How cool is this!? FreshPow! has been profiled by  BabeofBusiness.com  as the “Start-up of the Week”!

Thanks so much to Crystal (The Chief Babe) for choosing us as her feature for this week!

Read on Below for the entire interview and then check out BabeofBusiness.com for more goodies….

Some businesses flop months after launching, while others have the distinct honor of hitting the ground running – taking off and never looking back. To the joy of its owners, our featured start-up of the week is happily finding a home in the latter category. Recently featured in BTW Magazine and Snowboard Life, among others, here is what Ariane Griffiths had to say about her one-of-a-kind start-up FreshPow!:

Please tell us about your start-up FreshPow!. What makes it unique? And how does it fit into the marketplace?

FreshPow! started as an idea to help my husband find a new design job. I am a serial entrepreneur and am constantly coming up with ideas. He is a very talented commercial graphic designer with a serious passion for outdoor sports, mainly mountain biking and snowboarding. After a particularly frustrating conversation about how much I wanted my own business and he wanted a new job, we decided to mesh our skills and passions. I came up with the idea to design and produce graphic creations for snowboards and bikes; at that time, we did not know what form that would take, and my husband was hesitant. I immediately did some research, and found out that there was nothing out there like this. So I forged ahead and started creating the layout of the company. The products we sell are unique because there is a custom aspect to them. Allowing the customer to choose what design they have on their sports gear is a new concept altogether; normally the customer can only choose from mass produced designs in retail shops. Our products also allow the customer to change up their sports style as often as they wish.

What demographics are you targeting?

Our primary target is men and women, aged 15 to 35; they take part in outdoor action sports such as skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, wakeboarding, mountain biking and other sports. They see their sport not as a hobby, but as a lifestyle and view their purchases in this regard as necessities, not optional. Our target location is primarily North America with a close secondary target being everywhere else. We are able to do this because 99 percent of our business is online.

What has been the most challenging aspect of launching this business?

So far, the most challenging part has been keeping up with what needs to be done; mainly marketing. Because FreshPow! is on a VERY tight budget all of our marketing so far has been through public relations and media pitches. I am not sure if it’s because I have a tendency to “do it all at once”, but working on press releases based on multiple editorial calendars is extremely taxing!

Did you write a business plan? How did you fund the launch of your business? Are you currently seeking investment?

Does a chicken scratched task list count?! I have not yet written a business plan. I started this business less than a month ago and because it was brought to life right before a crucial selling season, there has been no time. Currently I am working off of a scrap piece of paper; tasks get refreshed daily and I seem to be making serious headway. Chaotic organization seems to be my preferred way to work. Funding the business has been an interesting journey. We had a tiny bit of money set aside and that has allowed me to get business cards (so far). A marketing campaign is being planned, with various sell sheets and such. I am lucky to have Web skills so I did my Web site (http://freshpow.ca) myself and with my husband being a graphic designer, well, I didn’t have to hire one. At this point, I am not willing to take on investors. If that day were to come, I believe I would open the company up to family first, but I don’t think it will ever be a situation of someone coming in, offering money and then having a majority control.

Is this your first start-up venture?

Not really, as I said before, I am a serial entrepreneur; a successful one, not yet (notice I said “Yet”). Every time I try to launch a business, something comes up either personally or financially and it just doesn’t seem to fit. FreshPow! already shows signs of being extremely different than all of my other ideas. It’s a completely different industry for me, and I think that is what is making the difference for me personally. Product wise, it’s such a new idea that marketing it so far has been very easy.  I’ve had two press releases and an article published in less than two weeks. It’s great!

What advice can you give others looking to start their own businesses?

My absolute without a doubt mandatory advice would be positivity. You, and everyone else around you, NEED (bold and underscored) to be positive. You need to surround yourself with people who believe in you, your ideas and your success. It is next to impossible to foster the growth of a company if someone around you is weighing it (and you) down with doubts. The rest of any advice I would give is already out there (read your tush off!) but (in my opinion) pales in comparison to that - Be positive; it is the make or break of any business you’ll attempt.

If you had to start all over again, what are some things you would do differently?

Given the fact that it has only been a little less than a month, I’m barely out of the gate. Whatever I have doubts about right now, I still have time to fix. Can I do a follow-up in the next couple of months and let you know then?

I’m going to hold you to it, Ariane! In the meantime, if you’ve been itching to customize your look on the slopes, water and everywhere in between, check out FreshPow! online.

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Isn’t that a great interview? Thanks again Crystal!

BabeofBusiness.com - Check it out!

Hope you have a great day!
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