We were lucky to catch up with Shanice Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shanice, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I get my resilience from my son. He gives me the strength and power to overcome any obstacles that I may face. When I feel as though I’m not motivated or I begin to feel discouraged, I gain my resilience from looking at him knowing I must keep going, because he’s looking up to me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Shanice Jones and I am the owner of Busy Baby Soft Play Rentals. I have a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and I am a mother to a 2 year old boy. Busy Baby Soft Play is a mobile soft play business, where I provide a playground area for children at birthday events, baby showers, religious events, etc. My business was created September 2022, where I had no idea if it would be successful or not. Within the last year and a half I’ve had over 70 events and have tripled my soft play inventory. I am focused on continuing to bring memorable events to families, making their parties one to remember! My soft play packages are definitely a wow factor and will grab the attention of all their guests! I strive to provide excellent customer service and create a stress free environment to my customers. For the new year I have so many additions for my business and I can’t wait for everyone to see!
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?
I believe the three qualities that were most impactful for my journey was communication, creativity and confidence. This business requires a lot of communication, since you’re constantly communicating with potential clients. I believe I’ve always had great communication skills, but since starting this business those skills have been tremendous and I always receive great feedback that the communication process was excellent! This business can also be competitive so it’s best to find new ways to be creative so you’ll stand out, and have people want to book with you. I’ve also found that being confident in this business is extremely impactful. You have to fully believe in your business and believe that you will succeed. It’ll show if you have no faith in your business. My advice to anyone starting out in this business or any business in general, is to remain consistent! Consistency will always be key. Do not give up if business is not picking up as fast as you would hope. Just continue to believe in your business and it will thrive!
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The number one challenge I face, is that this is a one man business. I completely run this business by myself and it can be extremely overwhelming. I am the one running social media, responding to inquiries, creating the website, creating content, taking the pictures, doing the set ups and break downs, funding the entire business by myself, it’s a lot! I’ve tried to put out ads for help and I’ve even hired someone, but it is hard to find reliable help. You don’t want to hire someone that cancels on you every time it’s time for an event. I’m hoping for the new year I can find consistent help. It will make the set ups and break downs a lot easier if I had help and I would be able to take on more bookings.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.busybabysoftplay.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/busybabysoftplay/
