Maria Onesto Moran, founder & owner & self-proclaimed Queen Bee of Green Home Experts, knows a thing or two about successfully pivoting a business. She’s successfully done it multiple times.
She joins The Savvy Entrepreneur to candidly share how her business, Green Home Experts, has morphed significantly over the years.
A lot of first-time entrepreneurs grapple with how to get started.
But what if your idea is successful at first, but then, at some point, becomes less so? What do you do then? Do you persist, hoping things will turn around again? Or do you pivot?
Maria & I explore some of the questions many entrepreneurs & small businesspeople face when their original business idea tapers off or becomes a lot less profitable.
Green Home Experts started out as a small garden and whole foods supply store. But then the internet, online retail, and big chains starting moving into their space. Maria reluctantly pivoted into home energy audits and energy conservation consulting.
Then she had a chance to become a woman-owned supplier of energy conservation products for several local utilities. And finally, after realizing the company’s core strength had become warehousing and delivery, she started another company focused on that.
Maria shares the pain and joy she’s experienced, and her sense of humor is infectious. Listen to her sage advice, and be prepared for lots of laughs!
Below is the transcript of our interview, or you can go here to listen to the show!
Doris Nagel 0:12
Hello all you entrepreneurs and small businesspeople!
You are listening to The Savvy Entrepreneur Show.
I’m Doris Nagel, your host for the next hour.
Why am I here? Well, I’m an entrepreneur who’s made a lot of mistakes. And so the show is really to share information and resources for entrepreneurs, because I truly want to help you out there not make some of those same mistakes.
The show is also meant to inspire. I found being an entrepreneur, confusing, sometimes lonely, you often have no idea if you’re on the right track or not, or where to turn for good advice.
To help with both those goals, I have guests on the show every week who are willing to share their stories and their advice and to bear their soul if you will, and help you benefit.
My guest this week, is Maria Onesto Moran. She is the CEO and Founder of a company called Green Home Experts. And she’s going to talk about what they do, and about her journey as an entrepreneur.
She’s been in business for a number of years, but has done some pivots along the way, and which I think is not atypical for lots of entrepreneurs out there.
Maria, thanks for being with me today. Welcome to The Savvy Entrepreneur Show!
Maria Onesto Moran
Thanks for having me!
Doris Nagel
It’s a delight to have you. Tell us a little bit about your business. What do you do? And who do you do it for?
Maria Onesto Moran 1:40
As you said, I own a company called Green Home Experts. And we are a company that supports the energy efficiency programs throughout the state of Illinois.
Our customers are public utilities. And each one of them has programs that help businesses and residential customers save on their energy bills. And we typically help them with product supply, program outreach, and even some of the technician support for their programs.
Doris Nagel
How do most people find out about these programs? Is this something you have to ask your utility about? Or is this something like I got something from comment the other day that said, apparently, I use 57% more energy than my neighbors, which I was embarrassed about.
But strangely, when I called ComEd, they said, ”Oh, everybody gets those. Don’t worry about it.”
But is that how the process starts, or some other way?
Maria Onesto Moran 2:42
It’s a bit of a mixed bag. I have also been the recipient of those letters. I think it’s just sort of a strong-arm marketing tactic that I assure you we are not behind.
If you look at your ComEd bill, every month you’ll see there’s a line item for energy efficiency programs. Those programs are ratepayer funded. And they are available to all consumers in a variety of different ways.
We talk about ComEd a lot, because they’re the electrical utility for 70% of the state [of Illinois]. But Amarin Illinois also supports energy efficiency programs. So you might see something about a Nicor Gas Energy Efficiency Program, or something similar from ComEd or Amarin. Typically, there are smaller companies like mine that are behind the scenes and are really driving those programs.
Doris Nagel
Interesting. Why did the utilities have these programs?
Maria Onesto Moran 3:43
There’s a variety of different reasons. Something that came into play for us a few years ago is the Future Energy JOBS Act, which basically changed the way that these energy efficiency funds were managed. They used to be managed directly by the state.
But I don’t think we have to spend too much time talking about how the state of Illinois used to handle its finances
Doris Nagel
No, we can’t go there. This interview would go right off the cliff and keep going for the rest of the hour, I’m afraid.
Maria Onesto Moran 4:19
Exactly. So luckily for us , FEJA — the Future Energy Jobs Act — said that the utilities need to be responsible for this.
And that opened up a lot of opportunities for companies like mine to help the state reach some pretty significant energy efficiency goals.
