Yvonne Griffith is a dedicated mother of two, wife and owner of two successful small businesses in Lebanon, Oregon. She turned her love of flowers into Lilacs and Lilies. Yvonne has a unique ability to translate a client's vision into a work of beauty. The options are endless at Lilacs and Lilies and her work sets her apart. You can view her portfolio on Facebook.
When she isn't working as a florist, Yvonne is pouring her heart into her second small business, Clean Hands Soap. At Clean Hands Soap, a business she has run for over ten years, Yvonne teaches others how to make their own natural soaps in large group settings. These classes show others how easy it is to embrace and create natural products. You can find more information on her educational classes on her website.
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Yvonne Griffith. I am a happily married, work from home, mom of two little people under two. I love creating things and I enjoy sharing my passion with others through the avenues of teaching and serving.
How did you get into your business?
Clean Hands Soap: From a young age my parents encouraged me to be a self learner. So I taught myself many skills and also took many classes in pretty much any subject I was interested in. When I was about 18 I learned how to make soap from scratch using vegetable oils and natural ingredients. Soon, other family friends and acquaintances were asking me to teach them how to make soap too. I taught one or two private classes a year to church family and friends until I was about 21 when I decided to make the classes available to the general public. Iʼve been teaching to public groups for close to 10 years now and love seeing my students learn to enjoy the process and some have even created their own soap businesses after taking a few of my classes!
Lilacs and Lilies Florals: My floral design work has been paired closely with my passion for Landscape Design which I studied for a bit in college. I created wedding and special occasion florals for friends for about four years before taking on more clients in the public arena. My goal is to create my brideʼs dream flowers while staying in her budget.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Clean Hands Soap: At the beginning my biggest challenge was creating a class flow and schedule that would allow me to easily coach 10-15 people at the same time while they all made a soap batch of their very own. It took me about half a dozen classes or so before I was able to hone in on a good flow and organize things well enough to condense everything into a pretty comprehensive 3 hour class.
Lilacs and Lilies Florals: The biggest challenge in any retail type of service business is making sure you charge enough to cover your time and supplies costs while still giving your customer a good deal. My design studio is in my home so I automatically am able to keep my prices lower then someone with the costs of a storefront, but I have to be constantly in tune with the changing prices of the seasonal flower markets and know when to suggest good substitutes for things that may be out of budget for my brides. Staying educated and in the loop of current trends can be a challenge.
What do you wish youʼd known when you started?
Definitely better bookkeeping skills and basic business formulas to ensure that Iʼm paying myself and making it worth my time. It took me about three years of just breaking even to realize I needed to budget my own time into my services.
If you could narrow your success down to one thing, what would it be?
Diligently seeking open doors of opportunity.
Where do you see yourself in a year?
Ideally, I would like to train one or two other stay at home moms to assist in different aspects of both businesses. My desire is to give other ladies an outlet for creativity while generating some extra income and serving other people.
What are your top three tips for women starting a business?
1. Do your research: find out what itʼll cost to start into your business, how long itʼll take for you to recoup those costs and how much time you will have to devote in order to reach your goals.
2. Pursue your passions: if you love making cookies, or growing flowers or sewing or riding horses, find a way to turn those passions into your business or at least tie them into your business.
3. Don't be afraid to try something new: we like to stick with what is familiar, certain and concrete. Dare to dream and then work hard to achieve it...while enjoying the steps along the way!
What is a typical day for you like?
I usually fit in about an hour of online consults and quote generating before my kiddos get up at around 8. Since theyʼre both under two I spend the rest of the morning tending them. When they go down for their naps from 1-3 in the afternoon I focus on any consults I didnʼt get finished in the morning, market research sourcing and bookkeeping.
Whatʼs your business motto or quote you live by?
Do the next right thing in front of you to do.
If you were starting your business over again, what would you do differently
Probably have an actual written business plan and long-term goals for each business from the start rather then just flying by the seat of my pants for the first few years!
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