How to Make Your Business Stand Out From Competitors 

If you’re looking for good examples on how to market your brand, Wallaroo’s needs to be on that list! Wallaroo’s is a furniture company that does its marketing strategy completely different than other furniture companies and it has brought unbelievable success. This post will cover Bailee, co-owner of Wallaroo’s, sharing her tips and tricks on how to make your business stand out from competitors. 

 

 

If you’ve tried to buy furniture lately you’ve probably noticed how low in stock most businesses are. However, Wallaroo’s has been able to keep products in stock and has even grown during the pandemic. How did they do this? Bailee will share the company’s secrets behind their success and how their approach to marketing changed everything for their business. 

Before we talk about the tips, I want to give a quick backstory about Bailee and her partner Nate and how they became the owners of Wallaroo’s. It was actually Nate who began the company when he was in college. He would buy furniture from Craiglist, fix it up in his garage, and then sell it for profit. He solely marketed his company through organic posts on Facebook. 

His business slowly started to grow and that’s when Bailee met Nate. Bailee has experience in management and retail, so she wasn’t only the perfect fit for Nate’s heart, but for his career as well. Since then, they’ve built this amazing business together and it has grown SO fast, all while growing their family. They are the parents of three children and this business is very much so a family affair. 

 

 

5 Tips on How to Make Your Business Stand Out From Competitors

OK, as I mentioned earlier, Wallaroo’s has taken a completely different approach to its marketing strategy compared to other traditional furniture brands. Most furniture stores have traditionally reserved a spot for TV commercials or radio ads, but Wallaroo’s influence is all online. Their main presence is on TikTok where they produce videos to entertain their target audience. 

Bailee explained how, at first, the social media route to advertise just seemed like the best option for them because it was free. And now they’ve realized they still choose this option over all the other marketing platforms because it’s reaching their audience and the return is so much higher than the return you’d get from TV or radio ads. 

This strategy has proven to work for them since they are now the owners of 11 storefronts spread throughout the western United States, and 6 of those stores have opened within the last 3 years. In the short 6 months they’ve been present in Utah, they are already going head to head with other leading furniture stores. And they have no intention of slowing down. Look out Arizona, they’re coming to you next!

If this success sounds like something you want for yourself and your business, read through these 5 tips where Bailee shares in a bit more detail how they’ve gotten where they are today, and how you can do it too. 

 

 

Tip #1: How to Not Be Afraid to Market your Biz on TikTok and/or through Videos 

I know it can be stressful or even scary to put yourself in front of a camera and try and market your business to thousands of strangers. Let alone have to keep up with the trends and post in the right timeframe so it’s still relevant. But remember, marketing yourself on TikTok or Instagram reels is probably going to be a lot more fun and easier than you think it will be. 

Wallaroo’s just had a TikTok go viral recently where it now has over 850 thousand views. Bailee reminds us that you will probably have to make hundreds of videos before you have that one video to go viral. Read that statement again and think about all the good that will come from it. Think about how much experience you’ll gain, how much growth you’ll make as a person and business owner, and how much fun you’ll have branching out and trying new things. 

Here are a few quick tips to get started with marketing your brand through videos:

• Meet your audience where they’re at. (Refer back to my post on knowing your customer for help with this tip.)
• Try something new. Don’t be afraid to market yourself in a way that’s never been done before. 
• Pick 3-5 types of videos you’d feel comfortable creating as your first ones. (Here’s a list of easy Instagram reel ideas you could do today.)

 

Tip #2: How to Figure Out What Makes You Different and How to Use that in your Marketing Strategy

What makes Wallaroo’s different than its competitors is how 80 percent of their product will be in stock at the warehouse. Manufacturing has always been Wallaroo’s foundation from the very beginning. Bailee and Nate have put manufacturing first over just about everything. This is how they’ve managed to stay in stock during Covid and still provide their customers with high-quality products within a reasonable timeframe. 

So, what makes you different from your competitors? To help gain some clarity on this question, try to be 100 percent authentic to who you are. No matter if you’re talking to customers one-on-one, or doing an IG Live, make sure you are being your true self. Embracing yourself fully will help you know what makes you stand out from the rest. 

You could also ask your friends and family what qualities and/or traits you have that make you different. Talk to the people who have either known you for a long time or know you really well and they will probably enlighten you with things you’ve never seen in yourself. 

One more way that could help you discover how you are different is to think about your founder’s story. That story is very unique to you, so sharing this story on social media and including it in your marketing strategy will definitely help you stand out. Find ways to share your founder’s story over and over again. And don’t worry about repeating it too often because most of the time your followers need to hear it over and over again to help them remember who you are and remember to come to you when they are in need of your type of product. 

 

 

Tip #3: How to Know Who to Hire on Your Team

What’s worked really well for Bailee and Wallaroo’s is hiring people based on the spark they find in their potential employees. Bailee said she does not hire based on resume, education, or how well they interview. While these factors can play a role in the hiring process, the decision is mostly weighed on the gut feeling she has about that person and the innate talents she discovers when getting to know them. 

What should be most important is finding the person where you believe they were meant for this job. That way you know beyond any doubt that you and the person will take the job seriously. Everyone has a spark and it lights up when they are using their talents and gifts to serve other people. 

Another important note to include in this tip is to put people in leadership positions who you know you can trust. Bailee and her husband trust their leadership with a tremendous amount of responsibility and they know they help carry their business. Their contribution is a huge part of the company’s many successes. 

 

Tip #4: How to Balance Running a Business and Being a Parent 

As mentioned earlier, Bailee and Nate are the proud parents of 3 kids. Their kids are very much involved in their business and they have really enjoyed the opportunity to share it with them. This balancing act of parent and entrepreneur will look different for everyone. For Bailee, it looks like strapping her baby onto her carrier while moving furniture around in their warehouse. It looks like she and Nathan dividing efforts while one travels to one of their storefront locations in another state with a child while the other one stays home with the other kids. And it looks like having a nanny and a house cleaner. 

Bailee recognizes that it would be nearly impossible to run a successful business and home if it weren’t for the amazing amount of help she has from people she has hired and from family and friends. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help or even hire help. Do whatever you need to do in order to meet your goals and feel happy while doing it. 

 

Tip #5: How to Keep Yourself Motivated in the Beginning Stages of Your Business 

The first piece of advice for this tip is to have your “big picture” in mind, but don’t get stuck in it. This mindset will help you keep going, even if you are in the phase of doing the exact same thing every day. Always celebrate your successes, big and small–and know you are doing the thing you are the best in the world at. 

It gets easier and easier as you continue to grow and learn. Try to make things replicable, and put the most focus and effort on the things that will bring you the most money. This is important to do, especially at the beginning when you’re investing so much money, time, and energy to get your business up and running. Remember your true why and use that as your motivation every single day. 

 

 

How to Make Your Business Stand Out From Competitors 

There’s so much we can learn from Bailee and Wallaroo’s! I hope you enjoyed these 5 tips on how to make your business stand out from competitors. Let me know which one is your favorite or if you have any questions about them over on my Instagram @iammichellegifford. You can also follow Wallaroo’s @wallaroosfurniture. Check out their website here where you can see for yourself how amazing their couches and furniture are! (And I’m not just saying that. I have one of their couches in my grandma’s home I bought and renovated a little bit ago!) 

If you enjoyed these tips and want more on how to grow your business, join my text list by texting “money maker” to 951-309-7885. You can also join my Money Maker’s coaching group, which you should totally do. Thanks for being here!