We recently connected with Jerolyn & Erik Hamer and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jerolyn & Erik, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

For years I have always wanted to start my own business. Being a creative and good at so many things made it confusing for me when it came down to what I wanted to do as an entrepreneur. I always through great parties and events so it made since to be an event planner. The problem with that was I did not like the stress that came with being an event planner and I really loved it as a hobby and did not feel like it was what I wanted to do with my time.

However, although I did not see myself as an event planner I knew I wanted to do something in the events industry. Something different, something unique. I had tons of friends who were event planners and a problem they always ran into was finding and outsourcing their inventory.

The idea of a party rentals company came in my head and while looking at the cost of those elaborate and high demand pieces I kind of got discouraged, Until I realized I had a secret weapon….my husband! My husband is a jack of all trades and especially good with his hands with background in woodwork/carpentry. One day I asked him if he could make a champagne wall! and he did, then I asked him if he could make me a marquee and he did. I used Facebook marketplace to rent that first champagne wall out and nothing really came from it. So I decided to reach out to local venue owners and offer it’s use for free at a few networking events and the response was amazing! I took an order for one on site!

Going forth I continued to pick various networking events to promote and the sales kept coming, word of mouth began to run its course and It definitely played a part in our growth. I had to figure out our next steps fast.. we did not even have a name! or business cards, I would give out my personal number and personal social media accounts to be reached.

I have a background in marketing so I knew what I needed to do, I just had to execute it. Once I came up with a name, I started our branding process. The next months leading up until now has all been learning experience. From legalizing our business, to figuring out profits and earnings and realizing the first few years will go back into the business. But as much learning we have done and the learning that is still to come I would not change a thing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

We are Hamer’s Props & Party we specialize in the build and rentals of signature event pieces and party props. We take pride that most of our inventory is handmade in house by us and we have creative direction on how we want our pieces to look. We also take pride that we get to deal directly with our customers and get to work with tons of other small business owners like us and others in the events industry.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

We currently are on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok! I handle all of our social media and even with a marketing degree I find this new age of digital exciting and confusing. Once I think I have things all figured out a new algorithm comes to play or a new trend and its back to square one! You have to be real dedicated and creative to keep up with social media marketing. One things for sure.. you can’t be afraid! You have to at least try. Everyone is so focused on going viral but for our brand, since we offer local services I focus on building a local social media presence! Hashtags are phenomenal I don’t care what anyone says…I have so many people say they found us from a hashtag.

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

Outside of great customer service! our story is what often draws people to us and helps build our reputation. Our story of a family owned small business, husband /wife duo gravitates our clients to us. When they hear our story of how we left our 9-5 jobs to jump head into entrepreneurship they become even more intrigued if not inspired.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hamerspropsandparty.com
• Instagram: hamerspropsandparty
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hamerspropsandparty

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