Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Garrett Shaver. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Garrett , appreciate you joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?

My wife and I manage our own business social media. Instagram is our preffered platform but its linked directly to Facebook as well. We decided early on that is wasn’t something we wanted to spend extra dollars on, we thought we should at least give it a try on our own. 3 years later and we do not regret the choice we made. In our opinion Social media should compliment but not drive your business, it’s a great way to engage with certain customers but not all. For us its a great way to introduce new products, we introduce new products almost daily. Our instragram grid is a great way for people to see what we offer and also helps identifiyng what we are and what we do. Concepts/stores like ours can have identity issues because we do so much, social medias helps!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My background is beer and wine wholesale for 16 years, my wife ran a small medical clinic for a few years. Both having wanted to open a shop of our own for many years, if nothing else we both wanted to get out of the corporate drag and explore other options. 2020 we decided to do it, took the leap. We decided on a small specialty grocery concept, beer/wine bottle shop, grab and go meals, take and bake, full coffee bar, wine slushies, bar and patio, Milkshakes, smoothies, seasonal items, gifts. “Something for everyone”, we certainly have a unique vibe to our store, according to repeat customers, maybe its us maybe its not but whatever we’re doing people love it. The thing we’ve enjoyed the most hands down is all the new friends we’ve made in the community, in just 3 years it’s hard to fathom how far we ‘ve come since opening our doors. We’ve seen first dates turn into marriages, we’re watching kids grow up, its really special.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

We have a very small staff at Salt Marsh Market, so we have to hire very carefully and make sure we find the right person that will be a compliment to our existing staff. We treat our staff like family, always encouraging and helping, no room for harsh criticism or dramatic theater. We encourage our staff to let us know if they have an issue or see something that might need attention, for instance we’re always improving our best practice manual, feedback is valuable in working on the efficiency at which we operate. We do pay well, that helps, we also give a year end bonus based on tenure.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Higly recommend The E Myth by Micheal E. Gerber Read it, it really helps you understand how to effectively work “in” your business as well as “on” your business, and how to seperate the two.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @saltmarshmarket

Image Credits
my logo/image, Garrett Shaver