Starting a Business from Scratch Taught Me These 5 Important Lessons

By Candice Bernardoni

They lie! "They" being whoever tells you it is easy, that you can go from zero to hero in six months!

Let me introduce myself. I am Candice Bernardoni, a bespoke shoe designer based on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. As a former wealth coach, I have helped hundreds of clients reach their personal and financial goals, and today I create glamorous and comfortable designer shoes for women. My unrivaled passion and enthusiasm for the creation of my business not only captures my clients’ attention, but encourages them to “own the room” in all aspects of life.

The reality of starting a business from scratch looks a bit like this...

First comes the idea

In January 2014, we were just like any other working family. My husband was working full time, I was juggling children and trying to contribute to the household as best as I could financially. We could have stayed that way, in blissful ignorance, but "Miss Queen of Quality" discovered there was a gap in the market that needed to be filled.

My husband is Italian, so as a family we would travel to Italy every year, the style hub of the world. On one trip I was pregnant, and seeing as I could not drink or eat any meat or cheese (my favorites), my "push present" (giving birth) became shoes. Nice shoes, really nice shoes, many pairs of shoes.

Six pairs of knee-high boots later, a seed was planted. Having my knee-high boot quota fulfilled (I live in a hot climate so there are only limited times they can be worn), the next year I decided to look for gorgeous pumps. I scoured the entire length of Italy and could not find what I was looking for that wasn’t going to cost me $1600 Euro.

I returned to Australia and life went on. One day my sister was visiting and was wearing a pair of shoes that I thought were particularly cute. Her reply was OMG they are awful, they are uncomfortable, they stink, they were only $20. Maybe so, but they looked pretty cute.

I looked at her and asked, “Why can’t we have stunning, beautiful, comfortable, and exciting shoes that don’t cost $1600 Euro?” And then an idea started taking seed in my head.

The truth about starting a business from scratch

You know that feeling when you wake up, sit bolt upright, and have an idea so awesome that you just have to do it? I mean, how hard can starting a business be? Let me tell you how hard it can be.

What comes first? Suppliers, designs, fabrics, shipping, where to manufacture? And this is just the start. However, I firmly believe that once you make the commitment to commence a project, doors start to open, and in my case, I was guided to the people that would help me realize my dream.

I would like to share with you, five tried-and-true lessons I have learned (the hard way!).

Valuable business lessons I learned when starting a business

Business lesson #1: Act, don’t speak

What I learned very early on in the process of starting my business is to “act, don’t speak.” Not everyone has the same passion and enthusiasm for your idea, and can unwittingly project their fear of failure onto you.

In other words, start the process before you tell anyone, unless you are seeking advice from a mentor or someone who has a successful business from whom you can gain valuable tips. Don’t be afraid to ask how someone got where they did. (People love to talk about themselves, right?)

Business lesson #2: The importance of finding a manufacturer that matches your non-negotiables, and walking away if the deal isn’t right

The first step I needed to do was to find a manufacturer to produce the shoes of my dreams, so I booked a flight to China to attend Canton Fair, one of the world’s largest trade fairs. (I found it by simply Googling “trade fairs in China.”)

There I interviewed potential manufacturers and visited their showrooms. I found what I thought was my perfect supplier, and within six months after committing to my dream, I had designed, produced, shipped, and launched my very first collection. I was happy with the results.

It was now time to design my first winter collection. Due to limited capital, I only had a certain number of shoes I could produce, and because it did not meet the minimum order quantity required by the factory, my order was outsourced to another factory.

As I had decided to quality control my order, I flew to China and was driven to a new factory, four-and-a-half hours away from the original factory that I had made my agreement with. I knew something was terribly wrong when I walked into a rat-infested room where the shoes were lined up. I checked each shoe, and nine out of 10 did not pass my stringent quality control check—the padding was missing, the leather had overheated and stretched, and the patent and detailing was missing.

I had a choice. Do I accept the shipment and launch a product that did not meet my standards, but wouldn’t take me to financial ruin? Or do I walk away, burn my deposit, all my marketing, and a $30,000 investment?

It was there that I decided to part ways with this factory and $30,000 of substandard product. I think I cried $30,000 worth of tears that day, but I knew it was the right thing to do.