And now we’ve also celebrated last year, the passage of the Clean Energy JOBS Act, which is put into place some significant goals around clean energy, like wind power and solar power. And so we’ll see some of those changes coming down the pipeline.
Doris Nagel
Very cool.
Let’s go back to your business. How did you get started with this business? When did you start and why did you start it?
Maria Onesto Moran 5:07
Well, I was very grateful that you started your show off by talking about change, because change is the name of our game!
In 2007, I started a company that doesn’t look much like Green Home Experts does today. My husband and I had recently purchased our first condo, and we were interested in making some home improvements. I wanted them to be green.
We wanted nontoxic paint, we wanted a water efficient toilet, but you just couldn’t find that stuff anywhere in store. You can find it online, but I didn’t really want to be picking out paint colors online.
So I started green home experts is basically a green building supply store. And we carried, you know, recycled glass countertops. For cabinets, it was wonderful. The part that wasn’t wonderful is I managed to start a green building company right at the start of the Great Recession and the housing crisis.
We very shortly had to add what I called a general store, which was a blast. We had green baby items, we had green cleaning supplies, oh my goodness, wow, we expanded into a garden center, which was always my favorite part of the shop, and had a great eight-year run being a green building and home supply store.
And then, in just a weird fluke, we had somebody come to us and say, “Hey, could you distribute the supplies for some of these energy efficiency programs?”
You know, Doris, I’m kind of embarrassed to say I actually said, “No. I don’t really know anything about that.”
Since then, I have learned to say yes, and then figure it out later on.
Doris Nagel
That’s a good mantra for entrepreneurs: Say yes and figure it out.
Maria Onesto Moran 7:06
It has definitely served me well, and accounts for about 25% of my gray hairs.
Anyway, we started distributing the products for this energy efficiency program. And it was wonderful. The work was easy, the margins were great. It was a great fit for us. And that program got bigger and bigger. And before you know it, having a showroom with interior designers on staff wasn’t really fitting where the biggest revenue was coming in.
We had a warehouse and a freight dock and people who wanted to pack boxes, not design kitchens. And it was a real strange time in my life, because all of a sudden, my dream had changed.
Doris Nagel
Do you literally have people that go out to do energy audits o, look for leaks or test for inefficiencies and recommend equipment and things like that, or do you do other things?
Maria Onesto Moran 8:10
We have done that work before. Over the past I would say three years, we’ve refined our work a little bit more, to make our lives easier. And so what we do now is distribute the product for the technicians who are going and doing that. We’ve really refined what we do to be product distribution.
So in 2015, I just kind of took a leap and said, “You know what? I love the showroom. I love my staff. I love my customers. I’m still in touch with many of them to this day. But where we’re making the money just doesn’t fit the staff or the building that I have.”
Doris Nagel
What did you do with all the inventory in the showroom and the people were you able to sell it to someone else or you just close it?
Maria Onesto Moran 9:04
I sold off as much as I could. I have a friend in Wisconsin who’s had a green building supply company. He started long before I did and is still in business so I was able to give him a lot of our product – we sold off as much as we could. It was difficult to do, because he was my right-hand man at the shop back in the early days, up until 2015. He actually just rejoined our company this year.
Doris Nagel
Amazing!
Maria Onesto Moran 9:36
Yes. So, we shut down the showroom. I took a minute to give birth to my third son. And then it was off to the races. We’re now in a warehouse in Lyons, Illinois, and spend our days packing boxes delivering product. There’s never a quiet day here at the warehouse.
Doris Nagel
Talk about how you add value to customers and the whole energy efficiency programs that the utilities have. Why do they have the programs? Why is this whole segment of the industry important? And what should people know about it?
Maria Onesto Moran 10:27
It’s such a great question. At this point, I think everyone understands the importance of energy efficiency and clean energy.
And a lot of times there is just only do so much we can do, right? There’s only so much we can do in our homes. But some people are able to make some changes at their business or where they work.
The utilities can drive those programs, because they have the marketing prowess. They have the trust from the public. And one of the very important goals in the FEJA Job Act is that finally for the first time, the utilities had to do more than pay lip service to employing diverse businesses and diverse contractors to do this work.
And I like to say that having our WBE certification got us in the door
Doris Nagel
Tell people that might not know what that certification is.
Maria Onesto Moran 11:34
We’re a certified women-owned business enterprise. That means that more than 50% of the business is owned by a woman.
Lucky for me, because I don’t like to share, I own 100% of the business.
So it has its perks. There really aren’t any other minority owned suppliers in Illinois who do what we do.
