Carley Zuercher is an entrepreneur, certified coach, and host of the Tipsy Business podcast. After years of growing a wedding invitation company with her mom, she was exhausted. She hustled day after day for every single penny. She was certain there had to be a way to work less and make more money. Finally, she figured it out–and it worked. Now she helps creative entrepreneurs grow their Etsy shops, monetize Pinterest, and hit their milestones.
Carley comes from a family of entrepreneurs and started her first of many businesses in her closet during elementary school. She went on to get her business degree in Entrepreneurship from Wichita State University. She has since also gotten Certified as a Magnetic Coach ®, certified in Life and Success Coaching, Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Emotional freedom technique (EFT), TIME Techniques™, and Clinical Hypnosis.
She believes that owning a business can be fun and easy, and helps others find ease and enjoyment in their own businesses. Too many creative entrepreneurs and Etsy shop owners become paralyzed by the things they think they “should” be doing. By helping them create a profitable business that feels great without adding unnecessary things to their plate, her clients thrive.
Hi Carley, we’d love to learn more about you. Can you tell us what you do?
I own a wedding invitation business with my mom called CZ Invitations. We make high-quality handmade wedding invitations and ship them worldwide. I also own a business with my husband called Twocan. We help people grow their Etsy shops and businesses with ebooks, courses, and coaching. Lastly, I own a business with my Instagram friend turned best friend Laney Schenk of Design By Laney. We help stationers and creative business owners with ebooks, courses, and online support.
How did you come about creating your brand?
With so many weddings on hold due to COVID-19, I’ve been evaluating our business to make it more streamlined. This way I can help support other businesses via coaching, group coaching, and live courses.
As my businesses continue to grow, one thing became apparent: I don’t want to work more with each company. I want to scale my businesses and work less while still making more money. So many other entrepreneurs want the same thing. Now that I’m a few steps ahead, I help them do just that.
I’m a recovering perfectionist and over-planner, and once I let go of some of the control, amazing things started to happen. I stopped planning way in advance, and instead, I focus on what feels good in shorter sprints.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s to be flexible. Taking it a day, week, or month at a time instead of quarterly and yearly has allowed me to build a fun, easy, and flowing business. As the boss, I get to do whatever I want. Having an easy, fun way to make money is the dream. I love helping other people find this place in their business, even if it’s planning the year out for them. No two businesses or people are the same, and I am trying to stop the copy and paste business tactics to give people the freedom to do what they want, not what they “should” do.
How does your brand work?
Since I own three businesses, there are multiple “brands” that I manage. I think my personal brand and the purpose of the Tipsy Business podcast is to show up imperfectly and remind people that they actually already have everything they need to succeed.
On the podcast, we have a drink and talk about business. We cuss and laugh, and it’s not professional. My audience really appreciates that I show up like me, with wine, and chat like friends. I’m not professional, I’m not proper, and that’s exactly why my coaching clients choose me as a coach. What I once thought was a disadvantage, I now know, is a superpower.
In all my businesses, Pinterest has played a considerable part, and that’s why I teach other people how to use it. My businesses have been successful at capturing and monetizing cold audiences using Pinterest. It’s my favorite way to market because it is completely automated. I can work on the parts of the businesses that I love, and still, Pinterest brings in half of my revenue for my Invitation business, which so far has been $50,000+ a year.
My businesses and brands are all about making things easier. Even for invitations, I want the process to be as easy and seamless as possible. I’ve figured out tons of ways to do this, from mindset to beliefs, to practical actions in your day-to-day.
Is there a great tip you can offer to our readers?
Your business really does get to be fun and easy. Hard days, weeks, or months don’t have to define your entire entrepreneurial experience, but often we let it. I firmly believe that less is more, even in business. You actually don’t need to do 100 things to be successful. I started Twocan with nothing but one ebook, and it evolved from there. Even still, two years later, I have only two ebooks and two courses (one of each on Etsy and the other on Pinterest).
We think business is hard because it’s what we see, hear, and even experienced in the past. But our future doesn’t have to be dictated by our past. Every day we get to decide what we’re going to do, how, when, and why.
