Innovation born from necessity and an aha moment with Sophie Leahy
For this episode, Yvonne is joined by Sophie Leahy, the co-founder of The Wine Opener. She is part of a mother and daughter team who saw their frustration with dealing with traditional corkscrews as an opportunity. They created an affordable device that makes opening a bottle of wine a seamless experience for anyone, including people with weak hands or disabilities. She and Yvonne discuss the ins and outs of turning an idea into a product, including brand creation, getting prototypes made, pricing, buying stock, launching, popups and marketing. Sophie is not a typical manifester, but without deliberately setting out to do so, she used many of the most effective manifestation techniques while building her company. She explains how she decides which risks she should be taking, which goals she should be pursuing. KEY TAKEAWAYS Everybody´s life is different. Not everyone can quit their job to focus on building their own business, so for some progress is slower. If you have an idea that won´t go away, go for it, calculate it, write down the pros and cons. Ask what´s the worst that can happen? Can I get through the worst? If the answer is yes, then go for it. Keeping your vibe high matters. Sophie shares several practical ways to do this. You can´t do everything, hire someone to cover tasks you are not good at or time-consuming jobs as soon as possible. You will make mistakes, learn from them, but don´t beat yourself up. Once you have a customer base it becomes easier to create and sell related or new products to them. Don´t underestimate the impact the various taxes have, factor them all in. If you are creating an item that makes a good gift, consider targeting the gift giver with your marketing rather than only focusing on the end user. If you have a product to sell, consider using popups. Nothing beats letting potential customers touch and use the product. Then, they really get what´s so unique about it. BEST MOMENTS “It does take courage.” “Everyone faces challenges, but it’s not the same jump for everyone.” “For the first year or two you have to plough all of your profit back into your business.” “The success of that pop-up is the reason we are here today.” “Somebody you hire to stand at your stall is not going to have the same love or passion for it that you have.” “Cashflow can make or kill your business.” “We want Mother’s Day to be our Black Friday.” “You need the grandmother test – if a grandmother picks it up, will she know what it is?” “That is a manifestation that I've put out there.” “If you asked me if I would go back, no I wouldn’t. I've never been so excited, so energetic, so motivated.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.thewineopener.com VALUABLE RESOURCES website: pausepenny.com Instagram: @yvonnetchrakian_manifest @pause.penny LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonne-tchrakian-64257619/ HOST BIO Yvonne started her career as a corporate lawyer for one of Ireland's top law firms. After the loss of a baby during pregnancy, Yvonne founded Pause. Penny - which was created to inspire people to manifest their dream lives. She is also a mom of four. Yvonne is a serial manifester, manifesting everything from her dream jobs (yes, multiple), her soulmate, dream house and even her twins!
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