Posted Under: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Today we are talking to Suzanne Meyer, next guest under the “Our Heroes” series. She moved to N. Carloina in 1994 and was welcomed by a Welcome Wagon hostess who referred her to doctors, dentists, and other local establishments that she needed.  After spending 27 years in media, sales and marketing, she also became a Welcome Wagon Representative. For over 3 years she had the pleasure of representing local businesses by handing out coupons and housewarming gifts to newcomers in the neighborhood until one fine morning she got a 90 day notice that her company was being sold and the new company didn’t have plans to continue the Welcome Wagon program.  Let’s talk to her and find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

SM: My name is Suzanne Meyer and I have 27 years experience in media, sales and marketing.  When I moved to North Carolina in 1994, the neighborhood Welcome Wagon hostess greeted me in my new home.  Her visit was extremely helpful getting me plugged into my new community.  She referred doctors, a dentist, veterinarian and local businesses that I desparately needed.  Immediately, I knew that I wanted to be a Welcome Wagon Representative too, so I contacted the Charlotte Welcome Wagon supervisor who interviewed and hired me on the spot!  Here I was, a newcomer myself, welcoming other newcomers to the area.  For 3 ½ years I had the pleasure of representing our civic, professional and business sponsors to brand new consumers with no shopping habits or buying loyalties.  By providing free coupons and housewarming gift offers shortly after move-in, I was able to influence their buying decisions while helping to establish a warm relationship between the consumer and our sponsors.

DD: What made you leave the job?  When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur and why?

SM: Welcome Wagon International, Inc. was founded in 1928 and owned by the Cendant Corporation. For 70 years, it was a profitable, debt-free company. So naturally I was shocked to receive my pink slip in October, 1998 with a 90-day notice until termination.  Cendant was selling the Welcome Wagon trademarked name, and the new company was discontinuing the personal welcome visit in lieu of direct mail. The personal welcome visit had always been very well received by the newcomers, and our advertising sponsors got tremendous results through my personal introductions and referrals.  Most of my former sponsors did not want to see this valuable marketing service come to an abrupt end, nor switch to direct mail, so they banded together and encouraged me to continue the face-to-face welcome visits. During my final 90 days with Welcome Wagon, I managed to meet my monthly sales goals while quietly launching my new company, The Welcome Committee, Inc. I knew I could be a successful entrepreneur because of my familiarity with the business and my combined business and marketing experiences. It was now or never, so I decided to go for it!

DD: How did you break the corporate jail?  How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

SM: Thank goodness I had three months notice to transition from Welcome Wagon to Welcome Committee.  Timing was critical in getting my business launched. I knew that as soon as Welcome Wagon ended, I had to start up immediately with Welcome Committee, or I could risk losing my former advertising sponsors to other media commitments.  During my final 90 days with Welcome Wagon, I wrote a business plan, met with a business attorney, filed my incorporation papers, business license, wrote contracts, advertising agreements, marketing materials, drafted business forms, printed business cards, made sales presentations to prospective sponsors, gathered their marketing materials for distribution in the welcome baskets and opened an operating account. To prepare for the transition, I had to be organized and not stray from my business plan.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

SM: Find your passion and do it. It won’t seem like work if you do what you enjoy.  Be sure to write a realistic business plan, then implement it.  There will be distractions along the way, stay disciplined and keep your business goals in sight (write them down and look at them daily).  Also, don’t focus so much on profits and revenues, that will eventually come if you concentrate on giving the best customer service possible.  Listen more than you talk, under promise and over deliver.

DD: How are you and how do you feel now?

SM: Going into business for myself was one of the best decisions I ever made.  I’ve owned the Welcome Committee for 12 years, and since then, have grown to ten employees serving four counties in the greater Charlotte metro region. As a busy wife and mother of three, I couldn’t have chosen a more fun, flexible career while earning a generous income. In 2006, I wrote a business guide, Home-Based Business: The Complete Guide to Owning and Operating a Successful Welcome Service Business to help others launch a similar start up while providing a valuable community service. It feels great to do what I love everyday and help others do the same!  My goal is to carry on the American tradition of the personal welcome visit, one household at a time!

DD: Suzanne Meyer, a true entrepreneur, saw an opportunity in the pink-slip, realized and made use of the opportunity standing at her doorstep. I second “listen more than you talk“, as an entrepreneur, passionate about our startup and head filled with ideas we sometimes get so pre-occupied with our own ideas and beliefs that we stop listening and in fact we start missing what’s obvious to everyone else. So, listen to people around you, specially your customers! Another great piece of advice was “under-promise but over-deliver“, this is a great recipe for WOWing the customer if you can manage to do so on an ongoing basis.

Success To All!