Grow A Small Business Podcast Entrepreneur Kris Jones Shares How She Grew Her Design Agency 384% in 12 Months, Transitioned from Solo to a Team of 5 Helping Small Business Owners Craft Captivating Stories to Convert Visitors into Clients. (Episode 630 - Kris Jones)
In this episode, Troy Trewin interviews Kris Jones, owner of Red Door Designs based in the beautiful Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Red Door Stories started 23 years ago as a design agency focused on branding and websites, but evolved to specialize in helping clients develop and tell their stories more effectively across their marketing and online presence.
Over the past 12 months, Kris grew her design agency by an impressive 384%, transitioning from a solo operation to building a team of 5. The key to Kris' success was mastering the art of storytelling. She faced a common challenge - clients struggling to write their own website copy. This led Kris to immerse himself in the power of story, applying storytelling techniques to transform her clients' businesses. By helping her clients craft captivating stories, Kris enabled them to charge 6 times more, avoid burnout and attract higher-paying customers.
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And a snapshot of the final five Grow A Small Business Questions:
1. What do you think is the hardest thing in growing a small business? Kris says the biggest challenge is figuring out how to talk about your business clearly. Being inside the "bottle", it's hard to read the label from an outside perspective - your customers' point of view. Being immersed in your own business, it's easy to fall into the trap of using industry jargon or assuming too much knowledge from your customers.
2 .What's your favourite business book that has helped you the most?
Kris swears by Building A Story Brand by Donald Miller, as a game-changing resource. He explains how mastering the art of crafting compelling stories transformed his business, allowing him to help clients charge 6 times more, avoid burnout, and attract higher-paying customers.
3. Are there any great podcasts or online learning resources you'd recommend to help grow a small business? Kris is a big fan of the Marketing Made Simple podcast, as it provides practical, actionable tips for growing a small business. She also finds inspiration in story-driven shows, like ghost story podcasts to fuel her creativity.
4. What tool or resource would you recommend to grow a small business? Kris emphasises the power of a well-designed website as the centre of your marketing universe, recommending platforms like Wix, Squarespace or Kajabi. She believes your website should be the focal point that you direct all your marketing activities towards, as it's the best way to convert visitors into paying clients in this digital age.
5. What advice would you give yourself on day one of starting out in business? If Kris could go back in time, she would tell herself to focus solely on the tasks and clients that truly energise and fulfil her. She learned the hard way that saying "yes" to every opportunity, even if it's outside your zone of genius, can lead to a lot of frustration and burnout. Kris emphasises the importance of having the courage to politely decline work that doesn't align with your passions and strengths, as this will allow you to dedicate your time and resources to the areas that will drive the greatest impact for your business.
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Quotable quotes from our special Grow A Small Business podcast guest: Focus on the things that you really enjoy doing and pay attention to the clients that you really enjoy working with, and just say no to all the rest – Kris Jones Story has this beautiful flow to it that helps us engage fully and feel connected in the story and kind of filter out the noise of the world – Kris Jones When you begin to delegate, that's when that freedom, I think, begins to truly kick in – Kris Jones