Our customers are great at program design. They’re great at getting the word out about energy efficiency. They’re really engaged with community action agencies, and social service agencies and schools, to communicate with people about the importance of energy efficiency. To show them here’s how you can do it, and here’s why it’s important. And here are some products to help you get started.
So they do all the hard work. And then we just ship the products at the end of the day.
Doris Nagel
Talk about your background.
You’ve been an entrepreneur for quite some time and pivoted, more than once. You make it sound easy, but I’m sure it wasn’t at all.
But what brought you to the place of saying, “I want to have my own business”?
Maria Onesto Moran 12:45
I can tell you it wasn’t my sociology degree! It was a great field to study, but I had no idea what I was doing in college.
And to some extent, I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, which is kind of refreshing.
When I was fresh out of college, I had some really great employment opportunities that I was very passionate about. And I started to see a couple of things. There’s a lot of molds in this world that I don’t fit. And there are a lot of stupid rules that I can’t get behind. And I like doing things my way.
So now we’ve learned on air that I don’t like to share, and I like to do things my own way. But I also think that there’s a lot of opportunities to think outside the box.
And maybe if I was a little bit less naive, I would have spent some time working at a Home Depot or a hardware store. But I was never going to do that.
And so I think the two most important qualities that I have as a business owner are perseverance and resilience. And those are qualities that were instilled in me by my parents.
I do have a background in entrepreneurship with my grandparents and my dad both owning their own businesses. So, it’s in my blood. I have a picture from the 1940s of my grandparents and my dad in my office. Sometimes I look at that photo a few times a day and say, “Alright, I need you with me right now.”
There’s a lot to learn in the real world. And, like I said, making a ton of mistakes just kind of gets you to the point where you’re at.
Doris Nagel
How did you get funding to get started, back when you were first getting your feet wet?
Maria Onesto Moran 14:57
I was really fortunate. I went to my dad one night, and I said, “Dad, this is how much money I need. And this is the person I’m going to ask for it. Can you just help me go through the conversation?”
And he said, “We’re going to change the conversation. Mom and I are going to loan you the money, and you’re going to pay me back.”
And I have never worked so hard to pay anyone back as I did with that initial loan!
So I was incredibly lucky to get some seed money. And it’s an opportunity, a privilege that I know a lot of people don’t have. And I’m hopeful that one day it’s something I can pass along to someone else.
Doris Nagel
What has been the hardest thing for you about owning and running this business? And I suppose it’s changed, because your business has changed a lot over the years. But are there some consistent themes about the things that have been the hardest for you?
Maria Onesto Moran 16:11
Yes, it has definitely changed. Certainly the past two and a half years have thrown us a few wrenches that that no one ever saw coming.
One of the reasons that I stick with what I do right now is for my family. I have the three best kids in the world — I’m not biased at all! And I love being able to be home with them in the morning, getting them off to school. Then start my day and get as much work as I possibly can before the three o’clock school bell rings, and then I’m home with them for the rest of the day.
It is certainly challenging to try to be everyone and everything to everyone at home and at work. But I’ve had a lot of practice doing it.
And where I’ve had the best success is in hiring the best staff I could ask for, from my management team all the way down. They really just rock at their jobs. I really have the best team I’ve ever had in 15 years.
So my challenges come from trying to be present for my team. I want to try to be present for my family, and also find a way to carve out time for myself. But I’ve learned to let go. And on the other hand, my kids have grown up a little bit, so they don’t need me like they used to.
Doris Nagel
That does help a lot. I can personally attest to that.
What’s a typical day look like for you?
Maria Onesto Moran 17:51
On a typical day, I get up, get my three hooligans out the door, kiss my dogs, and just get to work.
I try to spend as much time as I can on high level work. One of my faults is that I love to work, and I love to get my hands on things. So if we’re shorthanded in the warehouse, or if we just got clobbered with orders, my natural instinct is to just go in and help.
But if your boss is sealing up boxes, she’s actually not doing what she should be doing. So I’ve worked really hard on this. With Covid, we often had to have all hands on deck and do whatever needed to be done to keep things moving forward.
But since then, I’ve had to step out of that and say, “Okay, it’s time for me to be a stronger leader now.” Now I like to work on best practices, helping fine tune our processes and procedures, communicating with my chief operating officer about what’s going on with the different programs that we support. Making sure that my warehouse manager has what she needs in terms of personnel, or equipment.
And luckily for me, I can really just spend the majority of my time supporting my leadership staff. And I love that!
