Brittani Bo Baker is quite familiar with the kind of hustle, ambition, and know-how that it takes to be an entrepreneur who works from home. She also knows the fear, worry, sweat equity, and faith in one’s dreams needed to become a success at it. It’s what motivated her to devote her energy to helping others overcome their obstacles and find success in working for themselves. How did she go from working at the family business to successful work-from-anywhere entrepreneur to having what it takes to become a burgeoning business consultant?
After retiring from the NFL in 1999, Brittani’s father began an at-home catering business. Still, in high school at the time, Brittani was waking up at 5 am every morning to work while others her age were still asleep. Her job? Do all the necessary prep work for the catering business. This was no small fete—her family business made authentic southern recipes from scratch. This meant shredding blocks of cheese and slicing pounds and pounds of potatoes by hand, also making their au gratin potato cream sauce. Once all that work was completed, Brittani would then head off to school with the rest of her classmates. While their day was just beginning, she was already in full work mode.
Together, Brittani and her family continued to grow their home catering business even after she had graduated from high school. In 2006 they went brick-and-mortar, opening their first restaurant Bubba’s-Q. Like so many others in the restaurant business, Brittani faced many challenges. Competition in this space is incredibly tough, especially for restaurants that are just opening. Success required creative thinking and smart marketing strategies.
After opening their restaurant, Brittani followed one of the basic rules of successful businesses—go with what you know. Besides running the restaurant, she and her father perfected, patented, and ultimately marketed their specialty, Bubba’s Boneless Ribs. Brittani also took the custom seasoning blends that her Grammaw had used for years and turned them into an all-natural line of gourmet seasonings which she markets. She calls her line Grammaw Knows.
The success of her at-home businesses left her no stranger to the journey of entrepreneurship. Brittani is able to talk to her clients about taking a leap of faith when it comes to starting their business because she’s had to do it herself. After having to apply for a business loan, Brittani and Bubba’s restaurant was on the verge of closing. She applied to go onto the very popular TV show Shark Tank to try to find an investor to help their business.
Despite being told that getting on the show was as likely as winning the lottery, she applied anyway. Her gamble paid off in big ways. Besides scoring one of the most successful deals in the history of the show, everyone in the country now knew that she was adept at making her businesses a success.
Her appearance on Shark Tank caused an overwhelming response from fellow entrepreneurs. Her social media inboxes became inundated with questions from people all over the world. They wanted to know how they, too, could start a successful business or take their current business to the next level. They were all turning to Brittani for advice.
So many people were looking for help to turn their businesses into successful ventures, and Brittani knew from experience what it would take to achieve that. She also shared many of their same worries, fears, passions, and fierce determination when building her home businesses. She had a lot of experience-based wisdom and empathy to share with her fellow entrepreneurs and business hopefuls.
Far from wanting to keep all that practical knowledge to herself, Brittani came up with a new business idea—working from home as a business consultant. This would achieve her mission of helping people reach their wildest business goals and the level of success they were working so hard for.
Many entrepreneurs who consult with Brittani come to her because they think they have run out of ways to grow their business. She knows that what they really need is an outside perspective, someone to help them come up with fresh ideas—something she has plenty of experience with.
The entrepreneurs Brittani works with usually have a vision or idea, but they don’t know where to start. Others have fears about unknown or unpredictable variables, what people might think, or the tough road ahead. These things often hold them back. She helps clients take the focus off the negatives and put that mental energy back into to their goals—seeing where they envision their product or service going. She’s made it her job to give people that helpful nudge, pushing them to dream big and take the leap of faith necessary to succeed.
A love for her job and a passion for helping people fulfill their dreams guide Brittani’s client-centric business model. She is careful to never give overbook her schedule, making sure that she has enough time to give each client her undivided attention. Brittani knows her clients are crucial to her success and she shows that she values them by making sure they get the time and energy they need.
Working from home has allowed Brittani to have a wider client base, letting her reach out and help people all across the United States. Aside from the encouragement to reach for their dreams, she consults with people on practical and essential aspects of owning a business. Being involved with her own businesses has given her the tools and experience to help others in many aspects of starting or growing a business.
People come to her for help with everything from devising a smart business plan to figuring out realistic sums to request when pitching to potential investors. She also assists entrepreneurs with building their websites, planning events, driving business through press releases, product development, and product sourcing, among other things.
She remembers one client in particular who she was able to assist when it came to production costs. The client was paying an incredible $35 to manufacture each scarf, making it impossible to retail and still earn a profit. Using her previous experience with production, Brittani was able to get her cost for finished goods down to an amazing $8 per scarf, allowing the client to make a profit and stay in business. Success stories like these are what keep Brittani going.
Have you been thinking about turning your product or service into a business but are nervous to take that leap? Brittani would be glad to help. Contact her at speaking@brittanibobaker.com to schedule your business assessment and start reaching for your business goals right now.
