Business Juice
Business Juice
The Leap from Graduate to 2x Entrepreneur with Tripp Douglas
Have you ever looked at someone's journey and wondered how a single step led to a thriving career? Tripp Douglas joined us to recount his leap from university graduate to entrepreneur with Fusion Coffeehouse and Crema Design Studio. Our conversation with Tripp is a treasure trove of insights, from the shifts that shaped his path to the leadership change required to run two successful businesses. He doesn't just share his story; he gives us valuable insights into motivation and management, revealing the strategies that keep his team engaged and contributing to the team's business success.
The heart of any business lies in the vision that powers it, and Tripp explains the art of breathing life into that vision. We explore the transition from lone freelancer to team leader, and uncover delegation, collaboration, and bestowing a sense of ownership within a team. It's a balance of communication, celebration, and personal investment in your team's welfare that creates a supportive, thriving environment. Tripp's experiences are proof that when the team is aligned with the business's heartbeat, every challenge becomes an opportunity for growth.
For those perched on the edge of starting a new venture, Tripp offers insight into what and what not to pursue. We even skate down memory lane, contemplating the magic of 80s arcades and how Tripp's dedication to community and creating memorable experiences translates into his business philosophy.
To find out more about Tripp Douglas' businesses go to:
https://fusioncoffeehouse.com/ and https://cremadesignstudio.com/ Caffeinate your marketing! :) . You can also find them on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/fusioncoffeehouse/ and facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CremaDesignStudio/
Business Juice is here to help you on your entrepreneurial journey. As part of this we offer FREE Resources you can use to get you going such as your very own Business Planner to get your started on the most important questions before launching your business. https://pages.devenishmasters.com/freebusinessplanner
As we begin on our own journey, launching DEVENISH &MASTERS. in the USA, after living and running a business in the UK, we would really appreciate two follows from you!
One here on the podcast and
one over on our still very young INSTAGRAM account!
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Hi there and welcome to this edition of Business Juice. I hope you're all having a wonderful week. I'm very excited that in this edition you get to listen in to a conversation I had with Trip Douglas. Trip is a multiple entrepreneur. He runs Fusion Coffeehouse and Crema Design Studio in Ridgeland, mississippi. I think you're really going to enjoy this conversation.
Speaker 1:Trip is giving us some insight into, well, how his businesses started. It was completely not what he set out to do after university and then how did they develop and how did he come to running two businesses? And also, how has his leadership changed over time? Obviously, now you know. How has his leadership changed over time. Obviously, now you know, with two businesses he's got several staff and what did he change to make it even more successful. I think those are some really good questions. But also, trip gives us some ideas and some tips on what to do and what not to do, and I think his ideas are really worth listening to because a lot of times people start a business just looking, you know, to make some money and to have a quick source of income. But I think you'll find his comments really insightful.
Speaker 1:So, oh yeah, and if you've never been to Fusion Coffeehouse. You should really go. Our family loves this place. Our sons hang out after university or if they have a break in their schedule. I go there to do some work and sometimes, as a family, we just gather to have a nice you know morning out, maybe on a Saturday. So yeah, let's hand over to Trip and let's listen into the conversation I had with him. So I'm really excited to welcome Trip Douglas into the podcast today. Trip is an entrepreneur not just of one business, but of two, and really what I'd like to do, rather than me introducing all the things that he does, is to hand over to Trip right away and let him tell you a little bit about his two businesses one a coffee house and one a graphics design studio. So, tripp, welcome to the podcast. Really happy that you're on the podcast, so tell me a little bit tell our audience a bit about your businesses and what you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have a graphic design studio called Crema Design Studio in Ridgeland, and then I also have a coffee house called Fusion Coffee House, also in Ridgeland. The two are located almost next door to each other so that I can kind of be in both places at once, and I opened the coffee house in 2003. So we've just passed our 20-year milestone there, and the graphic design business has kind of evolved from just what used to be a solo freelance business and then over the years it grew and I started adding people, and so now it's a studio with seven full-time positions and we do graphic design, web design, social media, pretty much anything visually we can design it. And so my day typically consists of bouncing back and forth. You know, when I need a coffee refill, I go check on the coffee house and see how things are running there, and then spend time at the design studio for most of the day.
Speaker 1:Cool. That actually sounds really a fun way to run a business, or to run two businesses, so great yeah. So how long have you had the two businesses, or when did one start? When did the other sort of you know? When was the other one added?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So right out of college I graduated with a degree in graphic design. So that's graphic design is quote unquote my real job. And so I graduated college in 2000 and had started doing freelance graphic design, building up sort of a catalog of work and clientele around just in the local Jackson Metro area. But I had always had kind of an entrepreneurial bug, and what I thought at the time? I thought that my lifelong goal was to be a freelance graphic designer, work from home, make your own schedule, live that dream.