Doris Nagel
It’s interesting y you say that, because that is also another comment that I hear very consistently from my guests on the show. I think it’s because most of us start a business with an idea and a passion, and it’s, it’s our baby, in a lot of ways.
And because we love what we do and we’re passionate about it, it’s very easy to get drawn into the day to day, the crisis du jour, and helping solve those.
In some ways, it’s an ego boost — a way of making sure you feel needed and wanted. And I think, for a lot of us, it’s very difficult to step back and say, “Yeah, I could do that, and it would feel really good. But is that the best thing for my business? And for the development of my team? Probably not.”
I had one entrepreneur on the show just a few weeks ago who also has made a conscious effort to step back from the day-to-day operations of her business. And she was marveling that she could leave for like three weeks, and they really wouldn’t miss her at all.
But she said that it was very freeing, because she knew her business was growing in value. It no longer revolved around the spider in the middle of the web.
I’ve also had a couple of other guests talk about how their business, and that it just collapsed when they decided to get out of it because they were the spider in the web.
So those businesses are not as valuable because how in the world do you transfer that business at any point to someone else? It’s a dilemma, for sure. That’s pretty common among lots of entrepreneurs.
What have been some of the chant your biggest challenges over the years?
Maria Onesto Moran 21:59
Where do I start?
Initially, one of the challenges was that there was just nobody else doing what we were doing out there. That also brought us a tremendous amount of value. But it’s not like we could look at the guy next door and ask, “Hey, how are you doing this?”
And while I was fortunate enough to have an initial capital infusion, cash flow is no joke. Cash flow has always been a challenge. We’ve certainly learned how to manage the waves. But it’s tricky. Sometimes it feels like it’s either feast or famine. And each of those comes with their own unique set of challenges.
I definitely felt, when my kids were very young, the pull to be home when I was at work. And I also felt the pull to be at work when I was at home.
I have to confess, I felt really validated, and perhaps even a little bit vindicated when COVID hit and people started having to get used to working with their kids at home. I kind of wanted to scream and say, “You know, I’ve been doing this for nine years! This Is My World!”
There are some seasonal challenges that we’re experiencing right now, like everybody — inflation, worker shortages, supply chain crunches. But all of those do feel rather temporary.
I have to say that the willingness to change is, I think, a really important part of being a business owner. But at the same time, I’ve had to train myself not to get distracted by all the noise, and ask myself, “Is this change for the sake of change? Or is this change actually the right thing to do?”
Doris Nagel
You have pivoted more than once really.
What’s your advice on pivoting? As we talked before the show for a few minutes, pivoting is probably one of the questions that I get the most questions about from listeners and from friends, colleagues, and clients. And it’s probably one of the most common topics that my guests talk about.
How do you know when it’s time to pivot and just throw in the towel on your current way of working? How do you know how far to pivot?
Since you’ve done this a number of times, talk a little bit about what you’ve learned from that process, and what advice you might offer to other people.
Maria Onesto Moran 24:42
You know, if someone were to read our company history, I think they’d get a little scared away, because in 15 years, we’ve made a lot of changes.
People probably think, “Well, geez, when is she just going to make up her mind and do just this one thing?”
Something we haven’t talked about is that, at the beginning of 2020, before COVID hit, we realized that we’re really good at shipping on our own customer’s orders, so let’s ship out orders for other companies.
And so I started a sister business called GG fulfillment, which is a 3PL (3rd party logistics) company. We ship orders for companies who sell their products on their own websites.
So change hasn’t stopped for us. And luckily for us, people really ramped up their e commerce starting in 2020.
Doris Nagel
Fulfillment is pretty important if you’re an e-commerce business. Because you can order all you want online, but if it doesn’t show up at your doorstep, that’s not really very good.
Maria Onesto Moran 25:48
Exactly. The cool part about it — and I’ll get back to your question — is that you really have to get the right product to the right customer on time. And so our best practices absolutely are shared between the two companies. Our infrastructure is stronger than it’s ever been at Green Home Experts. And it’s actually because GG fulfillment was really successful and required us to step up our game a little bit.
But to get back to your question, yes, change is scary. Even when it’s attractive, it’s scary.
I remember getting off the phone with my landlord when she told me she would let me out of my showroom lease, and saying, “I just got what I asked for, and it’s terrifying!”
But the one thing that I’ve always used to inform my decisions are my numbers. And everybody’s entitled their own opinion. But I always say, “For a minute, let’s just put aside how we feel about things.”
And so on a day like today, we might have to put aside some recession fears, we might have to set aside some uncertainty about the market, the housing market, you name it.
