We recently connected with Allie Miller and have shared our conversation below.

Allie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

I’ve always struggled with the ‘sales’ part of life. Wether it’s selling my skills in an interview or pushing my goat milk products to people – I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea.

That being said, my business would not be what it is today without my friends and families support. Not only financially but also my mission and product itself. They have feedback, ideas, suggestions and it’s helped create what Little Legs Ranch is today.

When asking for support from friends and family it doesn’t need to be financial. When I first started I gave away a lot of my product for free to get help with ideas and suggestions. Opinions are wonderful stepping stones to get your product perfect to you. I’m not saying change anything based on others opinions of it – I’m saying more of taking the criticism and growing with it. Create a constructive atmosphere where feedback is welcome.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Allie and I own Little Legs Ranch. I grew up in Arvada, Colorado which makes this the classic story of a city girl gone country! I knew from a young age that farming was my dream so I pursued a degree in animal ecology from Metropolitan State University.

Soon after graduating I met my husband and we moved to our current home of 35 acres in Gill, CO. It was a long road to get where we are today but we wouldn’t change it for the world. My goats started as pets and soon became an obsession. I dove in head first and haven’t come up for air yet! So what better way to create a business than around one of the things I love the most. We have grown and adapted frequently the last few years and I am beyond excited to see what we can accomplish in the future.

​
At Little Legs Ranch, we pride ourselves on our quality skincare line of soaps and goat milk products, handcrafted right here on our farm. Only the best ingredients are used, starting with our very own raw goats milk. Only the happy and healthiest goats produce milk this good and in such quantity, and ours our sure filling the pail!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

This to me was the scariest part of building the business. I had zero idea of what I was doing. I went to college for animal ecology, not marketing and Homesteading.

My first batch of soap was an absolute failure. I was extremely discouraged for I’m the type of personality who likes to succeed at the first go around. With some encouragement from my husband, I tried again. The second batch was also terrible. Extremely slowly but surely, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. It was agonizing for me to watch myself fail so often but looking back it was worth it. I’ve grown so much in three years not only as a business owner but as a person.

Biggest lesson learned: It’s okay to fail and try again. It’s okay to fail a LOT.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

As generally an introvert it’s been an uphill battle building a customer base. I’ve found just general conversations have been the best way to gain not only customers but some friends in the process. People want to connect and have a meaningful conversation. Wether it be about your business or just life in general. Open up that space and create the conversation.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.littlelegsranch.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/littlelegsranch
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/littlelegsranch

Image Credits
Aspen Art Photography