00:00I can see why people stop.
00:01Oh, yeah.
00:02I can see why people, we're not doing this anymore.
00:05And we were almost there.
00:07Being an entrepreneur is not easy.
00:10You might have people looking after your business,
00:12but who is looking after you?
00:14We are.
00:15Welcome to Entrepreneur Therapy.
00:18Presented by Amazon Business.
00:19In each episode, renowned health expert Dr. Drew Pinsky
00:22and serial investor Kim Perel
00:24will meet with small business owners
00:26looking for some advice.
00:27We're here to find out what issues still keep them up at night.
00:32My name is Alexandra Baker,
00:33and I'm the founder of In the Kitchen with Alexandra.
00:36And we're small batch purveyors
00:37of premium Caribbean craft condiments.
00:41What are you looking to get out of being on the show today?
00:43Anytime you think you have the understanding
00:47or the knowledge on one aspect of the business or another,
00:51it always helps to hear it from somebody
00:53who has walked before you.
00:55All right, Alexandra, it's time for you to go talk to Dr. Drew and Kim.
00:58Hey, super excited.
01:01Alexandra, welcome.
01:02Tell us about you and your company.
01:04My company is In the Kitchen with Alexandra.
01:06Our core product is Alexandra's Pickleys.
01:09Am I getting the story right,
01:10that this was something that you made
01:12and handed out to friends and everybody was saying,
01:14hey, you should make a business out of this.
01:15You should sell this to people.
01:17Absolutely.
01:17I was wrapping it in cello wrap
01:19and ordering little labels on Etsy.
01:22And people would say to me,
01:23where can I buy more Pickleys?
01:24So we set up our Amazon store.
01:27We have our director consumer website.
01:29And we've been selling, and really rapidly,
01:32thanks to my partner, my husband,
01:33picking up independent retailers
01:35before we move in with major retailers.
01:38Wow.
01:39But you're here on Entrepreneur Therapy.
01:40So what challenges are you currently facing?
01:44You know, it's the scaling simultaneously,
01:49having enough product.
01:50You know, we started,
01:51Troy is picking up all of these stores
01:53and we had our production run at the end of February.
01:57Within weeks, we said,
01:59we need to place another order.
02:00Yet the capital is still, you know,
02:02the funds are still coming in.
02:04So it's that balance between,
02:06do you have enough capital to place the order
02:09as you are growing?
02:11And if you looked into purchase order financing,
02:13because it seems like you're a great candidate
02:16if you're getting a lot of purchase orders.
02:18So what we did was we have an inventory line of credit.
02:23That was the solution.
02:24That seems like a great way to hang on to your equity.
02:26Yeah, it's a great way.
02:27Yeah.
02:28It will prevent us from growing at the pace
02:31that we would ideally want to.
02:34When the cash crunches come, which they will,
02:38that actually will have,
02:40that's hard on a marriage.
02:41Like, how do you guys manage those conversations,
02:44especially as you're looking to grow
02:46when the capital becomes more and more important to get
02:49in order to be able to fuel the growth?
02:52Well, we definitely have changed our lifestyle.
02:56We were accustomed to, you know,
02:58multiple getaways throughout the year
03:00and dining out a couple of times a week.
03:02And it just seems like there was so much more
03:04that we were doing.
03:06We've had to cut back on a lot of that.
03:08The capital for the business has to be first.
03:11I mean, we take care of our expenses for the home, of course.
03:13And so far, we have been good.
03:16But as I said earlier,
03:18what we're realizing is we're just not going to be able
03:21to expand and really run forward
03:24at the speed that we would like if it stays just us.
03:28I'm getting a little sad listening to you talk, okay?
03:31I have to be completely honest
03:33because you're dropping little hints
03:34that I hear loud and clear
03:36about the price you're paying for this business.
03:40Dr. Drew, you're killing me.
03:42I'm sorry.
03:43But it's, you know, it's what I'm,
03:45my job is here today.
03:47I know you've lost something between you
03:49and you understand why
03:51and you're willing to pay that price in the short term.
03:53But you have to be careful that it doesn't become chronic.
03:55It is a delicate dance that we have, you know,
03:58to maintaining marriages.
04:00They're hard work.
04:00Listen, I'm a never quit, keep going under any circumstance.
04:04But I also am pragmatic that at some point,
04:08and I think you just knowing
04:10if it affects you mentally, physically, or financially,
04:13you have to know when to make that call.
04:17And so my advice is to know financially
04:20what that number is.
04:23And so when I started my first company,
04:25I had a loan from my grandma, 10 grand.
04:28I had 20K on my credit card.
04:30So basically my max was 30K.
04:32What I look, and I don't have the kind of business side
04:35that you do by any means,
04:36but when I look at what Alexandra's talking about,
04:38it excites me.
04:39It seems like they're going to make this.
04:40They're going to do this.
04:41It's going to happen.
04:41I'm sure they will.
04:42But statistically, 90% of businesses fail.
04:45So I'm just preparing them that you should know
04:48how much you're willing to lose.
04:50I can see why people stop.
04:52I can see why people, we're not doing this anymore.
04:56And we were almost there.
04:58And we said, let's see what happens with this next batch.
05:03And so far, it was like a light went on.
05:06So if we didn't see that,
05:08I think we would have been very close to saying,
05:10okay, we tried and it's not working.
05:12Well, we believe in you.
05:13You've got that winning spirit for sure.
05:15And we look forward to following your journey.
05:17Thank you, Kim.
05:17And we're going to send you back to Brad.
05:19All right, Alexandra,
05:20we're back from talking with Dr. Drew and Kim.
05:24What would you say was the piece of advice
05:27that kind of hit you the hardest?
05:29Well, you know,
05:31how could I not be concerned
05:32when I hear Kim saying,
05:34you know, you got to know what that number is.
05:36We not only have a number,
05:37we also have a time stop,
05:39a stamp of things need to happen
05:42by a certain amount of time
05:43of when we would say,
05:45okay, we've given this a thousand percent.
05:46Is this type of therapy
05:48something you would suggest to other entrepreneurs?
05:51Yes.
05:51If you're an entrepreneur,
05:53take the opportunity.
05:55Thanks for participating in Entrepreneur Therapy
05:57presented by Amazon Business.
05:58To say thank you,
05:59we're going to give you a thousand dollars in cash.
06:02Thank you, Amazon Business.
06:03Thank you so much.
06:04We know that you ship a lot of product
06:06and that cashflow is key for big orders.
06:09Amazon Business actually offers
06:10fast shipping options
06:12as well as the ability
06:13to consolidate shipments
06:14and customize delivery preferences.
06:17It's one less thing to worry about
06:18for fulfillment.
06:19That is great.
06:20We have tapped into so many other aspects
06:24of Amazon Business to date.
06:26And so we're very grateful,
06:28very excited.
06:29And thank you, Amazon Business.
06:31Thanks for watching Entrepreneur Therapy.
06:36We'll see you next time.
Comments