Kelley Higney is the founder and CEO of Bug Bite Thing, a product that uses suction to remove the insect saliva/venom from under the skin and is chemical-free, reusable and suitable for all ages. It is also Amazon’s #1 selling product for insect bite relief with over 30,000 positive reviews.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
- Kelley’s Mother
- Lori Greiner
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the financial aspect of it when I made that first leap that first initial purchase. We needed a little chunk of money to be able to do that. So that is what we did when we sold our house and to make sure that we had a cushion in the bank. Another challenge that we had to overcome was we were renting a house so when Bug Bite Thing took off… we had to figure out what we were doing. We had packing stations set up in our kitchen so we actually moved from that to we purchased a house with a bigger garage thinking that we will be able to keep up with this out of our garage. And it just kept growing”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business Book by Gino WickmanFavourite Quote:
“be on top of your business not in your business”
Recommended Online Resources:
- Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace with over 100,000 courses and 24 million students. Learn programming, marketing, data science and more
- Amazon Seller University – Learn How to Sell on Amazon. An educational series to help you overcome the most common selling challenges
- Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“don’t be afraid to reach out for help. When you are first getting started there is a lot of resources within your own community. There is funding, there’s networking groups. Don’t take everyone’s word for verbatim. There is always ways to do what somebody says a different way. So, if somebody tells you to go down one path just be mindful that that might not be the only path but listen to them. And don’t be afraid to be a risk taker but don’t do it in a not smart way”…[Listen for More]
More About Kelley Higney:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end.” Unknown
Other Quotes From the Chat with Kelley Higney:
- “we figure out creative ways to make every situation a win-win win. And that has really gotten as far in our company and in my personal life”
- “don’t be afraid to use your own communities’ resources. There are a lot of them between your chamber members, there’s networking events. I encourage people to look it up, there is more people out there that are trying to do what you are doing than you think”
- “I rely on my gut feeling a lot… If I get any type of gut feeling at all that’s my first inclination to weigh out the pros and cons. So, if it doesn’t feel right 100 percent and if there is any inclination that it doesn’t sit right, I always mandate myself to make a list. And usually, nine out of 10 times I find a reason why you don’t move forward with that opportunity or you need to pivot or whatever the scenario is”
- “be a good listener… If you have a consumer-based product or service listen to your customer. Just listen to them, they will tell you everything you are doing right and everything you are doing wrong. They will tell you if you need to pivot, they will tell your next product, they will tell you where their demand is and how you can fill that demand if you just listen to them”
- “one of the things that I got hung up on in the beginning and a lot of entrepreneurs do is they get in the cycle of being doers. And although you have to be a doer at all points of time in your business you have to have the mindset of you need to be able to have a team. Your goal should be to have a team to build so you can have a clear perspective on how to grow your company and not be so tied up with the day-to-day”
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