About Me
Nice To Meet You...
During my artisan wholesale career, the word “Yes” took on two very different meanings for me. At the beginning, the word ‘Yes’ was a cause for celebration. I would walk bravely into stores with a big, nervous smile and introduce myself and my admittedly shabby-looking product-line. I didn’t have any special sales skills, nor attractive branding, or even a strategy but whatever I was doing was getting me those first few “Yeses” and it was amazing! Exhilarating even!
I loved seeing my products in stores, spas and coffee shops, and I lit up when friends and family would tell me that they saw my products in their favourite shop. It was very motivating and satisfying. “YES,” I thought, “My hard work was paying off.” In fact, it didn’t even feel like work at all! Getting into stores just with a smile and a genuine will was easy and fun but as I grew my business, gaps in my processes started to reveal themselves.
When I decided to scale my business, I increased my prices, polished my branding, and set some lofty goals for sales outreach with the idea of getting into more stores. And that’s the point where “Yes” started to take on a new meaning for me. Instead of celebration, “Yes” started to also mean stress, overwhelm, and even fear. This was because while I was focusing on my sales outreach and filling orders, things like supplier problems, customer service issues, bookkeeping woes, and cashflow emergencies were brewing and I didn’t notice until they became urgent.
I felt stuck because if I turned my focus away from sales outreach, I wouldn’t be able to afford to keep my business going, but if I didn’t put these fires out, I wouldn’t have a business either. While I could afford to hire admin help, I didn’t have processes built out for my help to follow and this resulted in my staff constantly needing to ask me questions I didn’t have time to answer, eventually putting me in a, “I’ll just do it myself” trap.
I was in the dreaded mid-growth phase that I only learned existed after I sold my business. While I got my products into 75 stores across Canada, created a beer soap that landed in the hands of Oprah Whinfrey, and was a finalist for business awards, I felt like a failure because I created a business I wasn’t enjoying managing. I felt exhausted and overwhelmed almost everyday for years until finally, I got up the courage to leave.
I sold my business but I continued to learn about this middle phase and what went wrong. I was shocked and dismayed to find out that while this stage is common, most business owners don’t talk about it. They’re worried about being judged or they think they’re doing something wrong. I learned that unfortunately, very few businesses survive this middle phase.
I made it my mission to learn where my gaps were in my artisan wholesale business and to help other business owners get on the other side of this stage with fewer bumps and bruises. It turns out, there were just a few simple things I was missing that would have made my wholesale business (and actually, any B2B company) profitable at every size, without the overwhelm.
These keys include:
1. Adding a few basic processes to key areas of my business, and making a few simple tweaks to the ones I had already created.
2. Raising my prices even more and improving my lead-qualifying skills so that I waste less time sending offers to and responding to the wrong businesses.
3. Merging my sales goals with my actual production capacity because at some point, I didn’t realize that my production capacity was no longer accurate and I was selling beyond my means.
While these things sound simple, most business owners avoid creating them because they don’t know where to start or how to do it or when they do create them, they overcomplicate it.
This is where I come in. I have lived experience, along with continued research and training so that you can simplify your business while you grow it with the guidance of someone who’s been there.
Together, we’ll create financial targets that match your energy, your time constraints, and your production capacity. We’ll create goals that match the level of freedom you want to have for yourself.
Together, we’ll get you to and through the growth stage, creating processes that will enable you to manage your business as it grows with less effort.
Within a few weeks, you’ll have YESES without the overwhelm and I can’t wait to celebrate those YESES with you!
Testimonials
"I’ve worked with Christine (Chris) since 2015 and every moment was a sheer pleasure. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable and talented, she’s always ready to roll ups her sleeves and get to business (with a big smile on her face)!I find her genuine positive attitude a rarity these day, I highly recommend!"
Ian Thayer
"Chris Wood is someone that brings Joy and Fun into your life. You can get through the work, and be productive and have fun doing it. Chris is an amazing person that cares deeply about your progress and will support you in meeting your goals. She will not only help facilitate but she will bring laughter, and joy to the process"
Joanne D
"Chris is an expert in her industry and is a wealth of knowledge. She gave me a new perspective on what’s important for my business and gave me action items to see more success with less work. Highly recommend"
Laura Z