I now had no shoes, less capital (including debt I am still paying off), and a body still dehydrated from tears seven years later, but I chose the latter. Integrity, quality control, and branding were so important to me, and I was determined that my label was not going to be just another here today, gone tomorrow label. I began the process of finding a new factory.

The lesson I learned from this experience was in future negotiations I should have a list of non-negotiables, which include quality, what I am prepared to pay to retain this quality, and making sure that the manufacturer will produce whatever quantity I require. If I'd had this list, the first factory I had accepted would not have outsourced the shoes and my stringent quality control would have been maintained.

I am happy to report that I now have a fantastic factory that I have been working with for several years, and one of the many reasons our customers come back to us is due to our quality.

Business lesson #3: Hire a social media company that believes in your product

After finding a compatible manufacturer, I had a garage full of shoes valued at $4,500. My next step was figuring out how on earth to sell those shoes. In the first month, I had only sold six pairs, and five of those were to family and friends!

Now the real work began with marketing my small business. Coming from a sales background, I excelled in selling face-to-face, but now I had to figure out how to sell to people I had never met. The company I had previously worked for had its own marketing department, and I'd never had a need to be involved with it.

I honestly had absolutely no idea what to do next, so I hired a part-timer with a background in graphic design and marketing. But that wasn't cutting it. So then I hired a social media marketing company which was referred to me by a business network I was a part of. (Lesson: Listen to those who have successful businesses, those who have done the work, and are seeing results.)

I made sure that the social media company had clear guidelines as to how I wanted my business portrayed and what my customer “avatar” was. Most importantly, I made sure the company had a passion for my business. If they believed in what I was doing, it would show in the content they created for my brand—customers can feel this.

For the first three years, the results were good—we were starting to sell shoes. And I was happy that I was not having to do everything myself.

More articles from AllBusiness.com:

• Why Working Moms Make Great Entrepreneurs
• Communicating with the People on the Factory Floor
• Gain the Competitive Edge by Manufacturing in China
• The Customer is Always Right
• Marketing to Women: It’s Time for Businesses to Finally Get It Right

Business lesson #4: When you build a website, you do not need to reinvent the wheel

I knew I also needed a website, so through the same business network, I hired a website designer to build a custom-made site. It cost me $50,000, plus $5,000 per month to maintain. Twelve months later, the website was not producing the results I required, and I made the decision to start again. This time, I decided to work with a website platform that was already built and adapt it to suit the needs of my business.

For anyone who is starting out, you do not need a custom-built website. You do not need to pay huge amounts of money for someone else to reinvent the wheel. Look at companies like Shopify and BigCommerce which offer website templates you can customize—and save a lot of time, energy, and dollars. That's what I did, and the results have been outstanding.

As your business grows, you can update your website so that the needs of your company are met.

Business lesson #5: Get out of your own way and learn new skills as you know your business best

In fairness, for the first three years the social media company was onboard, results were good. However, our figures slowly started to deteriorate, and the level of service fell off the cliff. I felt that the company had become complacent, and then Covid hit. Head in hands, I thought that this was a disaster in the making—but maybe not!

On March 23, 2020, my sales dropped by 96%. I was in strife. I was in such financial hardship; I had no choice but to cancel and not renew the contract with the social media company. And what felt like an absolute tragedy at the time was perhaps the biggest blessing to my business.

I knew I had to become tech savvy and learn about back-end algorithms, Adwords, and client demographics. And I did this (through gritted teeth as I just wanted to design shoes!). But once I mastered it, I knew I was targeting the right market because I knew my customers better than anyone else—and our social media marketing results went through the roof.

For the first time in six years, I was making money. I started to take a salary. I was on my way and was so very excited!

Lessons you learn pay off when starting a business from scratch

I don’t regret any of these experiences. At the time, I did not think this, but the greatest thing about going through these trials, were the lessons. Instead of my mistakes costing me money, learning from my mistakes have saved me a fortune, as I will never make them again.

I learned that I could do a lot more than I thought I could. Never underestimate your skills and determination when you have passion behind your brand.

I also learned that what may work for a period of time may not always work. Be adaptable, and don’t be afraid to change something if it isn’t working. Listen to your gut as it never lies.

When you are at the point of leveling up in your business, you will need to hire staff to help you, but that's another topic for another day.

Enjoy the journey of starting a business from scratch, take everything you can from a mistake, trust your dreams, and never quit!

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