We recently connected with Laura Compton and have shared our conversation below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

The short answer, is YES. I love being a business owner. But I absolutely think about what it would be like to go back to the corporate world. I spent 8 years in corporate before leaning in full time to my business. I learned a ton, but always wanted to build my own business and create my own schedule. I grew up with a father who worked a regular 9-5, and a mother who was a small business owner. I saw her work SO hard, but she always had the flexibility to spend time with me as a child. I wanted that – to be able to make my kids’ games, practices, field trips, and so much more. I knew I would struggle with that schedule in the corporate world. Having this business has given me the opportunity to do that. Although I am working more hours overall, I have the autonomy to still do the things I want on my own schedule.

Laura, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I spend 8+ years in the corporate buying and account management world managing multi million dollar accounts prior to opening my own business. All of that experience really launched me into my boutique, Permanently Poppin’. We focus on fashionable, comfort clothing for women of all sizes. We are woman owned, and women employed. Most of us are Moms, and it is a key focus of my business that we allow schedule autonomy so Moms can work and spend as much time with their family as they like.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

This boutique started as a side hustle for me. I was working full time, and reselling clothing on facebook at the same time. I realized that I could make this a full time job. I planned for six months to bring it to fruition, and after officially opening in March of 2019, I realized that I needed to take a leap of faith and do it full time for it to really work. I decided to give myself one year. If I wasn’t happy / making enough money after a year, I would return to the corporate world. I officially left my 9-5 job in July of 2019. In August of 2020, I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I thought to myself “well, I’m all in now!” I doubled down and worked hard to scale the business as quickly as possible. Then, Covid happened. Since I’m an online business, like most online businesses, my sales exploded overnight. It was very difficult being in my 3rd trimester, dealing with all the stressors of early pandemic, and trying to manage and scale my business. I was very lucky to have a supportive husband who was furloughed at the time, to help with all the packing and shipping. After my daughter was born, the business kept growing and I hired my first employee.

What started as a side hustle, and in a spare bedroom, moved to our garage, and now we have our own warehouse with 4 employees.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

We take a three pronged approach to our revenue sources within our shop. – Preorders. I work with small US based businesses, as well as factories overseas to produce custom made and designed items. These are made to order items, and I have successfully built trust with my client base where they trust they will receive quality products, even if the ETA is 3 months out. This has allowed me to run really lean in inventory, as if an item doesn’t perform as expected, I’m not tied to having purchased something.
– Drop Ship. We work with a few US based vendors who carry inventory on hand and will ship directly to our customers as orders are placed. These items are all in stock and ready to ship. This provides the same benefit that preorders do – an extended assortment with little to no inventory liability.
– In Stock Product. Our warehouse/office space also contains our best selling items that we keep stock on. This way, we have a core assortment that our customers can shop at all times and receive now.

Contact Info:

• Website: permpoppin.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870591476511192
• Other: App: Permpoppin.com/links