As soon as something doesn’t feel good, I do 1 of two things…
#1 I reframe it. Instead of something that I have to do, it’s something that I get to do. A lot of times, I get caught up in the things that I “have” to do when in reality, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. I think many people can relate to this, “I have to send this email so people about this offer.” In reality, that’s made that up. We don’t HAVE to. We get to.
#2 if I’m really not feeling it, I don’t do it. I no longer force things in my business that quite frankly don’t matter. That email will most likely be better written and more well-received tomorrow than if I forced it today. I give myself permission to stop doing things that I don’t want to, and I invite you to do the same. It’s freeing and incredibly productive to trust yourself enough to know you’ll always do what is right when it’s right, instead of forcing yourself to do things based on fake rules we made up.
What are some of the challenges you went through when building your business, or in your day-to-day?
Owning a business can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be. This idea is something that I have always struggled with. I found myself doing unnecessary steps because I thought I needed to or because I didn’t know there was an easier way.
I think an ongoing challenge is balancing our work-life balance. I recommend having business hours to avoid burnout, but I also believe in taking inspired action. Sometimes I stay up until 1 is and work because it feels right at the time. Other days I don’t work at all.
I think it’s a fine line to know when the late-night work is obsessing or overworking. Most of the time, I think it’s the former. A lot of entrepreneurs that are just starting out believe the lie that “The more I work, the more I will make.”
Sometimes that can be true, but honestly, a lot of the time, it’s not valid. When I started selling invitations, I answered every Etsy message as soon as I got it. All this did was tell potential clients that I would answer right away and that I work seven days a week. This led to me working more than I needed to and set expectations that I didn’t want to (or couldn’t always) uphold.
I like to have set hours where I work IN the business, and then allow myself to freely create and flow working ON the business. For me, working IN the business is the client’s work, emailing, projects, where working ON the business is dreaming up new ideas or planning the big net thing. Even still, this is something I struggle with; I feel like I am constantly working because I absolutely love what I do. It can be difficult for me to “turn it off” sometimes.
How do you manage your business finances? How did you fund them?
All my businesses have been cash-based. When I started invitations, we started with just a couple hundred bucks. We ordered some samples and put products online, but everything we do is paid for before we order or deliver.
I require 50% to be paid before I order their paper, and that means never having to spend out of pocket. As we’ve grown, I do order things in bulk to get pricing discounts, but we’re still always running on a JIT system, which allows for zero debt and more flexibility. We do have a credit card which we pay off every month and use it to get points which allow us to travel for free often.
For Twocan, there are actually very few expenses. Again, it started with a couple of hundred bucks to get things off the ground.
If you can start your business debt-free, I always recommend it. Starting with debt isn’t necessarily bad, but it can put pressure on you and your business. Many people think starting a business is expensive, and yet after paying for the LLC (in Kansas about $250), we only put in a couple hundred to start.
What’s your future vision for your brand? What’s your next level dream?
I want to be a millionaire. Aside from the money, I know that when I reach 7+ figures in my businesses, it will be because I was able to help so many businesses reach their dreams and potential, and THAT is really the dream. Owning three businesses before I’m 30 made me realize I do have a passion for starting and growing businesses, which is why I help other people do just that.
In the near future, more courses are coming, and my husband and I have been working on an app to help Etsy shop owners and product-based businesses streamline their businesses.
What message would you give entrepreneurs and creatives who dream of making a living this way?
Take the leap. You don’t have to up and quit your full-time job to start a business–you can create a side hustle, get your footing, and see if it’s going to be a good fit for you and your lifestyle.
I recommend treating it as a business from day one, not a hobby that you’re trying to make a quick buck off of. I work with a lot of Etsy shop owners, many of which aren’t treating it as a business or pricing products as if it were an important source of revenue, and therefore not making money.
Just starting out doesn’t mean that you have to undercut yourself or operate at a loss before you make money. Price for profit, make policies and treat your business like you’re the CEO, not like it’s a hobby in your basement, even if it is.
Follow Carley Zuercher on Instagram
Company name:
Twocan, LLC: www.twocanco.com
CZ Invitations, LLC: www.czinvitations.com
Carlane, LLC: www.theclientbundle.com
