We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer Kok. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.

Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

I sold my brick-and-mortar bakery business in the Fall of 2018 after owning and operating this business for over 20 years. I can remember the day I was sitting in my favorite chair, drinking my coffee, and watching locally owned businesses panic and struggle when the pandemic of 2019-2020 that shut them temporarily down. These businesses were scrambling, trying to make payroll, and keep their doors open. It brought me back to my struggle of keeping my doors open in my bakery during the 2008-2009 recession. During the recession, I too was panicking, worried about the future which ended up leading me to create a new brand, a product line that ended up tripling my revenue and going nationwide. I can honestly say the recession, was the best thing that ever happened to my business.

As I was watching what was unfolding with our locally owned businesses, I thought to myself, I have a skill set that can help these businesses and that is when I launched my current business, Next Wave Business Coaching.

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 help existing brick-and-mortar, franchisees, boutiques, retailers, and service based businesses who want to grow locally, increase foot traffic, gain customers and boost sales and pay themselves more.

I know first-hand the weight and excitement of building a business. I understand the lonely challenges of decision-making, spreading yourself too thin, the complexities of financial management, and the problem-solving that is needed to be a successful entrepreneur. I help existing brick-and-mortar, retail, boutiques, franchisees, and service-based companies increase store traffic, gain customers and grow sales and also pay themselves more.

I solve with Experience. I started my first business two days before giving birth to my second child, turned it around in the middle of a recession, and sold the company for a profit after growing it to a national brand. I understand how to build a business, team, and network and I created a national franchise

I am an Advocate. I believe small businesses are the heart of our communities and I know that you need comprehensive solutions for your unique business challenges, This requires a trained ear and a custom approach and that is my specialty and I will absolutely and prayerfully cheer you on.

I have Proven Success, not only in my own businesses, but also in brick-and-mortar businesses from across the country who come to me with pain points and stress but walk away with an actionable plan, vision, and confidence.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After starting Next Wave Business Coaching in the Fall of 2020, I went to market as a generalist and quickly realized it would be hard to grow because no one in my network really understood what I do, who I help and how I do it.

For the past three years I have tested out different target audiences, and different programs, in order to find my specialty niche that will make it easier for others to understand what I do and who I do it for. This can be very frustrating and challenging to find where your business fits into this busy world and how best to attract instead of chase clients. It takes resilience to keep trying, pivoting until you land on the right marketing messaging. I see this all the time with the clients I help, and sadly most entrepreneurs quit before they get to really enjoy the results. I am happy that I went back to my roots of sales and marketing and brick-and-mortar and have created a program that helps brick-and-mortar businesses all over the country grow their local market, gain customers, boost sales and profit.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

After owning my brick-and-mortar bakery for 20 years I felt it was time to sell. What I learned and what I coach my clients on is you should start thinking about your exit strategy way before you are ready to exit. I started planning my sale about 3 years before it happened. This gave me time to make sure operation, financials and all aspects of the business were turn key ready, which means you can hand over a business to a new owner and they can continue to operate with out you. One other suggestion I would share is most likely you are going to have to find your own buyer. In my case, I mentored my manager and she purchased the business from me, this takes time. I would encourage you to plan your exit strategy while sales and your passion for the business are still strong. Don’t wait until you are burned out or business is struggling to exit, this is going to cause you to sell your business for less than what it might be worth.

Contact Info:

• Website: nextwavebusinesscoaching.com
• Instagram: nextwavewithjen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nextwavewithjen
• Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferowenskok

Image Credits
Jen Smits, Fresh Start Studios