448: Scaling an Ecom Brand From Scratch to $700K in Year One: The Sales Engine Playbook with Catherine Smith Licari of The Small Business Planner

the bossbabe podcast

Natalie Ellis

Education, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Business, Self-improvement

4.9 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to a masterclass in building a thriving business even while managing real-life challenges. Catherine Smith Licari, the creator of the Small Business Planner, joins Natalie to break down the tactical strategies behind creating a predictable sales engine and why intentional business planning is essential for long-term success. From sourcing and developing high-quality products to leveraging paid traffic and building customer trust, Catherine shares a wealth of actionable insights that any entrepreneur can apply. She also opens up about her IVF journey, revealing how she managed to grow her business during one of the most challenging years of her life. This interview covers how years of stagnant revenue finally led to a breakthrough of reaching almost 7-figures. If you’re ready to refine your operations, create consistent revenue, and scale your businesses with purpose – this episode is for you. TIMESTAMPS 00:13 How Catherine identified gaps in the fashion industry and launched her first business. 02:08 Leveraging Instagram and early online trends to build brand awareness. 03:34 Pivoting from product sales to brand advising based on client demand. 16:23 The creation of the Small Business Planner: Combining luxury and function for entrepreneurs. 23:04 Sourcing and developing a high-quality product: Catherine’s step-by-step approach. 27:27 Why intentional packaging and customer experience drive repeat customers. 35:03 Features of the Small Business Planner designed to solve critical business challenges. 37:26 Balancing personal challenges, including IVF, while scaling a business. 46:04 Building a predictable sales engine with paid ads and intentional traffic strategies. 50:48 Insights from Freedom Fast Track that shaped Catherine’s business growth framework. 53:36 Addressing financial and operational blind spots for small business owners. 59:21 How to fully utilize the Small Business Planner and its digital companion course. 01:09:26 Exclusive Bossbabe Sales Engine Bonus Pack for Small Business Planner customers. RESOURCES + LINKS Grab Your Small Business Planner Right Here + Get Your Sales Engine Bonus Pack for FREE. Freedom Fast Track Doors Open Soon - Join The Waitlist Here. Sign Up For Our Free Weekly Newsletter & Get Insights From Natalie Every Single Week On All Things Strategy, Motherhood, Business Growth + More. Join The Société: Our Exclusive Membership To Help You Build A Freedom-Based Business. Learn Natalie’s Proven Method for Building a Profitable, Predictable, Freedom-Based Business and Get Back to WHY you Became an Entrepreneur in this FREE 90-Minute Training. Drop Us A Review On The Podcast + Send Us A Screenshot & We’ll Send You Natalie’s 7-Figure Operating System Completely FREE (value $1,997). FOLLOW bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis: @iamnatalie Catherine + The Small Business Planner: @cashflow.for.creatives

Transcript

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0:00.0	Catherine, welcome to the Boss Bay podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm beyond excited to be here.
0:17.5	I would love to dive in and start at the beginning of your entrepreneurial career.
0:21.9	Can you talk me through that? Absolutely. We're going back a little while. It started in 2014.
0:28.2	My background originally was actually in magazines and publishing. And I was working in the Condé Nast building.
0:33.7	And I remember my job offer letter and the salary on it, which was nowhere near enough
0:40.3	to be able to exist in New York City. And so while that job and the jobs I had were very valuable
0:46.5	in those first couple of years after undergrad, I knew I needed a bigger plan. And I found myself
0:53.7	in the New York fashion and media landscape and I said,
0:57.0	gosh, there's a lot of really special people doing a lot of really great things. And I just had this
1:02.8	sense that I was going to need to do something exceptional to be able to afford to stay working in the
1:08.2	industry. Like that was what I was hearing in my mind. And I was a baby magazine
1:13.8	editor. So I had access to baby fashion designers and like emerging designers and accessories brands.
1:21.4	And at the time I started to see, this was very early, Instagram had just come on to the radar.
1:28.3	Instagram had become a thing so quickly,
1:29.8	and these brands were able to start telling their stories.
1:33.3	But they weren't, this was 2013 or so, there was no commerce.
1:37.8	You couldn't shop it.
1:39.2	So I quickly noticed this access challenge where young brands were coming online, but women couldn't
1:45.5	actually easily shop them.
1:47.4	And so I came up with the idea for this website that was just dedicated to emerging luxury
1:51.5	fashion designers.
1:53.3	And this was 2014, and I worked on the idea, and I applied to get my first master's degree at Parsons as sort of a backup for this entrepreneurial leap.
	...

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