Speaker 2:And I was able to do that pretty quickly out of college and within just a relatively short period of time a year or so I started to get pretty stir crazy and I realized that, you know, I kind of learned the lesson that a lot of people later learned in COVID is that we weren't necessarily meant to be at home all day, every day. It's not necessarily a good fit for everybody started getting that itch to do something else, to entrepreneur, not to give up graphic design, but to act on some of the other ideas that I'd had in college and and and. So I partnered up with a friend of mine and we decided to open a coffee house and which was, you know sort of out of left field for for most of my friends and family, because as far as they knew I was doing living the dream, doing exactly what I wanted to do. So when I said, yeah, we're going to open a coffee shop, they were sort of stunned Like what in the world, where did this come from? But it's something that I just really had on my heart to do and there's part of it that felt a little bit like a calling.
Speaker 2:It felt like the Lord was leading me in that direction, specifically with the idea of a coffee house, because of the community aspect, the relational aspect that is kind of generated in a coffee house.
Speaker 2:That is really a little bit different than you get in a lot of other scenarios, different from a restaurant or any sort of retail establishment. You really get to develop a relationship with customers on a daily basis, and so that was really what drew me to the idea of opening a coffee shop and what kind of served as the catalyst for us doing that. And I was able to, since I was already working from home as a freelance graphic designer. I was able to just continue doing that, but working instead of working from home, working from the coffee shop and the coffee shop became sort of my graphic design office. I would meet clients at the shop that was. That was my design studio, if you will. Uh was just the coffee shop and that allowed us to uh allowed me to be in to do both jobs and keep things running, especially during the very, very lean early years of the coffee shop.
Speaker 1:That sounds fun. I mean I like that. You kind of felt the desire to be with people rather than just at home, as you said, and somehow out of that created a space that was good for you and then obviously, as you said, also creates a space for other people to have some community. We as a family just moved to Mississippi recently and actually your coffee house was that place for us where we could meet people, and your staff really made us feel extremely welcome. So you definitely achieved that.
Speaker 2:So that's so glad to hear that. Thank you, that's music to my ears.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so running two businesses I'm kind of interested in. You know, when you set up a business you have a bit of a vision for that and you said that originally you just wanted to do your own thing. But then obviously now you have a number of people working for you in the graphics design business. But in terms of setting a vision for two businesses, how do you, as the leader of both of those, do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's something that has definitely evolved in an area that I've grown in over the years. Definitely evolved in an area that I've grown in over the years because, you know, coming from someone who was freelance and solo and and I did it, you know I was that was my dream because I liked working alone. I was not not that I don't like being a team player, but but I, like I've always enjoyed. You know I've been self-motivated, I like working, you know, kind of carrying forward my own vision without having to compromise and do things. I really learned how to delegate certain tasks, to collaborate on other tasks, to really give ownership to my team, and so it's definitely been a learning process over these 20 years. But you know, you mentioned the vision.
Speaker 2:I think that's such a huge part of it is that, you know, either in a coffee shop or in the design studio, I try to take very intentional steps to remind everyone why we do what we do and whether you know, in the coffee shop world, you know we have staff events and meetings where I'm able to communicate, that just remind people the underlying vision, because in the hectic world of the coffee shop it can get, you know, it's very easy to lose sight of, of, of what we're trying to do.
Speaker 2:And then I often share with our staff some of the wonderful stories and good reviews like like your story that maybe the staff does not always get to hear because they're sort of in the trenches and they're in the thick of it, and so, whereas I, as the owner, I'll see our Yelp reviews or I'll see the comments on Facebook or I'll just even get a private email of stories of a customer who's been positively impacted by a relationship that they started at Fusion, and so I make a point to share that with my staff and continually remind them that, even though they're just or sometimes it seems like they're just making coffee and going through customers very quickly, that they're having a bigger impact often than they realize, and certainly sometimes they know and develop a relationship, but sometimes there's just like everything in life you don't always know the impact that you have, and so that's been. I think one of my biggest jobs at the coffee shop was just continually keeping that goal in front of them, because it's so easy to lose sight of it.
