Businesses bring people together. Even if it isn’t their main goal, it happens naturally. You run into a friend that you haven’t seen in a while at a small boutique. You smile at the person on the treadmill next to you at the gym. You call a stranger to schedule a carpet cleaning because you saw their Facebook Ad. At many businesses, such connections are happenstance; a side effect of a transaction or service. Luke Miller, founder of Shop Marketing (a.k.a #TheShop), turned bringing people together into a core competency on which his business exclusively focuses.
#TheShop delights in bringing their client’s brands and products to life by creating moments of consumer immersion. To excel at this ‘moment marketing,’ they sweat the petty stuff, priding themselves on a creative approach and an attention to detail that makes events into a memorable spectacle. This hyper-detailed approach creates enormous value for their clients. These events can range from product launches and mobile tours to new store openings, celebrity appearances, or other more unique, bespoke experiences.
When asked what a typical day in the life is like, Luke used his previous day as a perfect example: He had a last-minute request from a large client for a catered show featuring a silent disco and a DJ. Located in New York City, Luke and his team scrambled into action as they were given just one week to pull this together. The DJ had many specific requests and the venue had many detailed organizational requirements that needed to be met to exacting detail, all on short notice. While working on that, he also fielded calls from other current clients, put together proposals for potential new clients, and delegated priority tasks to his savvy, passionate staff. Every day brings something new and exciting, and the daily dose of dynamism keeps things interesting.
Luke loves being a business owner. His favorite part about being the head honcho at #TheShop is being able to oversee every project that comes through their doors, having a role in it one way or another. Watching each project go from A to Z the way the he and the client envisioned is important to him. Being in charge may come with a lot of responsibility, but he happily oversees everything that happens in the business to ensure his customers are always thrilled by the results.
Luke has much to be proud of but, out of everything, he’s most proud that he’s not afraid to fail. Given the nature of his work, Luke sees that operating from a fear of failure limits creativity. This philosophy has made him more confident and helped him be open to any bold idea that might cross his mind. Having this confidence makes him a great leader for his team. Mistakes happen; but if you can face and overcome them, your creativity will be endless. Luke has had to learn this the hard way at times, but it’s all been for the best and he sees it as the reason his business is as successful as it is.
With the rapid growth #TheShop experienced, Luke’s days were soon filled with more bookkeeping than he could keep up with. He recognized this part of the business was not his core competency, so he decided it was time to bring in a level of talent and passion equal to his own to support this crucial part of his business. As a Gold Champion Partner, Accountingprose was easy to find via the Xero Advisor Directory. Once Luke connected with Tina, he knew instantly we were the right fit for his business!
After completing our seamless onboarding process which includes a complimentary owner-focused Xero training, Luke now felt confident the bookkeeping for his creative agency were well handled, freeing up his most valuable resource: time. This meant he could focus all his passion on growing his business. He filled the extra time with more events, more client outreach, and more time developing his team! Luke is still riding the kind of growth that leaves him on the cusp of adding more staff vs. handling 120% of what’s on his plate, so “free” time spent outside the business is rare. When he does find time, Luke enjoys playing soccer with colleagues to blow off steam.
Luke is a Small Business Superhero, so of course we had to know what his superpower would be. He told us he would choose invisibility. He thinks it would be fun to sit in on meetings and events, to watch, but not be seen.
Do you want to plan a big event for your business? Give #TheShop a call at (303) 999-8446 and mention Accountingprose for a free consultation. You can find them posting great content on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
Check out this video from a recent event they did with Adidas:
Finally, here's some nice things that Luke Miller said about us. We love handing the bookkeeping for creative agencies. It is clients like #TheShop that keep us going!
Shop Marketing - Client Testimonial
Enzo : May 14, 2015
