Today we’d like to introduce you to Harlow Russell
Hi Harlow, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started company after my own personal negative customer service experience with my insurance agency. As a high value customer, I felt unappreciated! Why? Because they sent me a cheap non-personal thank you card for my “VIP” business. Having lived in Vietnam for many years, I said to myself, “Wow. If they only had sent me an awesome Vietnamese Kirigami card that pop-ups when you open it, I would be. (… and the words came to me….) I would be Delighted, Impressed, and Surprised!” That was my “A-HA” moment.
I was planning a return trip to Vietnam anyway, so I decided to learn about the Kirigami (3D pop-up card) business. I also created the first two Awesome 3D cards to introduce local businesspeople and show off how detailed Kirigami cards can be. My first two 3D models? Of course! it was the Texas State Capitol building and the famous Ann Richards Congress Ave. “Bat Bridge”! The response was incredibly positive, so I proceeded to build the business, one client at a time, for custom B2B 3D pop-up cards for companies and organizations. Our mission is to always deliver those three words: Our awesome 3D Pop-up cards delight, impress, and surprise our customers.
Over six years in business, Awesome 3D cards have developed tremendous goodwill with customers all over the world. The response to holding an awesome 3D card has always been amazement, fascination, and great interest from the Austin business community. So many people have seen an Awesome 3D card now and positively describe the product. We have more than 400 business to business clients ranging from large software companies to small franchises to individual entrepreneurs. We also just launched a consumer B2C Ready-2 Go line of 3D pop-up cards on Amazon and Etsy.
This is a unique product that puts a smile on every person’s face! Every single person who opens an Awesome 3D card receives a positive emotional connection to the 3D pop-up surprise. That is an integral part of the goodwill that comes from our product. It is rare to create a product that delights impresses and surprises ALL people including men and women, baby boomers and Gen Z’s, and CEO’s and housewives.
This is why it is a joy and a pleasure to provide a little fun and laugher as well as a great marketing tool to every businessperson who receives an Awesome 3D Card!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
By no means has it been a smooth road! Here’s a more recent example of some real hard learnings as the owner of a still young business.
o In early 2023, while seeing some encouraging growth signs, it was not enough to scale. So, I continued to invest my own money and borrow money with high interest rates to pay for more third-party services. All this additional investment was to quickly (i.e., 3—90 days) grow marketing leading and convert into paid orders. I invested heavily in trade shows for a particular industry segment, i.e., the promotional products industry. I invested heavily in digital marketing programs to generate qualified leads.
o Without doing the math or proceeding with caution, I overextended myself. I thought I should and would keep spending because I was told and believed these marketing efforts would take off quickly and at least pay for themselves. (i.e., “ROI of 1”). I spend/borrowed about $125,000 in the first nine months of calendar year 2023 before I “shut off the faucet”.
o I did not focus on standard and “old school” conservative financial strategy and execution. I “went for it” feeling I was a smart person with an excellent product so I would “prevail!”
1. By September 2023, I was a mental mess and a financial dumpster fire. I was borrowing more to pay off previous borrowed funds. Meantime the marketing schemes executed were producing literally zero results.
1. I shared all this in a local Business group meeting, Vistage. My business peers asked me for the basic financial numbers to consider my dilemma. After that, the group unanimously instructed me to stop EVERYTHING! Stop spending. Stop all the services. Stop the subscriptions. Stop the Expensive Trade shows. Consolidate. Pull back. Be satisfied with small for the time being. It was a real “come to religion” type interaction. I left that meeting overwhelmed as well as quite angry at myself for being so “ignorant.”
Fast forward 6-7 months later. ….
Because I followed this basic conservative advice, cutting ALL unnecessary spending and relying on essentially just my website to draw in prospects and my own sale skills to close business:
• Had first profitable quarter in company history Q4 2023
• Had first profitable 3 months in a row in company history
• Felt much better about myself and others.
• Learned to be satisfied with slow or no growth through this period to get my personal and business finances in order.
• Continued to add new clients, albeit at a slow and steady 5-6 new customers/month. My dream is still adding 20-25 new customers /month.
• Carried financial conservatism into 2024.
• Have achieved four out of 5 months profitable so far in 2024.
• Very carefully starting to add just a few useful third-party services back on with much careful review and constant measurement of success.
• Am far more careful, less easily trusting and more demanding of new third parties to provide clear documentable metrics of success before agreeing to any new services.
• Spending time and effort to look for successful financial and /or marketing partners to collaborate with me in a partnership or M&A process to have more professional and expert people help grow the business far better than I can by myself. I have truly learned what I am good at now and what I am not good at that always need to be considered to grow my business!
I never want to put myself under the kind of financial and mental stress I created. I’ve learned a lot, again, at age 62, about setting expectations realistically for myself and those I work with.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Our greatest asset is the ability to truly customize this art form for the business organization needs and produce a product that is an instant “WOW” and will delight, impress, and surprise the recipient and his/her friends, family and colleagues for many week or event months after the card is received.
Our product is not thrown away.
Our product we can uniquely say has a nearly 100% open rate!
What we create has never been seen before and is unique to each client.
In the current world of 10 second or less soundbites, we create a product that holds attention for minutes, hours, days, weeks and longer. That is incredibly valuable for our clients.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Sure!
I am more “old school” that enjoys and “absorbs” and learns from direct human interaction than staring more hours at a computer screen or a phone. So, one of the best, most effective resources for me as a small business owner is being a member of my local Vistage Group. Vistage is a global business organization that has been supporting businesspeople for 65 years now.
My local Vistage peer group is made of business people just like me, mostly owners of small business product and service companies. We support each other with half-day and full day sessions to share knowledge and opinion and support each other with our unique business challenges. The learning process happens in a very structured way that no other “networking” groups” cannot. It has proven invaluable to me and my business.
I also have an amazing SCORE Business advisor who has made a significant positive impact on my business this year. SCORE is a national volunteer business organization.
Pricing:
- Custom 3D pop-up cards wholesale from $3 to $8/piece. Minimum quantity for custom cards is 150 pieces. deposit to Delivery in 30-60 days.
- Consumer Ready-2-Go 3D pop-up cards from $4 to $8/card. Minimum quantity 20 pieces.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.awesome3dcards.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awesome3dpopupcards/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Awesome3DCards
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Awesome3DCards
- Other: https://amzn.to/47XpGF3
Image Credits
credit: Harlow Russell