Speaker 2:And then, the same thing on the design side. You know we're helping. A lot of the companies that we work with are Mississippi based companies. They're locally owned, and you know we try to. You know, celebrate the success stories of where we have helped clients achieve a level of professionalism and success that they would not have been able to without our help. And again, it's just like the same thing in the graphic design world. You're working on project after project after project. It's very easy for the designers to check something off the list and never think about it again, and so my job is often to look at the big picture and try to find those success stories and those things that align with our goals and share that with them, to continually remind them of our vision.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So it's a bit like you know fuel, in that sense that you kind of bringing it back into the business and they can, they can see the result. I think that's really important. You can set the vision, but if you never come back to it, never say so. Rather than just saying we need to achieve this vision, you're saying look, we are achieving this vision over here. That's, that's what I want to see more of, or that's what we want to do more of.
Speaker 2:Celebrate the successes, and it's so, you know. I think that's one thing I've seen talking to a lot of other business owners and entrepreneurs it's we. It's very easy to take it for granted that everyone understands the vision, because when you're the entrepreneur, this is something that is deep down in your heart and your soul, and so it's just like breathing air as far as you're concerned. You know the vision, you know exactly what you're trying to do, and it's very easy to forget that not everybody involved in your company has that same vision, or at least doesn't have it as deeply as you do. And so that's where that, if you're not careful, that disconnect can really start growing.
Speaker 2:Where you have, you know, the ownership or the management at the top, they have a certain idea of what's going on, and then down on the day-to-day it's entirely different and the morale is fading. And you know, a lot of times owners don't understand why and that's one of the reasons why is that they take for granted that everybody knows the why behind what they're doing and they don't diligently communicate that on a regular basis. It's not a one-time thing, it's not an annual thing, it's a continual thing, and that's how you kind of keep everyone engaged, and you know you're trying to do is you want everyone to feel engaged and like they have a sense of ownership. And what you're doing yeah, yeah, no, completely.
Speaker 1:I think also and I don't know what that's like in your businesses, but of course people will will take on a job because literally they're just trying to make ends meet. And when the leader engages in some of that conversation, you know, not getting too personal or anything but kind of saying you know how's it going at home, how are things? Is that something that you know, you feel like you do? Maybe not all the time, but have you had a bit of a sense of you're communicating your vision, but you're also participating somewhat in the reasons why people come and work. You know, why do they show up every day? Tell me a bit about that. So how, how, how much are you able to maybe engage with their day to day, so to speak? Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:That's definitely one of the advantages of having two relatively small businesses is that our staffs are, you know, our staff at each location are pretty small, um, and that allows us to have uh, lots of good, um, you know, quality time with, with our staff and, and we do a lot of uh group events.
Speaker 2:I say a lot, I mean a few times a year. You know, we'll do like staff parties and the two businesses, by the way, we kind of they're sister businesses in the sense that when we do a staff party we'll have the Crema staff and the Fusion staff together, and so it kind of makes it feel a little bit larger. But we do, you know, christmas parties and spring events and things like that. But sometimes we really, where we really want to help build the relationship, not just between me, the owner and them, but between each other, and that's, um, that's where it really starts to feel, uh, you know, like a family, where you've got people that are engaged in each other's lives and and um know, and that those bonds are what really make working at a place a lot more, you know, energizing, when you, you know, had that connection with people around you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, completely so. Okay. So, looking back on, so you had the ideas, you set them up. Obviously your two businesses are doing really well. But tell us a little bit, because some of the listeners on this podcast are people who are thinking of starting a business or they've begun but they're not quite. It's not up and running properly yet maybe. What are some of the challenges that you've had, maybe some things that you didn't expect, and how did you overcome those?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well that's. I could probably be a five hour podcast thinking about all the things that I learned the hard way over all these years, things that I didn't expect. But you know, I'd say, in the case of the coffee shop, you know, one thing that I learned along the way was, you know, I kind of had this idea of you know, this is my vision. I have a specific way that I learned along the way was I kind of had this idea of this is my vision. I have a specific way that I want things to be done. And so in those first few months and years, the dynamic was me, the owner, dictating to the staff this is how it's going to be done. And that evolved in a healthy way to a more collaborative approach where I realized that the story is that I started it with a partner and when I had that partner who was a co-owner with me, he and I communicated on the ownership level. And then there was a co-owner with me, he and I communicated on the ownership level, and then there was a disconnect, a separation between us and the staff. Right, we were, we were, you know, communicating to them how we wanted things done, and it was sort of one-way communication, um, and then he left the business after a short couple of years, and at that I was sort of forced to lean on my staff members and become more collaborative with them, and the result, though, was way better than I could have expected.
Speaker 2:That, you know giving them ownership and what we were doing, and giving them, you know, sort of a seat at the table and determining what drinks we were going to feature and how we made things, and just all sorts of things Input on the menu, updates, input on design, ideas for t-shirts and things like that.
