Small Business Spotlight: Hot Dog Marketing

In honor of Small Business Week, we will be celebrating and highlighting local small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the week. Today we are highlighting Hot Dog Marketing. Jessica Scanlon, Founder of Hot Dog Marketing shares with us the motivation for her business, hurdles she overcame, and other advice for entrepreneurs just starting out.  

Describe the concept for your business and what motivated your idea: 

I was working in marketing for a large services organization and started helping small businesses, on the side, get their branding, websites, and online presence going. It was truly much more satisfying and more fun to help them. I knew my work was making an impact on their businesses and families. I developed our agency model around helping those small-to-medium size businesses, and I’ve been able to use my experience working in a service organization prior to create great relationships with our clients. 

What was one hurdle you had to overcome? 

Money – we’re bootstrapped. I started this business with a minor $500 investment into a business checking account. So every stage of growth has come with its own financial challenges where you have to choose where to invest and you hope that investment pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t, and for a smaller business, it’s a hard recovery. You have to really have stubborn, unwavering focus on what you’re trying achieve as a company and for yourself as a business owner to keep going. 

What do you attribute to your success? 

Hunger for learning. There’s nearly a daily mistake happening when you run a business, and every stage of growth comes with new challenges. You have to be willing to learn and curate information from others, books, podcasts, speakers, and events. I ask for so much help from people I know and people I just met. I love to learn and consider my network and friendships some of the best resources. 

What would be one piece of advice to someone just starting out? 

Build a network of experts that you can rely on. Have an attorney, CPA, experienced business owners, and other specialists that you can call on when you have a question. You will never know everything!