We recently connected with Mike Palmatier and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Mike with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My father without a doubt. My father was the general manager of a grocery store for decades and as far as I know he only missed one day of work in his career. It didn’t matter what needed to be done, he would do whatever was necessary to make sure his store and his employees were successful. That carried over to home life as well. Home improvements, car repairs or anything else that needed to be done, he was the guy.
I try to emulate that same work ethic in my own life. If a customer emails with a question or concern late at night or on a Sunday, I answer right away. There is no 9-5 in entrepreneurship. If you want to stand out from the competition, you have to have more than a better product. You also need to provide better service and demonstrate that there is a real benefit to making the choice to purchase from us.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I have had a successful corporate career in my past so I am no longer looking to conquer the world or become famous at this point in my life. My goal now is to create unique and flavorful products that the marketplace hasn’t seen. That’s no easy feat in a crowded space where new companies are popping up almost daily. The hot sauce industry right now is similar to the craft beer explosion.in the 90’s.
I derive the most joy these days by seeing our customers react to what we create. We put an enormous amount of effort into each and every recipe to not only make sure the flavor and heat are on point, but also to hit a void in the market. When we do trade shows, we watch the reaction of people trying our products for the first time. When their eyes open wide and a “wow” slips out of their mouth, that is the highest reward I could ask for in return for my efforts. Each and every order comes with my sincere appreciation. When someone spends their hard earned money on something I created, I take that very seriously.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
This is a great question.
1) Customer service – you may have the best product/service on the market but if your customer leaves the buying experience with a bad taste then they aren’t coming back. Go above and beyond to make sure they have a pleasant experience with your brand.
2) Set realistic goals as well as stretch goals. Where do you want the business to be in the next year? What would good look like? What would great look like? What are the steps you need to take in order to achieve those goals. What resources do you need to make those steps? Nothing goes to plan. Ever. Reevaluate your goals at regular intervals and adjust where necessary. You can’t get bogged down in the day to day minutia to where you lose sight of where you are trying to get to.
3) Understand your balance sheet/income statement or make sure you have someone that does. Selling a ton of product is a great feeling but are your margins high enough? Do you have enough cash flow to meet the day to day needs? Do you have too many receivables outstanding? Many people start a business around their passion, which is great, but make sure you understand how to keep that business afloat.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think the correct answer to this is both. You are a subject matter expert in something, that’s why you are doing what you are doing. I believe in order to be successful long term, you need to both develop your areas of weakness as well as surround yourself with people that have strengths in areas that you don’t.
You don’t need to be a financial wizard if you have a strong finance team but if you aren’t well versed enough to ask the right questions or monitor and understand KPI’s then you are leaving yourself vulnerable. Surround yourself with a strong team and utilize their knowledge to help you grow your own skill sets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://risingsmokesauce.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risingsmokesauceworks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RisingSmokeSauceworks
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-palmatier-3928227b/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SmokySauce