And let’s look at where our revenue really is coming from. And then let’s look at where profitability is coming from. And those aren’t always aligned. But if you have good numbers, then you have a strong foundation to make data-informed decisions.
And that’s really what we use to drive the direction of the business. And of course, there’s a ton of other things that go into it. But I believe that your numbers, your financials should be at the heart of your decision. Yeah.
Doris Nagel
In other words, it’s important to be able to step back and really try to be objective, to avoid the “This is my baby syndrome” and try to stay objective about it.
Maria Onesto Moran 27:57
Oh, gosh, I had an awesome garden center. I had this phenomenal community that had sort of built themselves around me and supported us. We taught canning classes, floral arrangement classes. We were painting. I mean, we just did the coolest things.
Doris Nagel
For me, that would have been hard to let go of.
Maria Onesto Moran 28:22
It was hard to let go of, Doris. But by that point, I had 2.9 kids who I knew were going to be very expensive to feed — and it turns out that’s true.
And I wanted a certain lifestyle for us that I was hoping that our business could afford. And being a shopkeeper wasn’t it. I was working every day of the week. And I’m giving my all at work and I didn’t have a whole lot left when I got home.
Doris Nagel
I’m sure I’m like many other consumers who visit shops like yours. We have no idea about the personal sacrifice and the number of hours that it takes to run that business. And frankly, how crushing it must be for some of those businesses to be put out of business, essentially by big box stores.
Maria Onesto Moran 29:14
Absolutely. And you bring up a great point.
Because while I used my financials to help inform our decision about going from a showroom to a warehouse, the other thing is that when I got into that business, you couldn’t find this stuff anywhere. It wasn’t at Home Depot. It wasn’t at Target. It was nowhere to be found. And that was great for us.
But then all of a sudden, I had customers coming in and saying, “This soap is $5.99 here, but it’s $4.99 at Target.”
And then a Target opened –I think we had already closed by then — but a Target store opened in the town that that our showroom was in. So you know, reading the market trends, and listening to our customers solidified our decision [to get out].
Doris Nagel
You need to stay very nimble and open to change in today’s market.
Maria, we’ve been talking about pivoting, which I think is a very interesting topic. And we’ve talked about how you’re guided by numbers and market trends.
One of the things that you seem to be pretty able to do is to separate yourself and the numbers from the “it’s my baby” mindset.
I think it takes a special person to be able to look at those market trends with an unblinking eye and the numbers and say, “You know, I love this business, but it just can’t continue like this.”
What advice do you have for helping people get past the “This is my baby syndrome”? How do you get to the point where you can step back and look at your business more objectively, do you think?
Maria Onesto Moran 30:56
When I had my first son, I remember my mom telling me, “Maria, my job as your mom was to give you roots and wings.” Candidly, I’m having a hard time with the wings part with my kids, I’ll tell you that much. I like having them around.
But I truly believe that as a business owner, we have to give our business roots and wings. And so that means: “I am not my business”.
Believe me, there are a lot of times when I feel like it is. But the value or the worth or the profitability of my business doesn’t dictate my worth as a human being. My business successes are not all mine. In fact, my team is really responsible for most of our wins.
And I’ve had a ton of failures and a ton of losses. But those also don’t define me. What defines me is what I do when I’m knocked down.
Do I get back up? Or what do I do after a big win? How do I go forward?
I really believe that my job as a leader is to be asking myself and my team: “What’s next?” I know what it’s like to feel like you are you know, blood sweat and tears. Your business just consumes you. It’s actually a great feeling. It’s something that a lot of people can understand. And so on the other hand, it can actually be kind of isolating. Yeah, yeah, fact of the matter is, sometimes we love things so hard that they kind of die out on us. We kind of squash them. Right? I mean, like, Yeah, that’s
Doris Nagel
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right.
Maria Onesto Moran 32:48
Loving what you do and being passionate about your business doesn’t mean it’s going to be successful. I know all about that. I mean, if the Chicago Bears won as many games as we think their ability allows, they would be champs, right?
Doris Nagel
When was the last time they were champs? I think there was some guy named The Fridge or something?
Maria Onesto Moran 33:15
Yes. It’s been a long time.
And here’s the other thing, too. What’s wrong with changing what you’re passionate about? What’s wrong with saying that didn’t work?
I’m going to give this a shot. There’s definitely a lot of liabilities there — we can’t be changing our mind every week.
And I would like to take a minute and assure all of my customers that GG Logistics is not changing its business model anytime soon. We have definitely landed on what’s working for us.
