Business Advice For Business Owners From A Business Owner | Tanya Prosser of Penguin’s Snoball

Answers From A Small Business Owner

1. What’s a project you are excited about right now?

We are excited this season to partner with other businesses and organizations in our area to promote local/community engagement. For instance, this past week we partnered with a community church to provide welcome back breakfasts for two community schools’ staff returning to on-site schooling. Our next partnership is with the same local church and a community technical school, hosting a 10,000 egg hunt for local children. (Yes you read that right… TEN THOUSAND EGGS!).

2. What’s a challenge you are currently working to solve and how are you attacking it?

We are a seasonal business, running in the warmer months (Spring, Summer, early Fall). We’ve been toying with the idea of introducing a food product and running all year. So we keep experimenting with different items, still in search of that magic recipe that will return customers throughout the full year. I’d love to hear any suggestions or ideas from anyone hearing or reading this!

3. If you were going to have your memory erased and could only remember the content from one book, what book would it be and why?

Probably Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”. I LOVE (quirky) POETRY!

4. If you could ask any business or marketing guru one question; who is that guru, what would you ask, and why?

I can’t think of one in particular. I have learned so many tips and tricks from the global level to the local level. I try to keep my eyes and ears open, to remain open-minded about how to successfully run our business. Our world (and customers) is continually evolving, so it’s important to never be complacent with our business strategies. Flexibility is key (as we’ve seen in this pandemic). I don’t ever want to lose an opportunity to serve a customer simply because I wasn’t willig to change/alter or update my business practices. We have to put on our sealegs and as my Retired Navy husband says “Adapt and Overcome!”

5. If you were asked to give a keynote speech to a group of business owners and had 10 minutes to prepare a 30-minute talk – what would you talk about and what’s the one thing you would want them to learn?

I would definitely speak about our responsibility to invest in our communities. Investing not only financially, but in time. I have found that the more I invest in my community, the more my community supports my business, and my business has thrived through the current pandemic because I took the time (pre-pandemic) to make sure my customers (existing and potential) know they are important to me, and that “Together, We Can!” I want them to learn to get involved!