We were lucky to catch up with Elizabeth Lang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

At Hawthorne House, we have decided to implement a unique business model for the events industry. Rather than accepting however many events come our way, we cap the number of events we will book in a year. This could be viewed as a risky business decision as capping the number of events we host each year creates a faint line of a financial cap as well. I firmly believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

Because of the structure we’ve implemented, we’re able to focus more attention on each couple that decided to get married at our venue. We have a fast response rate, incorporate more guidance than competitors and know each of our couples by name. Creating a personalized client journey was a pillar of our business model from day one and is not something we anticipate de-prioritizing any time.

We host an annual private event for booked couples ONLY that allows them to see a wedding experience at Hawthorne House prior to their special day. It provides a celebratory atmosphere while planning their wedding- which is known to be a stressful journey- and is entirely complimentary. By designing an exclusive event, free of charge, for the sole reason of enjoying their engagement we are able to serve our couples in a way no other venue does.

I strongly believe in pouring back into the couples that choose us because they could have chosen any other venue in the Kansas City metro- but they decided to support our small, family run business!

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?

I wouldn’t say I specifically targeted the wedding industry, but as I entered my career I knew I wanted to join an industry that revolved around helping and supporting others. I started my career in nonprofit events, transitioned into wedding planning and an opportunity was brought to the table to invest in a currently operating wedding venue. After eight months of diving deep into the details of the business statistics and having conversations on how pursing owning our own business could affect our family (both positively and negatively) my husband and I decided to say yes- and now here we are four years later!

I an the President of Hawthorne House, a wedding venue that was established in 1997 and is located in Parkville, MO 15 minutes north of downtown Kansas City. We are an 11 acre property that includes both indoor and outdoor ceremony locations as well as a reception hall that can seat up to 300 guests. Our couples have a focus on guest experience and our team has a focus on client journey. I am proud to be a part of a venue that has consecutively hosted weddings for 26 years. In an industry that is fast-moving and trend-driven, our timeless aesthetic continues to be sought after.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

When purchasing Hawthorne House in 2019 our process included purchasing all wedding contracts that had already been secured. It was pertinent that we build trust with the couples who has signed their contract with previous management IMMEDIATELY. From day one of purchasing the business, we took a personal approach to communicating and building relationships with our clients.

That is a strategy that we decided to continue after the “transition” period ended due to the incredible positive response we saw from both couples and the additional family members who were a part of the planning process. That has turned into our main marketing avenue- word of mouth!

We tested the pros and cons of investing thousands of dollars into national marketing channels, utilizing outsourced marketing firms and doing all marketing in house. The results were astounding! We saw a higher conversion rate and better engagement on social channels when we stuck to in house marketing strategies. In an industry that is so fast-paced our couples have enjoyed the time and effort we pour into creating a seamless planning process and setting their expectations at the right level from the start.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

In March of 2019 the sale of Hawthorne House officially went through, but the conversations started in July of 2018! Throughout the eight month journey I was surprised at how long the process took, but looking back taking our time to ensure it was the right decision for all parties was pertinent to the success of the sale.

My husband and I are the majority owners of the business. We started the process by first making sure it was the right decision for us before approaching any investors. It is crucial that you are confident in the purchase when bringing an opportunity to any investor’s table. We then had to decide what kind of investors we wanted to focus on- private investment firms, secure the funding through a bank ourselves or approach family member(s). Our first pitch was to family members who we felt would bring a wonderful perspective to the table as it would be a partnership and that pitch was successful. Not every funding process will feel as seamless as ours did, but we took the time to have hard conversations and invested in a phenomenal legal team to support us through that process and I would highly encourage both for any entrepreneur getting into business with family.

After months of digging into the current business analytics we created financial projections and a business model we believed in. This information was presented to the bank to secure our loan. This was the most frustrating part of the process as it moved slowly due to the many benchmarks that were needed along the way. I caution all potential entrepreneurs to find a banker that they trust- we were able to have open and honest conversations with our banker throughout the process and while it was frustrating at times, we felt confident that the process was moving forward even if the steps were felt small.

I was surprised at the weight that was put on my personal resume when securing funding. I am a majority owner of the business and am the only individual who had industry experience and would be the point of contact for the day-to-day operations of the company. It proved extremely beneficial to create a detailed business plan prior to approaching a bank for funding in order to be well armed with answers to any question that came my way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehawthornehouse.com
• Instagram: @thehawthornehouse

Image Credits
Elizabeth LaDean Photography Bailey Pianalto Photography Mike Cassimatis Photography