But it’s important to separate the person from the business. You have to just tuck your ego behind your back for a minute and make informed decisions.
Because here’s the other thing: for me, the big threat has always been if this doesn’t work, I have to go get a job. And Doris, I am telling you I am wholly unemployable at this point. I’m ruined. So I’m going to do whatever it takes to stay the Queen Bee.
Doris Nagel
I love that!
And by the way, I saw on your website that you use Queen Bee as your title. I have mislabeled you as the CEO.
Maria Onesto Moran 34:26
Well, you know, when you’re responsible for printing the business cards, you can put whatever you want on there.
Doris Nagel
I loved it. I thought it was great.
But you’re right — it is very hard. You know, I think a lot of one of my other guests put it this way. She said, “We’re often our own worst enemies. We get in our own way, a lot.”
And I think that’s true, not just of entrepreneurs. It’s probably true of all of us human beings, in whatever we set out to do, right?
Maria Onesto Moran 34:59
Absolutely. And who cares? Really, who cares?
After all, people make job changes throughout their careers all the time, right? If you are making the best decision for you and the people in your universe, just go for it. No one is paying as much attention to this whole thing as you are.
Doris Nagel
Absolutely.
Looking back, what do you feel you were surprisingly well prepared to do as an entrepreneur? And conversely, what did you feel like you were least prepared to do?
Maria Onesto Moran 35:35
How many more hours do you have for this show? [laughing]
I’ll start with the strengths. No one’s going to outwork me. Basketball was my passion as a kid, and I was never the best kid on the court. But I was absolutely always the hardest worker.
I’ve also learned — like we talked about before – that sometimes you can get in your own way as a leader. But no one’s going to outwork me, it’s just not going to happen.
I was the only employee of my company for the first year and a half. So I needed that resilience.
I can accept defeat pretty easily. I’m pretty good at losing and figuring out how to do better next time.
And you need that in January, when there’s two feet of snow on the ground and no one’s coming into your shop. It’s hard!
Doris Nagel
That IS resiliency, and I’ve come to believe that resiliency is one of the most important traits for being an entrepreneur.
Maria Onesto Moran 36:34
Absolutely. I’ve also just been able to surround myself — a little bit through coincidence and a little bit intentionally — with phenomenal human beings in my life. So I’ve always had a really supportive network from my family.
Could you imagine being married to me and supporting all these harebrained ideas? I often joke that my husband is the anchor and I’m the sail. And that’s not going to change.
So just having a really supportive network has been key. Having people I can go to for help, and sometimes to celebrate the wins, too.
On the flip side, what I was ill-prepared for is a much longer list. I don’t think anyone really understands how hard it is to own your own business until you do it yourself.
If you’re if you’re ready to get into business, unless you have some crazy access to capital and a strong solid network around you, are you also ready to be the bookkeeper? The janitor, the purchasing manager, and the sales rep?
Doris Nagel
And the social media tsar? And the marketer?
Maria Onesto Moran 37:41
And be on 24/7? And you really have to be really good at each one of those roles. That’s bananas.
It’s a lot easier for me to talk about work life balance now. But my business absolutely consumed me for many years. And sometimes it still does.
But to go back to our discussion about the discipline to not dive into your business – that’s something that I’ve recently started to focus on . I tell myself, “This business can run without me getting out to the showroom, or out to the warehouse floor. I have the I have a phenomenal team. We have great procedures. Maybe I should just pat myself on the back for getting us to that point? And enjoy that second cup of coffee?”
Doris Nagel
Absolutely. And it sounds like you’re very conscious about making some of those decisions.
And that’s good, because I don’t know about you, but I’m always pulled to just roll up the sleeves and go out there and help out, even though that’s not actually good.
Maria Onesto Moran 39:00
You’re right. It’s actually not good for anybody.
Doris Nagel
How do you see your business growing in the next, say, three to five years? What will it look like if you’re successful?
Maria Onesto Moran 39:13
The only thing that’s actually limiting our business growth right now is our physical space. We are busting at the seams in our warehouse. We currently occupy about 16,000 square feet in our warehouse, and I’d love to have at least 50% more of that.
And Doris, just in case any of my staff listens to this: I hear you guys. I’m trying!
Doris Nagel
I don’t know about warehouse space. There’s certainly a glut of commercial office space. But maybe not that much warehouse space available?
Maria Onesto Moran 39:53
That’s absolutely right. So we’re definitely experiencing some limits along those lines.
I am working on solving that problem, but sometimes it just takes a little bit longer to solve these problems than I wish it did.