Speaker 2:That resulted in just a blossoming of ideas and a new team spirit that came out of that, and it probably never would have happened. If you know, it was just the ownership. You know talking to each other on you know strategic planning and then looking at the rest of the staff, as you know, the people that are there just to implement our vision right, I mean, pulling them into the vision and then having them contribute to it is what really started a process where Fusion evolved into something bigger and better than I ever intended it to be, and that was a hard lesson for me to learn. You know that. You know I thought I had this great vision and I had to sort of let go of that, to not let go of the vision, but loosen my grip a little bit to let other people have their input in it, and that's what really made it go better than I ever could have expected.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah I can see that. Yeah, oh, go ahead, go ahead, it's fine.
Speaker 2:I was just saying, I learned a similar lesson in the graphic design world. You know, coming from a freelance graphic design background, I never had any plans to hire any graphic designers. You know, graphic design is something that that is. It's by its nature. It's opinionated and, and you know, you have a certain idea of what you want something to look like.
Speaker 2:And you know, I didn't know how to collaborate with another graphic designer in my earlier career. But then I had to learn as I started hiring other designers because I knew that was the only way that I was going to be able to grow my business. It was only so many hours in the day, so I had to start hiring people. And again, that was a painful learning process because it was a different type of collaboration. Now I had to hand off design projects and sort of come to grips with something.
Speaker 2:You know, a design may not develop in exactly the way that I would have done it, but I had to start asking myself well, just because it's not the way I would have done it, does that mean it's wrong? And and and. More often than not the answer is no, it's not wrong, it's just different. And so figuring out and that's still a daily process, figuring out, okay, where is, where's the line between my personal opinion and then what our standard should be and what is good work for our clients. But in both arenas the coffee shop and the design studio learning to collaborate is the key that has kind of blown the ceiling off both of those businesses. I think that we would have been very, very limited in what success we ever could have had if it was just strictly my way or the highway.
Speaker 1:That's an extremely important lesson. That, yeah, is something I think we can all really learn from. I think if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, it can be enriched by other people's ideas and sometimes, because we're also leaders, we don't necessarily want to give up some of that leadership, but recognizing that the two go hand in hand, I think that's an important thing. And, as leaders, I think, still having the input. So, as you said, you're providing the vision, but then coming at the end of that creative process and looking one more time okay, is this good for the customer? Is it good for the business? Is it what our brand wants to deliver? It's great, but having that big space in the middle where people can contribute as you said, another graphics designer can produce things the way he or she wants to do it I think that provides a great framework while also providing some space for, as you said, input and creativity.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you still got to be the gatekeeper to, like you said, to make sure that things are aligning with the company's brand and vision and everything. So I'm not suggesting that it sort of becomes a free for all and everybody gets a say and and it becomes, you know, uh, chaotic. That's definitely, definitely not what I'm saying, but, um, you know, I think, having everyone engaged in the process, and even when you don't go with their ideas, um, you know, are you able to listen and then communicate? Okay, well, here's why we're not going to go with that, but, you know, next time we may go with your idea. You know, helping them understand that. You know, having that dialogue doesn't mean that you're always going to do what they suggest, but it means that they're involved in the process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, completely, and helping them understand your eagle eye perspective rather than, you know, just looking at a design. No, we're looking at the design in the context of the business and where we're trying to go.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:And so, of course, you've already, in many ways, shared some tips, but if you think of people who are listening and who would like to start a business, what would be your top tips for them?
Speaker 2:or maybe one top tip where you think look, don't do anything until you've understood this piece first thing I would suggest is you know, there's a lot of people that, um, there's a lot of people that look at entrepreneurship or starting or going into business for themselves and they look at it purely from a financial standpoint and they are attracted to whatever the business may be. They are attracted to it because it looks like it's going to be lucrative or you know, they could really. Maybe they see an opportunity in the market where somebody's not not meeting a need and it's okay, we can, we can step in and start a business based on that. My main advice would be to make sure that you absolutely love whatever it is that you're going to do. If, if your main reason to do it is to make money this is just my experience You're probably not going to be successful. That that from from an you know, from a business startup standpoint.
Speaker 2:I would say the number one thing that everyone underestimates is the amount of time and effort, uh, that that anything is going to take in the long haul. And I mean we weren't. I mean I was coming out of college, so obviously we were naive, but, like we, we did a lot of study and I knew that that was what every book said. Every book said you're, you know you're going to underestimate the cost, you're going to underestimate the time you're going to. And so we were like having that in our heads and saying, okay, we, we, we know that, we know that people make that mistake, so we're not going to underestimate it. And we still underestimated it.
Speaker 2:You still just cannot grasp how all-consuming it's going to be if it's going to be successful.
