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

Holly Jo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you think about cost-management? Growing a business is always exciting, but often businesses run into issues when costs grow faster than revenue – have you experienced such an episode? Any advice for other operators around how to keep costs in line?

I have tried my best to maintain my prices while offering quality goods and services to my customers. It has been very difficult with the inflation. Every item that comes into the store has to be checked for Price increases and the shipping expense has driven the cost of goods to be higher from one month to the next. I.

Holly Jo, 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?

My Business is Michigan Made, and we have three retail stores. We mainly sell items made and themed for Michigan. I opened my first store in Harvey, Michigan, 12 years ago a few days after my 50th Birthday. It was a 600-square-foot space, and I was hopeful that people would like all the Michigan Items I was procuring. I am very proud to say that the majority of my merchandise is delivered by people who reside in Upper Michigan. I opened my second location in Houghton Michigan 8 years ago and we are a mainstay in Downtown Houghton. At about the same time I purchased a building in Harvey and we moved into our current space which is 3600 sq feet. I had no idea how I would be able to fill this big of a space with merchandise but again here I am with a fully stocked store. I opened my third location in Manistique during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each location has a uniqueness about it, my Harvey store in the log cabin, the Houghton store is the Historic store with copper ceilings and original terrazzo flooring, the Manistique location is our industrial location with a garage door, and we have a tavern license in Manistique we feature a taproom and outdoor seating.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

On March 17, 2020, I laid off my staff at all three locations and I stayed on alone. I emptied the other store of any perishable goods and made and promoted baskets for easter and Mother day, I never lost one item in inventory, I was able to maintain all the bills and keep all three stores. I reopened with staff On June 15th. I am very proud that we survived this shutdown without any influx of Government funding,

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

I tried to get conventional lending but was denied despite having an 820 credit score. I used a cash advance on a credit card with zero percent finance and borrowed 30g and I was able to launch the business and turn it into profitable business

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justmichiganmade.net
• Facebook: Just Michigan Harvey
• Other: Just Michigan Manistique
  Just Michigan Houghton