But we have phenomenal relationships with our clients. So here’s something that I just love about my work: we don’t have a big beefy marketing budget, we don’t go to trade shows, and I don’t have outside sales reps.
Somehow, I was able to land in an industry where the relationships that you have with your clients are the most important thing that we have. We have a diverse group of phenomenal businesses who rely on us. I often say we’re responsible for shipping their success. Our clients really could not be successful in their programs without us supplying the product side of what they do.
And so we spend time nourishing those relationships, making sure that we’re adding value to the relationship, making sure that they understand what we’re trying to do for them, communicating with them, just keeping a really open relationship.
At times, I’ve had to be very frank with them and deliver information that was difficult to swallow. But how lucky am I to have customers who feel comfortable coming to me and saying, “We need to fix this.”
We actually spend a lot of our time going to our customers and saying, “Hey, we actually know what we’re doing here. And here’s a couple of tweaks that we should make in the process to make this better for you.”
And I love doing that.
Doris Nagel
I don’t know for sure, but utilities strike me as kind of a unique breed of customers. I don’t want to say they are slow to change, but ….
Maria Onesto Moran 42:04
Yes, you said it, girlfriend! They are big organizations, and they have a ton of accountability to ratepayers and lawmakers, right? One of our core values is versatility. Our core values here are integrity, versatility, commitment to excellence, growth minded and having fun.
And versatility means one of our clients comes to us and says, “We need to get this done. It’s going to take us a year to figure out how to do it. Green Home Experts, can you help us do it? “ And 85% of the time, we can tell them, “It’ll be done next week. We got you!”
Doris Nagel
Yes. “Nimble” is probably not an adjective that’s been applied to most electric and gas utilities, at least not the larger ones. Maybe some startup solar ones, maybe?
I have some experience with them. In my very first job out of college, I worked for the State Public Service Commission, and I worked on what they call rate testimony.
So the electric and gas and water rates you pay as a utility customer are determined by your state Public Service Commission. The utility will come to them and say, “We need a rate increase, for this and that reason. Then they have hearings to hear them out.
Eventually, the state Public Service Commission will say, “You’re asking for too much. We’ll let you have a little bit here, but not all you’ve asked for.”
So anyway, so that was my first job out of college, but what was clear to me was that there is a sort of symbiotic relationship almost between the Public Service Commission. The utilities are almost like a quasi-state agency. Utilities are closer to that, anyway, than they are to Amazon or some startup.
Maria Onesto Moran 44:24
That’s right. You know, Doris, I’ve listened to a lot of your podcasts, and I’m still learning so much about you. When you write your memoir, let me know, because I’d love to read the book!
Doris Nagel
Well, I don’t know about that. Thank you, I’m very flattered. But that’s not why I do this show.
The truth is that I’ve sort of tacked my way through life. And I have learned so many different things along the way.
I like to think that I’m living breathing proof of what you were saying Maria: Don’t be afraid to change. Don’t be afraid to jump into the unknown. Things will turn out okay. Yes, there will be some tough times, but believe in yourself. We’re all capable of so much. We just we need to believe in ourselves. And we need to surround ourselves with a great network of people.
Speaking of a great network, I want to ask you one last question before we wrap up. You mentioned that you’ve found some resources that have helped you along the way. You also mentioned one in passing, called “Founding Moms.”
Talk about how you found resources and a network of people to help ground you.
Maria Onesto Moran 45:58
Yes, I am absolutely fortunate to have such a supportive network professionally and personally.
Founding Moms is this phenomenal online community that is basically exactly what it what it sounds like. It’s a membership community for mom entrepreneurs. And the woman who runs it, Jill Salzman, also provides a ton of valuable content to her members like marketing and finance and great tools to help keep things up and running.
There’s also a shared community of Members who can bounce ideas off of each other or tap into other resources. It’s a phenomenal resource.
Doris Nagel
Is it focused on any kind of industry? Or is it more focused on the kinds of issues that, that CEOs and founders who are moms typically face, or just whatever comes up?
Maria Onesto Moran 47:04
You know, I think it’s whatever comes up. It has a really diverse group of members. There are accountants, graphic designers, people with product-based businesses, business coaches There are people with tons of different businesses that are in the group.
And of course, they also have a diverse background personally. Some of them have really little kids, all the way through moms of kids who have left the nest.
Doris Nagel
What advice would you offer in general about how to find some of the resources that are right for you, and how to lean on them in the tough times?
Maria Onesto Moran 47:46
Luckily for us, the internet can bring us pretty much anything that we want, for better or for worse.
