8 minute read
Failed Crops Leads To Business Oppurtunity
from Success Champions
Featured Champions
http://3hfarmstx.com/
Photo Taken by Elizabeth Boivin
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What is your story?
Cassie already lived out in the country and it didn’t take me long to follow suit. Actually; I believe within two months we were living together in Azle, Tx. As soon as I got back to life in a rural area, I felt at peace again. I knew right away that this was the beginning of something more amazing than I had ever imagined.
After working hard, we purchased our first home in 2013. At the time, we had 2 boys and life was getting busy, to say the least. We had our third baby boy shortly after. Our little family was finally complete. During this time, Cassie and I fell in love with gardening and started growing a wide variety of veggies and greens. We even started our own flock of chickens the year we bought our home.
The passion for farming grew larger as we continued to live our country life. Before we knew it, we were looking to get into some property. We longed for the opportunity to have an actual farm and to work our land. Our first home finally sold and we purchased our dream property where we started a goat farm. Cassie and I knew instantly that we would name it after our boys; 3HFarmstx. The 3H stood for Hunter, Henry, and Harrison; we also wanted to specify that we were in the great state of Texas.
It didn’t take long before we realized that farming and agriculture is HARD WORK! We worked endless hours, 7 days a week, rain or shine to maintain our goat farm. I was still at my regular job, which was taking most of my time, and caring for our boys, which took most of Cassie’s time.
We were motivated to have a fullfledged farm, but failed at growing our food in the ground. The animals and bugs killed our vegetables and my wife and I started learning about Aquaponics. We built a system to grow our food, however, a big green house costs a lot of money.
We had goat’s milk running out of our ears but no license to sell it. Cassie and I tried a goat’s milk soap bar from a Farmer’s market once to help with the boys and her sensitive skin and eczema. It really helped soothed their irritated skin and she decided to learn how to make her own. After talking with her parents about her idea, Cassie found out that her great grandmother made soap in her own bathtub at home! Her Dad remembered some of the ingredients and said it was the best soap he had ever used.
Cassie rushed to the library and got every soap making book they had. She watched hundreds of YouTube videos and started making her own goat’s milk soap. The first batch was lavender and oat, which smelled amazing, and when it finally cured, we got to try it. She tried it out first and loved it. I couldn’t believe that she made soap on her first try. She really did her homework and I was proud beyond belief. I insisted that she buy more ingredients to make more batches using different essential oils.
She decided to give them out at Christmas time and sell a couple to friends. We also decided to make and sell body butters along with our soaps.
We had lots of positive feedback from our friends and family who had received our soaps and people started requesting her to make all different kinds. She would bring them to the school and the feed store and ask if people wanted to buy them or give out small samples for people to try.
Through word of mouth a lady sent her a message on social media and asked to put her soaps in her shop on Main Street. Cassie was over the moon excited; we knew then we were on to something. Everyone that purchased the soaps came back for more and were telling their friends and loved ones about us.
At our first farmers market we spoke to a lot of people who had sensitive, irritated, and itchy skin, just like my wife and our boys. When we heard their feedback about how we were able to help them, we were thrilled.
That day was proof that our soaps were genuinely loved, and that most people just wanted a good quality soap with all-natural ingredients (most soaps have synthetic ingredients). To our amazement, we sold out that day!
Cassie and I both realized we needed to get in a business mindset. We have an opportunity to help people with sensitive skin and eczema. We wanted to make products with simple ingredients, just like they used to be, before big corporations stepped in and made them cheap and fast.
We are still learning and growing, and even found an incredible group of people headed by Donnie Boivin. This completely changed the game in every way imaginable. He has given us solid advice on how to grow our business and the whole group has been helpful. We have met a lot of terrific people in the group the we now call friends. I resigned from my stressful corporate job and now work full time on the farm and soap business with my wife.
The Success Champions group has helped me stay focused and keep my mindset positive. I know we are going to be successful because my wife, Cassie and I work hard and we have three boys who depend us every day.
