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

Hi Malikah, thanks for joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

As a business owner, you are on a never ending rollercoaster, but I wouldn’t trade my rollercoaster for anything. I am at peace with where I am in my business. Many think that starting a business is an instant growth strategy, turning you into a millionaire overnight, but that is not the case. Starting a business is honestly like having a baby, you love it and nurture it and watch it grow over time, you get upset with it and feel like you are a failure, but in reality it’s all just a part of the journey. Without downfalls you won’t understand the precious lessons in business nor be able to teach them to others. Oftentimes I want to just give up and go back to working a regular job, working a regular job gives you financial security and releases you from the pressure of coming up with a plan to grow the business everyday. When I have these feelings of going back to a regular job I always have to remind myself on why I left in the first place…wanting the freedom of choice. Owning a business makes me happy because I have the freedom to choose what services I offer, who to work with, when to work, and set my own prices. Honestly, every time I decide to apply for a regular job, I never get a call back so I’ve learned to accept that maybe I am not getting a call back because that isn’t my destiny.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an e-commerce marketing strategist who entered the e-commerce space in 2015 when I decided to start my first business, VITAL XII, selling handbags online. I initially started VITAL XII because I was working at a regular job living paycheck to paycheck and needed additional income. I decided to start selling my old handbags on an app called Poshmark. I saw how quickly people were purchasing the handbags and decided to start an online business of my own. VITAL XII was very successful and tons of people loved the bags. I loved the business because it gave an introvert like myself the opportunity to become a business owner while working behind the computer screen. I started to learn that even though the business was an online business in order to scale I needed to get myself out there more by doing in-person popup shops, modeling for the brand, and becoming a salesperson. I didn’t enjoy that, so I quickly became passionate about helping other online store owners market and manage their businesses instead, that’s when On Twelve Management was born. I took everything I learned in my online business and offered my knowledge to others. As of today, I’ve been running On Twelve Management for 6 years and am extremely proud of how far I’ve come with the business. At On Twelve, we offer e-commerce website development, email marketing, and paid ad services to help online retailers grow their digital footprint. I am most proud of my journey with On Twelve and how I started as an online retailer myself, worked at multiple e-commerce marketing companies, and am now thriving with my own company doing exactly what I love – helping online retailers scale their business.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

You do not have to know all of the answers. One of my biggest insecurities in business was feeling like I didn’t know enough. I thought that because I have a marketing agency that meant I needed to know every single thing about marketing, the metrics, all of the conversion rates, the best marketing strategies, etc. but that isn’t true. There is so much information in this world and we cannot possibly know everything. It’s ok to let a client know “I don’t have that answer but I can do some research and get back to you”. We don’t have to know all of the answers but we can do whatever it takes to find it for them. Not only does that show the client that you care about their business success, that also gives you the opportunity to become more knowledgeable.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My pivot story in business is actually what helped me find success. When I initially started On Twelve I started it as a general marketing and management company for all business owners. Over time I started to learn that my service offerings and who I was serving started to become confusing. I was offering over 10 different services and didn’t really understand who my ideal customer was. Thankfully, during the first few years of business I was also working full time at a few different e-commerce marketing companies and that helped me understand that e-commerce was my lane and that is the services and type of clients I wanted to work with. I did a whole rebrand of the company and focused on only working with e-commerce merchants offering websites, email marketing, and paid ads. That pivot helped me become more marketable and opportunities started to come in right after.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ontwelvemgmt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ontwelvemgmt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ontwelvemgmt
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malikahplanas/

Image Credits
Rylan Benet and Jess (Lady Flashback)