We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Savannah Ezema. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Savannah below.
Savannah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
Working in the “helper” field, I have really struggled with valuing myself and my work. I have been in this field since being 19 years old. The biggest mission I have is having people feel less stressed coming home from a long day’s work.
This mindset has been a blessing and a curse. Blessing because I take what I do seriously and genuinely get energy from completing other’s to-do lists, which has lead to word-of-mouth referral that outgrew my schedule and blossomed to what is now HAILO™! Curse because I have trouble fighting for my own worth and increasing rates as the economy has fluctuated.
In 2023, I received my first business advisor. I had recently quit my corporate role and decided to pursue my company full time. We met for lunch and I expressed, fighting through tears, how nervous I was. Yet, I know that Hailo™ is my calling and need help to make it work.
A few months in we did a deep dive of my prices. I was trying to budget everything but kept coming up short. I felt so irresponsible and guilty. As I was crying on the phone expressing how much of a failure I felt, he replied, “This is not a budget issue. You’re feeling shame over not budgeting money when you have no money to budget.” This was the first advisor who truly saw me, validated my feelings, but also reassured me and had my back.
I always struggled raising my prices because I want to remain affordable for the local, dual-income household. If I didn’t take the leap and raise my prices as everyone’s costs rose around me, I would have quit feeling like a failure when the truth is I wasn’t sticking up for myself. My prices were not reflecting my expertise. I had ran this company for 8 years and increased my hourly rate by $5, which doesn’t even reflect an annual 3% inflation rate expectancy (not to mention a whole pandemic impacting inflation!) or any new expenses I incurred by hiring a team, adding in tech, and marketing. Looking back, I wish I could give myself a hug and block out the noise of others. I would tell myself I am worth more than double what I am paying myself right now and stop letting people making 6 figures + tell me my rates are too high.
If you’re reading this, especially a young woman reading this, you need to value yourself first and tell the world what you’re worth.
Savannah, 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?
Hailo™ provides a recurring helping hand to tackle your weekly to-do list in the home, including: chores, errands, childcare, animal care. We are the only relationship-based service in the Southeast with a mission to relieve the everyday stress in your home.
I started this company after noticing a growing problem: Dual-income households were rising which meant wives and mothers were taking pride in their careers and the helping hand was no longer in the home. After a convo with one of my clients in college (shoutout to Amber) I decided to do some research to see if there was anything on the market to solve this issue. After much searching and no finding in 2015, I decided to create a solution for these households.
I am most proud of the texts I receive from clients like, “I came home and saw how clean it was and decided to go for a run. Thank you so much for this life-changing service” to, “Y’all are saving our marriage!”
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
This is for all the businesses who don’t get clients off social media. We have been in business over 9 years, and we have 500 followers. Majority of those are current clients and Angels, former clients and Angels, or businesses we partner with.
People keep telling me to focus on social media, but I don’t want to spend money where I’m not making money. We have done campaigns and such, but I strongly believe our clients are not those scrolling on social media. They barely have time as it is. The little free time they get, they’re spending it doing a workout or hanging with their daughter.
My advice is don’t put too much effort into it if that’s not where your clients are until you have an extra cushion to do so. Plain and simple.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Most of our clients have been referred through word of mouth. We wear this as a badge of honor! I started this company with 12 clients on my own, working Monday-Sunday while I was getting my degree at Georgia State University.
It was a bit tricky passing on those 12 clients to other Angels as my team grew, but once I established a small team, referrals rolled in organically and remain our main source of growth.
My most effective strategy is caring for my team of Angels so they can continue to care for our clients. We have weekly management meetings, monthly full team meetings, and I send out a monthly email of info to clients and Angels with updates and new offers for our community. If my Angels love their job, it reflects in the households they are supporting and everyone is happy!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hailohouse.com
- Instagram: @hailohouse
- Facebook: https://www.fb.com/hailohouse
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hailohouse
Image Credits
Bonnie J Heath Photography
Angie + Co