brick-and-mortar to finding success online.
