We were lucky to catch up with Susan Jacobson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Susan , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

In order to be successful you must first determine what success means to you. Success to me is not only that which comes from hitting business benchmarks and goals but more so the attainment of personal fulfillment. Ensuring all you do personally and professionally aligns with your goals, values, beliefs creating impact in your life and on all you touch. Once committed to those concepts, working hard, striving every day to accomplish the mission at hand with laser-like focus and personal drive. There is a tool called the “Fulfillment Triangle”. developed by the nonprofit organization 1Life Fully Lived, that creates a triangle with one side being what you love; your passion. One side being what you are good at; your talent. The last side finding where you can fill a need; opportunity. if you can do all of those things at once within that space is fulfillment. You can take this approach to all areas of life and success will encompass the outcomes. For me in my business owning an event venue and farm and my community role as an economic developer, I have been fortunate to combine my passion for serving others, with a talent in strategic action to identify needs of those seeking the services I am able to provide. That approach has paid off and built a healthy company and led to personal joy by seeing many clients happy faces.

Susan , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have spent my life in the service to others as a teacher, athletic coach and director of a National Sport, event director, nonprofit director, volunteer and the list goes on. Much of that time was focused around helping people and places develop to their full potential. I am also a hard-working serial entrepreneur with a love of all things outdoors.

We began operating a wedding venue in order to combine years of event operation experience with the opportunity to work outside on our 48 acres of land. It also allowed us to expand the reach of our orchard, strengthen both the local food, artisan and music scenes in our area.

Big Canyon Acres operates year-round in the scenic Clearwater River Region of North Central Idaho on a historic orchard farmstead. We host weddings, festivals and farm to table dinners on site. Our weddings are more than just a beautiful location. From start to finish, according to our clients, they are a joyful stress-free experience. Our pro wedding event team walks alongside our couples to create individualized custom experiences that result in a true reflection of who they are and what they cherish. From planning meetings, to set up of included decor, lighting. equipment, day of services to the final clean up, we ensure their venue experience always exceeds expectations. We work hard to be sure that the couples, their families and friends are able to be fully present in each moment as opposed to worrying over details, tasks at hand and other potential stressors. It thrills us that we have this opportunity to be part of the next chapter in a couples love story.

In addition to the private events that occur, we host several events that the public can attend dinners, concerts and a traditional fall artisan/harvest festival that builds community. Being able to weave many of the things we love while fostering and providing a platform for other entrepreneurs, artisans, farmers, and musicians is something we are very proud of.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

In order to maximize profitability we closely examined all the possibilities. In fact, we initially were focused only on the orchard and selling the fresh whole fruit. Through a value added grant from the USDA, we began making fruit juices which expanded our revenue stream. We initially sold the fruit at local farmers markets, then direct sales, and finally opened the farm stand which also featured the work of local artisans. However, none of these endeavors proved to move the business toward our financial goals at the rate we wanted. In the words of a mentor I have literally “the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze” .

We analyzed our strengths and our experience along with the assets onsite. Building on our memory of the great time we had at our own wedding 25 years prior, all of our event operation background and a need for a full service operation, we decided to launch an event venue.

We began offering weddings, held a festival and started to see our goals coming more to fruition. From there we expanded to offer as added value to the events, onsite accommodations both within the event offerings and as stand alone revenue streams of short term rentals and camping areas.

We refined how our support for the local food system and music scene could flourish and added farm to table events featuring local chefs sourcing products from surrounding farms and ranches with entertainment from local musicians. We also looked at our own orchard products and found ways to feature them, the value added goods and maximize their profit through the special event exposure.

The festivals allow more revenue stream options, with artisan booth fees, juice sales, hay rides, pumpkin patch and sponsorships. They also support the artisans, farms, chefs, and musicians.

In the future we plan to add corporate retreats, all inclusive events, and a music festival.

We are always looking for ways that keep us within our brand to create a new revenue stream.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Our commitment to customer satisfaction and consistency of experiences has helped us to build our reputation in the market. Each of the public reviews and every comment we hear is testament to the service we provide, the effectiveness in solving the challenges surrounding special events and the deep rooted desire to go over and above the clients’ needs.

We listen closely to our clients wishes and pull anything and everything together to ensure their experiences are all of that and more.

We work hard, our crew understands and reflects our mission, and our clients, their families and friends are consistently blown away by all we provide.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bigcanyonacres.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigcanyonacres/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bigcanyonacres

Image Credits

Shane Courtney Photographer. (aerial view, swing photo, headshot, wedding couple kissing)