Small businesses on the rise

Sol Garcia| THE RIDER

During quarantine and summer, many people chose to open a small business as a way to stay busy, express creativity or maintain income. 

Sisters and UTRGV students Clarissa and Vanessa Diaz decided to open their own sticker shop, Diaz & Grace, after noticing stickers were popular in the Catholic faith community, especially with college students, said Vanessa, a mass communication sophomore. 

“That’s why we thought it could be very relatable, especially being that we’re both in college and if we were to sell to our peers, like that would be, kind of, like, the market, you know, the target audience,” she said. 

Since the shop’s launch four weeks ago, the sisters make and sell stickers based on their religion, celebrities, logos for other businesses and customs, said Clarissa, an incoming communication graduate student. 

“It’s really cute … to see people put them on their laptops, or on their water bottles, you know, their phone cases,” she said. 

Clarissa and Vanessa also decided to open their shop recently to ensure they had extra money during the COVID-19 situation, Vanessa said. 

“We both wanted to have an extra amount of money, just in case anything were to happen, especially with school starting right now,” she said. 

One of their main missions with the business is to share their faith and personality. 

“It’s not just a way to make a profit,” she said. “We’re doing this to spread the word of God and … like small, cute stickers as well.” 

Owning a business has taught them responsibility, the logistics of running a small business and that time management is very important, Clarissa said. 

“It’s not just products and sell,” she said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it… the time, the effort, the financial, I guess, like taking care of financial needs and things for the business that they may need, and so being a college student along with running a business can be very time consuming.”

Vanessa says they must have accountability and strong communication with each other. Their equipment is set up in their room, and the two of them handle every part of the business together. 

“In order to run the business, we really don’t rely on anyone besides each other,” she said. 

The shop has been successful in terms of support. Customers return for another sticker several times and seeing how many people support Diaz & Grace is how they define their success, Clarissa said. 

“We’ve been very blessed to have this business succeed so much in three weeks,” she said. 

Diaz & Grace is promoted on Instagram, Facebook and on its website www.diazandgrace.com. 

Another small business that recently opened up is My Dream Badge, a shop that sells custom badge holders.

Melody Hernandez, an incoming biology freshman, had the idea of designing badge holders after taking a summer certification class that required wearing IDs. She recalled her aunt had worn a decorated badge holder, and Hernandez thought it would be fun to design some for herself and for others. 

“I was like, ‘I would love to design some for people and then even, like, customize some for anybody … something, like, they prefer, and it’s not really something that you can find, mostly, like, anywhere here, like, in the store,” she said. 

My Dream Badge opened on Aug. 15 and has received “a good amount of orders.” Hernandez thought medical students would be her main customer base but was pleased to see customers from other professions, she said. 

“I just got different people from, like, different places,” Hernandez said. 

Hernandez designs and runs the store all by herself from home, and one of the biggest challenges is getting all of the little details right.

“Putting everything together, like one by one, it’s a little difficult because they’re really small items,” she said. 

My Dream Badge is promoted online via Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Hernandez uses her personal account to promote, and the shop’s Instagram is @my_dreambadge. 

“For the business account, I also just use some hashtags as well,” she said. “That’s something that also, I think, really helps too.” 

Since their rise in popularity, small businesses are being taken seriously and should continue to be supported because it’s the only source of income for some people, and each item is handmade, Hernandez said. She’s also noticed most small businesses do customs.

“I think that’s really special because it’s something that you can’t find, like, in a regular store,” she said. “It’s something that is crafted with love and care.” 

To ensure steadiness, all small businesses need to be selling online, especially now, said Cristina Cantu, senior business adviser of the UTRGV Small Business Development Center.

“Now, it’s not only about being online,” she said. “It’s being able to provide products and services online.” 

Small businesses should also know who their target audience is before selling, Cantu said.  

Cantu offers these questions to consider: “What are you selling, whether it’s a product or service? Who can afford it? Will they want to buy it from you?” 

Business owners or people considering starting a business can contact the development center for virtual training or advising services at 956-665-7535 or sbdc@utrgv.edu. 

Arturo Vasquez, marketing professor in the Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship, says small business owners have taken this time as an opportunity to satisfy customer’s needs. 

“In specific periods of time, like during this pandemic, lots of new needs, and improvisation is something that you see at the beginning of how businesses take those opportunities,” he said.  

Vasquez advises all business owners to make their ads in a deceitful way or exaggerate. 

“Do your ads properly, professionally, but do not exaggerate,” he said.