So if you’re looking for resources for your business, there are trade groups specific to certain industries that can be helpful. There are a ton of publications, like Inc Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, where you can read about market trends, or you name it.
And I also received some coaching at the beginning of my business from the Women’s Business Development Center. I was able to take some good nuggets from there.
And the nice thing is, once you’re starting out in your business, if you believe in what you’re doing, other people are going to believe you too, right? I mean, they don’t know any better.
And if you can fake it till you make it, people start to enter your orbit who need to be in your universe.
Doris Nagel
That’s kind of Zen, you know….
Maria Onesto Moran 49:02
Well, my kids are back to school, and my house is empty during the day. So I have a lot of reason to be Zen right now.
Doris Nagel
We haven’t talked about you being a female CEO and founder in a world where there probably there aren’t that many women. In fact, you alluded to the fact that being a woman-owned certified business has helped your business grow.
What advice would you offer for women entrepreneurs, maybe particularly if you’re in an industry where there’s not as many women out there?
Maria Onesto Moran 49:53
Anyone can fake it till they make it, right? Man, woman or anything else.
I think one of the biggest challenges that I’ve had to overcome, that I think a lot of women can understand is, we don’t need to be every everything to everyone. But we can manage all those people.
You know, I remember when I had my showroom, I would have people come in off the street trying to sell me something. And they’d ask, “Is the owner here?“
And I’d look at them like, what? And I would say, “No, sorry, they’re not here right now.”
Doris Nagel
That’s just hilarious.
Maria Onesto Moran
That’s one way to put it.
Doris Nagel
I would have probably tried to trip them on their way back to their car, or something.
Maria Onesto Moran 50:43
Well, I always had a mallet for my paint cans behind the desk. And there are a few times I was tempted to use it, but I didn’t.
I don’t hear it as often as I used to, but I certainly have people who have asked, “Is this your husband’s business?” Or “Does your husband work in the business?”
I can guarantee no one has ever asked my husband, “Oh, does your wife help coach your football team? Does your wife teach with you?”
It actually makes my blood boil. It makes me crazy.
So my advice to female business owners is similar to what it would be to anyone who’s trying to achieve any goal: The first person you have to believe in is yourself. And if you if you really believe that you can do what you’re setting out to do, other people are going to start to believe in you as well.
And we don’t have to be everything to everyone. It’s okay to admit defeat, it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to change things that aren’t working.
Again, I’ve learned that no one is really paying as close attention to any of this as we are. And most of us go into business for ourselves to experience the freedom and the fulfillment of what we do and of being our own boss.
And if you’re not feeling free and fulfilled, you’re the one who has to make the change.
Doris Nagel
Great advice.
Share with people your website, and where or how to contact you if there’s something you said that sparks an interest for them.
Maria Onesto Moran
Thanks, Doris. Our company website for Green Home Experts is ghexperts.com. Our website for GG Fulfillment is ggfulfillment.com. And you can contact me through either one of those websites.
Doris Nagel
Maria, thanks so much for being with me today. It was really fun to have you on the show.
You are a tower of quiet confidence and strength.
So it was just a pleasure to hear about your story. I really appreciate you taking some time out of your day to be on the show this week.
Maria Onesto Moran
Thank you so much, Doris. I appreciate what you do. I appreciate you getting the stories out. And as a listener, I’m definitely taking away some nuggets as well. Thank you so much.
Doris Nagel
Thank you!
And thanks to all my listeners, you’re the reason I do this.
Now before I wrap up this week’s show, I want to put in a couple shameless plugs of my own. First, you can find lots of free helpful information resources on my consulting website, globalocityservices.com. You can find all sorts of tools and blogs and eBooks, and an archive of many past episodes of The Savvy Entrepreneur that are chock full of tips and helpful information.
You can check out my new dedicated YouTube channel, which is called The Savvy Entrepreneur Radio Show. There, you can listen to and even download all sorts of past episodes of the show. I invite you to listen into some of the past shows — I have been blessed with so many amazing guests! I promise you will enjoy listening to them and come away with some great tips.
Follow my channel, listen to some of the episodes, comment on them. And if you follow it, you’ll be sure to be able to catch future shows as they’re posted. You’ll be supporting the work of the savvy entrepreneur and also lots of your fellow entrepreneurs who will appreciate your help in getting the word out about all the great things they’re doing.
Thanks again for listening. Tune in next week for another great guest and topic.
But until then, I’m Doris Nagel, wishing you happy entrepreneuring!
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