Speaker 2:And so if something is going to suck 18 hours of your day every day for an unknown period of time before you can be successful, you better love doing it.
Speaker 2:And because if you don't, you'll be absolutely miserable and you'll be dreaming of the day when you had a regular job and you could clock out at five o'clock. And so that's just my biggest advice, because I know people often look at it's very easy to look at another business and think, oh man, they must be making a killing. And so I've had so many people come to me at the coffee shop and say, oh man, I bet you were making so much money at the coffee shop, because a coffee costs four dollars and it probably doesn't cost you 10 cents or whatever. Well, you know, whenever people are on the outside, they're, they're always don't have an idea of how many costs are involved and what goes into it, and so it's just it's very easy to look at a business from the outside and think, oh, that's an easy business, I can get into that and it's going to be easy and I can make money. And the truth is that if it was easy and you can make money, everybody would be doing it.
Speaker 2:And there's a reason why so many startup businesses go out of business is because a lot of times it's because people thought oh, that'll be easy, I can make some quick money doing that. And certainly money can be made at it. Don't get me wrong, but it's usually a much longer and much more difficult process to get there. But it's worth it. And I'm not saying that to scare people off by any means, but just know what you're getting into. At least try to know what you're getting into before you think you're just going to jump in and start a side hustle and start raking in the money.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's such good advice. I think that's that would be my number one advice as well. I think so. You know, as part of the business I run, we train. I train people in setting up a business, etc. But my number one before they come with the logo, because often people who want to start a business they say, look at my logo, I'm like no, let's have a look at why do you want to run the business? Is it purely for money? Fine, well, let's have a look at what that's going to take. But actually having a bit of a purpose behind what you're doing, that is where the joy comes. If you have a purpose in it and every day you get up and you know, okay, this is going to achieve. Whatever it might be, as you said, creating community, or there's great joy in designing things for other people and seeing them succeed. If you can put that into language, that really helps rather than just the dollar sign at the end of the day. And I think the other one is which you've alluded to now is grit.
Speaker 1:You know, I think sticking with it, sticking with a business is hard but when you can do that and obviously you I mean amazing two businesses. I don't even know how you do that, but you clearly have a lot of grit there to make that work.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that's definitely grit is a huge part of it. That you know in some ways. In some ways you get into situations where you want to think that your business is going to be successful if you offer the best product and the best service and the best price and everything, and that certainly goes a long way. But sometimes you're successful if you just stick it out the longest. You know, like if you just if you're the one that just keeps showing up and other places, you know other competition around you goes out of business. You know it sort of becomes a war of attrition and that's not. You know that's not an attractive thing. People don't necessarily want to hear that when they're starting a business. But sometimes the key to success is just being the one that's going to keep showing up.
Speaker 1:Yep, that's right, yep. So okay, what about are you considering? Would you consider? I know you have two and it's very busy. However, would you consider setting up another business and if so, what would it be?
Speaker 2:I probably would not consider it in my current state, but I'm not going to say never. Going to say never, and you know I don't know what would it be. You know I've often it would be something else that I love. You know, one of the things that there's just, I'm a child of the eighties and I grew up going to the arcade and that's sort of a lost concept, and so I've often fantasized about starting another business that kind of recreated the feel of that, you know, that 80s arcade and a place for kids and teenagers to hang out and sort of a, you know, a safe, wholesome environment. You know, that's probably the kind of business that I would start again, something that I would, that I would enjoy being in myself and, and, um, something that I'm passionate about. I don't know if that'll ever happen or not, but, um, that's that, that might be the kind of thing I would do, but again, it's, you know it would.
Speaker 2:It would not be for the money. Um, you know, my, my philosophy has always been that if you do things for the right reasons and you enjoy them and you show up every day, the money will follow, and that may, that may kind of sound romantic or maybe overly simplistic, um, but I've never been doing any of this to chase the money, um, and you know I do it for, like I said, the reasons that bring me energy and and give me excitement, and then I just trust that the money will follow and and so, yeah, that's, if I ever did something else again, it would be something that met those criteria. That it's something I'm gonna, that I I would want to do every single day and just sink tons of time into it.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. Well, I'll be looking out for that. For sure, I'm not convinced. Your entrepreneurial days are over Great.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for coming on the show. There's really really helpful, insightful. I think it's exciting to see how you came about setting up two businesses and how energetic you are about and how excited you are about those two businesses and the people that work for you. So thank you very much. I really appreciate it. We'll put some links to your businesses in the show notes and, yeah, maybe one day I could have you back on the show and just see whether the arcade is happening.
Speaker 2:Well, that sounds great. Thank you so much for having me. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thanks very much.
