Buy a pallet, build a business

Pictured: Missi Bowling, owner of DealBusters Marketplace, and Lisa Groh, Byesville Rotary President.

 Missi Bowling, owner of the DealBusters Marketplace located on 2^nd Street in Byesville, told Byesville Rotary her story of how she became a business owner. Missi grew up in Byesville and graduated from Meadow Brook. Currently, she and her family live in Marietta. She and her husband now operate three businesses located in Byesville.

 “This journey began because I wanted an air fryer,” Missi related. During her internet search for an air fryer at a good price, Missi discovered a woman selling appliances on Facebook. Missi learned the woman stocked her business by buying pallets of goods.

 “I bought a pallet,” Missi stated, “I sold the items on Facebook and doubled my money.” Missi explained that during the week she worked at her job, and on weekends, her hobby was selling items from the pallets she purchased. She used the money she earned to buy more pallets.

 Gradually, the original group of 20 people who attended her on-line Facebook sales and auctions expanded to several thousand. More sales meant more work. On Sundays, Missi and her husband drove to the Cambridge and used the K-Mart parking lot as a delivery point for people in Cambridge. Missi needed a permanent location in Guernsey County. In 2016, she rented space in Byesville named DealBusters. She continued to sell live on Facebook and used the Byesville location as a delivery point.

 When her job was downsized, Missi choose to go into business for herself and grow DealBusters. She needed more warehouse space and was fortunate enough to lease the building formerly occupied by Byesville Furniture.

 Missi stated, “I now had plenty of warehouse room in the back of the store and lots of empty space in the front of the store.” She added a few vendors in the front of the store. She discovered there was a demand for permanent vendor booths. By March of 2020, almost all the booths were rented.

 And then COVID hit. No problem. Missi had lots of on-line sales experience. She fell back on this skill and offered Facebook live sales for her vendors at no charge to her vendors.

 Currently, she has 4 employees in the DealBusters Marketplace with 76 vendors in 100 plus spaces. Her husband runs DealBusters Warehouse with 2 employees in the rear section of the building. He holds Facebook live sales and auctions Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as sells pallets. Missi is looking for more space for the DealBusters Warehouse so that she can convert the rear of the building to vendor space.

Missi enjoys what she is doing. She stated, “I like helping other vendors realize they can start small and grow. Her advice is, “If you treat your business like a hobby, it will pay like a hobby. If you treat your business like a business, it will pay like a business.”

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Join us for a meeting—most club meetings are live streamed to Facebook and Zoomed. Watch the Byesville Rotary Facebook page for details.

.

 

Pure Love Bakery visits Byesville Rotary

Pictured: Tara Hupp, owner and head baker, Pure Lover Bakery and Jordi Harding, speaker host.

Tara Hupp, owner of the Pure Love Bakery in Byesville, told the story about how she became a bakery owner. She held a Grand Opening Celebration on June 26 of this year, but her story began over 10 years ago.

 Tara pointed out that she began baking for fun when she was in high school. She added to her knowledge while in the military where she was assigned to food service. After she returned from the military, Tara continued to make cookies and cakes for friends and family from her home. After 4 years, she decided to bake full time from her home. Sales went so well, she took a deep breath and decided to open a storefront.

 Tara explained that she first got a small business loan from the Port Authority. Tara stated she is grateful to that organization as well as all the other people that have helped make the Pure Love Bakery a reality. Her husband helps a lot. Her father, who has been in the food business for many years, makes the doughnuts. He comes in between 7:00-9:00 in the evening to get the doughnuts started for the next morning. She also has 2 staff members who handle sales.

Her specialty is decorating cakes, cookies and cupcakes with royal icing or buttercream frosting. She does custom orders but her business has been so brisk that her Facebook page indicates she will not be accepting additional orders until after August 2 and August is quickly filling up.

You can find out more about this local business and see pictures of her goods at:

https://www.facebook.com/purelovebakeryohio 

http://www.purelovebakeryohio.com/

Tara offers specialty items such as cinnamon and pecan rolls or doggy and kitty bites on specific days of the week. One of her customer favorites is her Paint Your Own Cookie—double the fun—decorate the cookie than eat it. Yum.

In other business, Lisa Groh, club president, updated club members on the items discussed at the club’s board meeting. Plans are in progress to re-establish the club fundraisers—these include the pancake breakfasts with Santa and the Easter Bunny, two Stuff Santa Stocking events to raise money for the club’s Xmas Food Basket project, and a golf outing to support scholarships.

The next club meeting will be on July 27. The speaker will be Missi Bowling from Deal Busters Marketplace.

Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Connect with #ByesvilleRotary at: www.Byesvillerotary.blogspot.com , Twitter Byesville_Club, or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Byesville-Rotary/256548047818283. Club meetings are variable--some via Zoom; some in-person. Watch the Byesville Rotary Facebook page for details.