Now, we are just about to launch our monthly soap subscription, have built our soap studio to house the growing inventory of soaps, have started building custom aquaponics systems, and even offer fabrication services around our community. The mindset we have now has enabled us to move closer to our goals and have created a clear path for us to follow.
One day this business and our farm will be the legacy we leave behind for our children and grandchildren. We are confident that 3HFarms will be serving communities world-wide for many years to come. Cassie and I look forward to what our future brings us every single day of our amazing life together. Not only have we built an awesome company, but we have built a wonderful life that we both love living.
We want to thank everyone that has helped us along the way, especially the Success Champions group and especially Donnie and Elizabeth Boivin.
How did you become a Badass? Don’t be Humble Unleash!!!
Our parents showed us every single day that hard work and determination would get us to the level of success that we desired. We both really took that to heart, so Cassie and I have a work ethic that is second to none.
What has been your greatest failure?
My greatest failure was not reaching the level of success that I strive for before my father passed. I really wanted to show him that I could do it and that he raised a man that was capable of great things. Cassie’s greatest failure is feeling as though she wasted a portion of her early adult age on not reaching for the goals that should have been set.
What are your likes and dislikes around common things? Such as music, whether pineapple belongs on your pizza, etc.
Likes: Fishing, camping, taking care of our farm animals, trying new restaurants, having adventures with our boys, traveling, going to the beach, country music, rock, classic rock, some rap, tacos, any type of pizza that does not have anchovies, monster energy drinks, being a smartass. Dislikes: Liver, conformity, negativity, not sleeping, sour cream, sour kraut, anything pickled, pickles, patchouli, poison ivy, smashed bread, our pond not having water, driving in inclement weather, not being a billionaire, not catching fish, anchovies/ sardines.
What motivates you to keep moving forward when you face an obstacle?
Our children
What do you do for fun?
Fish, Camp, visit the ocean.
What do you do and how can you potentially help another person in the group?
We make homemade goats milk soap and also offer a variety of handyman services, farm services, and fabrication services. We also build custom aquaponics systems. We could help others in the group by offering any of these services. Our soaps really help a lot of people with skin issues, such as, eczema, psoriasis, dry and itchy skin, itchy skin from bug bites, poison ivy and sumac, and skin needing exfoliation.
How and why did you start your business?
We started our business because we made soaps to help ourselves and children with our skin issues. Once we realized how many people loved our soaps, it was obvious that we needed to start our business.
What obstacles have you had to overcome?
We have overcome many obstacles, from not having money to provide materials, having to spend the majority of my days in the corporate world just to make ends meet while developing our business, having to learn what it takes to operate a business, and all while taking care of three young boys, our farm, and our property.
What would you do differently when it comes to how you have moved forward with your business?
What we would have done differently is managed our time a little better in order to focus on the tasks that moved our business forward the most. Also, not spending energy and resources on the things that ended up not making a difference in our business. Our plan for success is to launch our monthly soap subscription, getting into as many retail shops and boutiques as possible, and selling our soaps at every Farmer’s Market and Vendor Meet available. Eventually, we will reach enough people who love our soaps for us to start selling in large retail stores. We want to be able to have our product on shelves at Walmart, HEB, Tractor Supply, Walgreens, CVS, etc. We strive to become a household name and a product most people are familiar with.
What is your favorite money growth tip?
Put all money made from the business back into the business.
What is your true WHY for starting your endeavor? What are you going to do when the shit hits the fan?
The true WHY is to help others the way we have helped ourselves. We also want to have financial freedom.
When shit hits the fan, we’ll try something different. Everyone screws up, you just have to learn from it and not repeat the same mistake.
What is your 10-year vision for your business and life?
In 10 years we want to have started an actual legacy that we can leave behind for our children, if they want it. We want to be able to do the things we enjoy and also be able to afford to send all 3 of our kids to college. In 10 years we should have been able to hire people to do the mundane tasks while we are able to step back and take a breath. In 10 years we want a full-scale warehouse facility where we make and ship soaps and we want this to be on our property so that we can hire locally in our own community.
Visit their website at http://3hfarmstx.com/
