455: Growing Your Business By Mastering Merchandising with Amanda Hofman

Elzie chats with Amanda Hofman, CEO and Co-Founder of Go To Market, a woman-owned business looking to revolutionize the way the world handles swag. Amanda takes us on a journey through her challenging entrepreneurial experiences, from running an events company in New York City to delving into the kid’s toy industry.

Amanda emphasizes the value of learning from past mistakes, seeking honest feedback, and the value of networking in an entrepreneur’s journey and gives us a sneak peek into the company’s future, including exciting growth plans and staying competitive.

Episode Highlights:

08:19 – I think that’s something that people miss, like people really do want to help each other. And so, if you’re clear about asking for help, I think you’ll find that a lot of people will outstretch, you know, put their hand out to you. Especially if you do it in a respectful way and you’re not asking for too much time, but just to say, Hey, I’m really interested in getting into this industry, or I’m having trouble breaking into this industry, or I have questions about the kind of job you do. First of all, people love talking about themselves, and people like being helpful. So, if you’re bold enough to ask, you might, you know, what’s the harm in asking? As long as you can get the courage to do it.

09:39 – I think that the main thing that I can tell people is to be open to and seek out negative feedback. So, like, you hear all the time from people like, “Oh, ignore the haters.” You know, don’t read the negative comments, and yeah, you don’t want to hear what every Joe Schmo has to say about your business, but your friends are going to be an echo chamber for you, and people who love you are going to be an echo chamber for you. So, I looked out, and I was like, What am I doing wrong? What could I be doing better? And I would really reward people who would be honest with me.

20:12 – My dream is that companies all across the country will, like, let’s completely do away with boring, unsustainable merchandise. It’s a real lose-lose for companies. They’re spending all of this money to print their logo on something that people don’t want, then they gift it, and then people have garbage from this company. And it’s really like an expensive, junk-filled, time-consuming, negative process.

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