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When it came to starting a plastic-free lifestyle, Marilla Gonzalez’s first switch was a bar of soap and a cotton soap bag. After three years of switching over her household items, Gonzalez wanted to make earth-friendly products more accessible to everyone in the community.
Gonzalez is a Geneva native who has been working in the health food industry for over 10 years. Because of her passion for sustainability, seeing earth-friendly shops she frequented continue to use single-use plastics was very frustrating for her. And in 2018 Gonzalez began doing research and imagining what it would be like to open her own store where packaging has little to no plastic.
“It’s my strong belief that planet-friendly ethical products shouldn’t be hard to get to, or difficult to figure out,” she says on her site. So “we’ve done the homework behind each item and feel confident in the ripple effect of each purchase.”
Here is an interview with Gonzalez, who gives us an inside look at what it was like getting her business started. Her answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
You began researching in 2018, but when did you decide to open your own store?
I had worked in a health food store that was very similar to like, a traditional Co-Op situation for over 10 years. And I was helping them close up shop because the owner was retiring. So pretty much as we were closing up that location, I knew that I wanted to continue something like that. And we had explored taking over. But as I looked at the model, I was just frustrated with the amount of single-use plastic that is traditionally found in places like that, so we decided it was easier to start fresh. Then, after we started doing the research, it further cemented that so it was really 2017, that we kind of made the decision and the research that followed helped us become what we are today.
How did you financially prepare for opening your own business?
We really didn’t have any kind of financing, saved up and ready for that, so we started putting together just a bootstrap budget of what is the lowest number that we could possibly get a place like this open, and we had a lot of community interest. So we started exploring some of the grants that are out there for small businesses in New York State. And we landed on a downtown revitalization grant that has gone to a lot of small cities and towns in upstate New York. The only tricky part of a lot of those grant programs is that you usually have to show that you have a certain amount of money to even be considered to get money. So we had to scrimp and save a little bit and take some out of our savings and things like that. But eventually, we were able to show enough that we were able to qualify for a grant. And in that first year, we did win a grant to open the business.
What financial advice would you give to someone hoping to start their own business?
My advice would be to keep it as simple as you can, keep it as affordable as you can, and plan for the lowest numbers as opposed to the highest. That helped us a great deal because even the grant that we got was very small, so it helped us to go in with a very thin budget because then it felt like we had some money to play with. You can source stuff secondhand, check out who’s getting rid of their shelving, and things like that.
How did you mentally overcome challenges? What sorts of things or maybe even people helped you through those times?
I came into my business at first, with a lot of experience from my family, a lot of folks in my family owned their own businesses. So growing up, I was able to live in a household with parents that owned a small business and watch them navigate mentally through the ups and downs of that. They were really good about keeping a clear head and a calm head through the ups and downs, but then I also had family members who were constantly in a state of stress from that, and I could see how that wore on them. So when I opened my own business, I was really determined to pay attention to my mental health and carve out something that was really important for me. And when I did need to take some time off, I would let the customers know, “We’re closing today, here’s why it’s a wedding. I gotta be there,” And then there’s a little bit of joy around that. So for me, including people in the inner workings of your business, taking the time when you need it, and making sure you leave your work at work as best as you can have been three things that have helped me a great deal.
What were some resources you found in the community that helped you thrive?
I think first and foremost, other business owners to be completely honest. There are a lot of resources out there for small businesses and businesses that are just starting. And those look like small business organizations, there’s a great one in the southwest edge. There’s a great one in Geneva, the Chamber of Commerce, and Visit Rochester is another one you can get hooked on that are all helpful as a small business. But first and foremost get to know your neighboring businesses get to know who they are, how long they’ve been there, what works for them, what their pain points are, and what they love about your area. Those kinds of friendships and connections have been more helpful than any organization that I’ve ever been a part of.
When it comes to outsourcing help for your store. What do you look for in a person when you are hiring?
Good work ethic and multitasking are definitely key, but specifically to Marillas, the mindful approach that we take to service is a big deal to us. I’m always looking for people who have the heart to pay attention to people and care about that person beyond the plastic-free products, beyond the planet, it’s that person is first. And a well-taken-care-of person is able to take care of other things like the planet. So there’s definitely a very, very personal and mindful aspect of our hiring process because that’s what’s so important to me. And when people come in here and feel like they matter, then they walk out feeling like what they do matters. And so that’s really the biggest, biggest component.
If you could choose one lesson you’ve learned up to this point, what would you say that is?
Probably don’t sweat the small stuff. You know, with small business, the whole thing is small. So it’s kind of funny to say that, but it can be so mentally draining if you are constantly attaching your self-worth or your business’s worth to those day-to-day totals; the numbers, the traffic, those little things that go up and down. Some days you’ll have a Gangbuster day, and you can’t believe how well you’re doing. And then the next day, you might have negative dollars. I would say it’s something that I’m not perfect at, but the lesson that I’m always striving to learn and get better at is not sweating the small stuff and knowing that you have to step back and look at things as a whole. Trust that one bad day doesn’t mean a bad business.
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