rss rss rss
  • About
News and Culture / Aug. 16, 2018 / by Amy DuFault / 0 Comments

Sharon Rowe Tackles Tiny Businesses Going Big in New Book

Sharon Rowe tackles the big topic of small business and as she says in her book The Magic of Tiny Business: You Don’t Have to Go Big to Make a Great Living, that tiny isn’t a size, it’s a state of mind. While entrepreneurs generally work exorbitantly long days and nights to have “success,” Rowe asks us to flip the lens a bit to re-engage with what success even means. That it just might be a whole other definition than what your mother and father or even most legit mentor taught you because it’s personal to you.

Sharon tells me: “I kept moving forward for a million different reasons and questioned myself along the way. What I’ve come to realize is that if you stay your course you’ll get somewhere more whole than if you allow little pieces of yourself to fall away at a time.”

As the CEO and Founder of Eco-Bags Products, Inc. ECOBAGS®, a small company that is now a $2.2 million dollar business recognized as “Best for The World” by Bcorporation for social and environmental commitments and standards, Rowe has walked the talk. Using her success story of Eco-Bags Products, Rowe takes entrepreneurs through the step-by-step process of building a scalable business that doesn’t infringe on one’s deeply instilled ethical values or free time.
Sharon is recognized as a thought leader in social innovation, sustainable and responsible production since 1989. She speaks regularly on building profitable, mission & value aligned businesses, believing that business can be a force for good, a currency for ideas that shape culture.

We were lucky to nail her down to her seat to answer the questions below and they might just change the way you look at business and life.

Talk about how you see “tiny” referring to your company as well as a large brand like Patagonia. Is “tiny” the honed in on heartbeat that keeps a business on track?
I use the concept of “tiny business” to articulate the intentionality, the niche focus that you can work to make a business profitable and purposeful. Much like a tiny house, where you keep what you need and discard what you don’t, a “tiny business” keeps at its core what works for the mission of the business and the health of the owner and those working in it. It’s a holistic approach that embraces and is skillful with growing profit as an asset that allows the business to breathe and scale if that’s desired. In many ways “tiny business” refers to conscious business where profit, planet and people are all part of the puzzle vs. driving for profit only while punishing or putting at risk planet or people. It takes a deep dive into expectations and understanding what’s “enough” to know the balance to work for.

You founded Eco-Bags with the background of your family owning a retail business when you were young sprinkled with an adult career of acting. How did both help you create the business you have today?

Growing up in a family business gave me the confidence to talk to anyone. My family business was an Army and Navy store (pre GAP) and with a small store, it’s all about building relationships! Acting and improvisation, training and performing, allowed me to practice being comfortably uncomfortable, to think on my feet and listen without an agenda…as a part of the process.

What’s the best advice you can give to help a startup business owner get clarity for the life/work balance they want?
Know what your minimum is…what is the least amount you need to live on (cover all the basics) and then add on a % for fun and R&R. Reward yourself for the work you’re doing!

Pay yourself first even if you start with a small amount and increase it over time. This is very important. Write yourself a check or do an auto deposit. If you do this formally it will mean more than skimming cash.

Give your day a start and end time and don’t run over that time. Consider yourself a shop that opens and closes every day. Don’t work to exhaustion. Create efficiencies that work by prioritizing.

Articulate what is most important to you, what gives you a sense of joy, whether it’s dinner with friends or yoga. Make sure to include those activities.

Should we be redefining “success” more for today’s society and not on traditional models of success?
YES! Success is tied to “what’s enough” and that’s different for every person. Success for me means freedom of time with financial stability. Understand that building a business or brand takes time. It took me 28 years to get where I am and I started from scratch with a husband who’s a teacher and musician.

You mention if women talked about their work more, shifting the conversation to “how can we work together and play together” in life’s big sandbox that it could be revolutionary. Talk about that.
This is big. It’s my experience that when women get together as friends we hardly ever talk about our work other than annoyances and complaints and then we move on to family, etc. What if we used each other to solve problems and discuss and create opportunities to work together? When my book launched, a woman in my book club offered to put me in touch with a major media outlet in NYC where she’s a senior editor which led to an interview and doing a podcast. Before she opened this door, I didn’t really know what she did!

PURCHASE The Magic of Tiny Business: You Don’t Have to Go Big to Make a Great Living here.

Written by: Amy DuFault

Pages

  • About

Categories

  • Between The Lines
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • News and Culture
  • Series
  • The Tailor Project
  • Uncategorized
  • Video

Archives

  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009

News and Culture

RISD’s The Nature Lab Virtual Series on Regeneration

Apr. 06, 2021 / 0 Comments

I have been working with the amazing...

The Great Fantastic on 3 Go-To Books For the Entrepreneur Wanting More

Mar. 04, 2019 / 0 Comments

(A Holiday Reminder) The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Nov. 27, 2018 / 0 Comments

BF+DA Research Fellow Russell Joye To Focus on Helping Dad with Parkinsons

Oct. 30, 2018 / 0 Comments

Sharon Rowe Tackles Tiny Businesses Going Big in New Book

Aug. 16, 2018 / 0 Comments

LISTEN: Laura Forlano on Designing Textiles for Equality & Justice

Jun. 19, 2018 / 0 Comments

Digital Existentialism & the Jacquard Loom

May. 25, 2018 / 0 Comments

One Woman’s Smart Sanitary Pad Helping Women Take Health Back

May. 21, 2018 / 0 Comments

The BF+DA Kicks Off Futureworks Fashion Tech Residency

Dec. 12, 2017 / 0 Comments

Knitted Rooms at New York Textile Month

Sep. 25, 2017 / 0 Comments

Food

Microspin Founded By An Engineer to Curb Farmer Suicides

Mar. 29, 2018 / 0 Comments

For Food & Fiber, Hemp Garners New Interest Among Farmers

Mar. 15, 2018 / 0 Comments

Harvesting Secret Sea Silk From Clams

Sep. 11, 2017 / 0 Comments

On a Rest Stop With The Great American Farm Tour

Aug. 08, 2017 / 0 Comments

CROSSOVER: The Unlikely Fusion of Fast Food & High Fashion

May. 10, 2015 / 0 Comments

21 Pickup Lines for Foodies with Seasonal Eating Depression

Mar. 10, 2014 / 0 Comments

All those root vegetables got you down?...

21 Pick Up Lines For Harvest Season

Oct. 21, 2013 / 0 Comments

Written by Amy DuFault and Anna Brones...

21 Pick Up Lines For People That Only Eat Organic

May. 10, 2013 / 0 Comments

Are you as pure as your kale?...

23 First World Foodie Problems

Apr. 25, 2013 / 0 Comments

This Mobile Food Canning Operation Goes Where It’s Needed Most

Mar. 25, 2013 / 0 Comments

Sites that inspire

  • Ecouterre
  • © Copyright Amy DuFault, Sustainable Fashion Writer, Consultant, Activist / All Rights Reserved.
  • Premium WordPress Themes / Theme by wpStyles.org