How to Sell to Local Businesses - Q&A with Store Owner Misa Thompson (Ki Coffee, Portland, Oregon)

In this informal interview style video, I'm going to chat with my friend and one of my favorite retailers - Misa Thompson of Ki Coffee - about her experience working with hundreds of creatives and makers and selling their work at her retail space. The encouraging part is you don't need professional branding or a professionally designed product catalog to start reaching out to local stores. Empathy and organization can go a long way. Pitching your products to small local businesses is often the first step to growing your brand presence.

In the age of Covid and limited in person events in the near future, trade shows have moved online and we may never go back to the way things were. If you are interested in having a revenue stream from wholesale, don't wait on large trade shows to grow your wholesale business. There are scrappier, cheaper ways to dip your toes into wholesale.

Feel free to skip to the sections that interest you. I recommend that you listen to the entire interview because Misa's story is very inspiring.
00:00 Blooper
00:24 Intro
01:39 Misa's Inspiring Entrepreneurial Story
03:12 Her interest in developing a retail space
07:05 Difference between managing retail business and food/drink service
07:47 Difference between Wholesale and Consignment
09:01 Best practices on pitching to local retailers
10:05 Line sheet, business cards, when to contact
11:51 What if the store already sells something similar to what you make?
12:59 What are the dealbreakers?
15:18 Greeting cards sell well in person
17:26 Advice for creatives who are afraid to sell
18:48 Future of retail
20:09 Emergence of coffee + retail space
21:47 How to support Misa's business
22:00 Closing remarks and takeaways

If you enjoyed this video, send Misa a note on her IG to let her know. She hates being on camera so I'm going to give her all the positive reinforcement :).
Ki Coffee: https://www.ki.coffee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kicoffee

My line sheet can be viewed online here if you want to see an example: https://issuu.com/seewhyzhang/docs/easysundayclub-line_sheet-2019. ISSUU allows one free upload.

If you found this video informative, we'd love for you to subscribe to our channel, and follow us on Instagram at @easysundayclub.
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Cathy is a self taught watercolor artist and businesswoman based in Los Angeles, CA. Easy Sunday Club is a collection of Cathy's watercolor art, and baby/children's soft goods that showcase playful interpretations of subjects in her loose and expressive painting style. Prior to art, Cathy got an MBA and worked in corporate for over 10 years and Nam is an attorney. This channel is our way of giving back to the art community.
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Shop: http://www.easysundayclub.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/easysundayclub
Clubhouse: @cathyz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/easysundayclub
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A full list of tools and equipment we use for art and business is available at our website here: https://www.easysundayclub.com/pages/resources
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Music: In French (Used w/ Artist Permission)
https://soundcloud.com/infrench

Видео How to Sell to Local Businesses - Q&A with Store Owner Misa Thompson (Ki Coffee, Portland, Oregon) канала Easy Sunday Club