Who are you and What do you do?
My name is Kristy and I’m the owner of Donut Country. I run the business with my husband Bo and do a little bit of everything. I work on getting supplies for the business working the register and mainly doing everything in-house. I like to be hands-On in the business because it gives me joy!
How did you get the idea for your business?
I actually didn’t get the idea for this business because my parents are the ones who started this business. However, my husband always wanted to be a business owner and wanted to do things differently and make it unique so after a while of coming back from working outside of the family business my parents handed over Donut Country to me and my husband and we have been running it ever since.
How did you make your first sale?
After my family decided to move out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we made our first sale when we entered Murfreesboro TN. This is my family business. I grew up doing tasks such as folding boxes and sweeping and making a little bit of money here and there.
What is unique about owning and running a business in Murfreesboro?
I think watching my family grow the business in Murfreesboro was very unique. Growing up I always saw how hard my parents worked and Donut Country is simply unique to Murfreesboro.
How do you advertise your business?
There are many ways that I advertise my business. Social media of course is the main one, but we like to donate and give out gift cards to get the word out about Donut Country. I think that using multiple ways to advertise your business is very effective.
As a business owner, what keeps you up at night?
I would say managing everything such as staffing and making sure everyone’s happy. It is very important to me that everyone likes their job and their environment. I think of ways to make people feel better as well as improve the business.
What is one way you’ve had to pivot or change course to grow your business? What led to you making that decision?
Covid-19 really impacted the business so we had to work around that challenge. We came up with a couple of ideas in order to keep our customers and employees safe. I would say that working around Covid is something that changed the course of our business.
If you could wave a magic wand and make one problem go away in your business, what would it be?
I would say being able to manage my time better outside the business. The older I get the more I realize that time is super important. You can always make more money, but you can’t get back time so that is something I would change.
If you could time travel back to the day you started your business, what advice would you give yourself?
I would say be patient and if I don’t know how to solve a problem I would have gone to someone who knew more about it. There are a lot of struggles with opening a business such as knowing exactly how to do it the right way so I would say that I would hire people who know how to do each particular thing.
Where do you want to go with your business?
I would love to open more stores around Murfreesboro but I thought about opening a donut shop in a van. I feel like that’s such a unique idea and would definitely bring in profit. It will be like a food truck but with Sweets!
What’s the one thing you’re doing right now from a marketing perspective that’s getting you more customers? (We’re looking for ideas that other business owners could borrow)
I believe that social media is a major part of marketing. We use this method along with many others such as Text Club. Having good content for your business it’s something I would tell other business owners to take advantage of.
What’s one business lesson you’ve learned that you’d be willing to share?
A business lesson I’ve learned is that it is very important to have a good team. If you treat your team with kindness, it will definitely return. Not only with the relationships, but it will help the business grow.
What’s a podcast, book, or website you’d recommend that has inspired you to grow your business?
A book that has helped me grow my business would be Dave Ramsey’s Financial. It really taught me the different steps on how to run a business and to have a plan. They taught me a lot of things that I didn’t know and I’m glad I got the chance to read it.
What do you use for your daily to-do list?
I know a lot of people usually write stuff down, but I use an app called app Cozi. It helps me stay organized on the go since I carry my phone everywhere.
What social media tools do you use that other business owners could use? (For posting, for graphics, phone apps, etc.)
I would have to say Canva! It’s such a great social media that offers free marketing tools that anyone can use. They have good content to match your business and you can even make it unique by changing the template.
Learn More about Donut Country by visiting thier website!
