In this episode of Shopify Masters, we talk with Marisa Grotz, founder of STIL, a line of planners that blend style with practical functionality. We discuss with Marisa how to scale the business, work with major retailers, and stay creative in marketing strategies.
Identifying the Market Gap Through Personal Need
Did the idea for the business start from your need for a planner?
I’ve been a planner girl for a very long time. I used planners when I was in elementary school, even in high school. I remember even at that time, I was customizing planners to fit my needs and style, and make them look a certain way that made me feel comfortable using them. At that time, I had a full-time job. I also had a side job. I was actually working at Stella & Dot. I was designing for them, so I was organizing jewelry parties because I was looking for side work. Then, I was also going to school three nights a week for design. So I had these three different schedules that I had to organize. There was a lot going on, and I knew I needed a good planner to help me organize my life during that year. I went to an Indigo Chapters store here in Canada and bought a planner for myself. I felt really good about it. I was excited to use it. But when I actually started using it, I quickly realized that it wasn’t very practical. The aesthetic side of the planner itself wasn’t something I was completely in line with. But I thought if it would serve the purpose, I’d be fine having something that didn’t look beautiful on my desk. After realizing that the planner I bought – which I spent 40 dollars on – was not very practical, I decided to look a bit for planners on the market that might be a little higher price point, but had some things that I really needed in a planner. What I found – in 2014 – was that many planners were targeted towards moms or new moms who were planning activities and meal planning and a lot of schedules for their kids, grocery lists. Everything I didn’t need at the time because I was 24 years old. So I didn’t need those things, and the cover designs were flowers or had different colored stripes or were lots of polka dots. I just wanted something clean and beautiful, with nice interior pages and good typography. I couldn’t find anything like that. So I simply designed my own planner for myself. Not necessarily with the intention of starting a business. Just needed something I needed in my life.
How Did You Design Your Planner?
How did you design your planner? How did you start looking for ideas to make your own planner?
Initially, I talked to many of my friends and colleagues about the different ways they organize their planners because everyone does it one way or another. Some people use their Google Calendar. Others have different organizing apps like Asana and so on. I did some research on the different types of people who use them, and what makes them enjoy using those apps and other books. What I ultimately realized is that the best ways to organize are to be able to do everything you need to do on the paper. To have a dedicated section for daily task lists. Things you need to do and want to confirm physically because there’s nothing better than the feeling of being able to check off or confirm a task. But alongside that, there should be a completely separate section for anything time-related. Being able to put down lunch meetings, Skype calls, Zoom calls, and your activities, and yoga, and workouts. Even something as simple as dinners or meal planning for dinner, especially if you work all day and want to write that down in a planner and keep it completely separate. What allows you to look at your schedule for the week and decide “here’s how many things I can realistically do in a day.” Then you write them down in your task lists, and you don’t feel like you’re underperforming because you’re actually doing the right amount of things, and you feel good about it.
Desire
In the presence of a planner that combines functionality and elegance
Marisa Grotts wanted to have a planner that combines functionality and elegance, so she launched STIL. How did you manage your time while running this new business you started and having to go to work during the day?
I was managing the business and of course I was working on selling the planners, I still have my job, and I still work in design. What helped me above all else was knowing my schedule and placing everything I do in a given day. I had my hours meticulously planned instead of being like “Well, maybe I should work on my business now.” What is really important is scheduling that time in your planner. If you decide you will dedicate three hours a week or four hours a week to your business, schedule it in your planner. Whether it’s every night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM, or Saturday morning from 8:00 AM to noon, you are working on your business. Make sure to put that down physically in your planner. Because it’s not just in your schedule, it also helps you remember better, and your mind feels more at ease when you know you have that on paper. The key to juggling a full-time job, starting a new business, and studying
How do you prioritize tasks in your to-do list, when your daytime job consumes so much of your time?
What we often confuse is importance with urgency. We often focus on urgency over importance. It’s really a good exercise to look at your tasks and think, “Okay. Is this important or is it just urgent?” When we usually wake up, we say, “Okay, I really need to get this done. I have to knock it out.” But actively thinking through whether it’s actually important or not is a productivity task in itself. Often, you can feel overwhelmed by the sense that you have too many things to do. But if you actually look at your tasks, start to separate yourself from them, and decide, “Okay. Maybe I’ll just focus today on something really important that I’ve been ignoring.” Then, spend the time you have doing that because you’ll feel so great at the end of the day like, “Wow. I actually did that, and I’m not behind on it anymore.”
The desire for a planner that combines functionality and elegance
Marisa Grotts wanted to have a planner that combines functionality and elegance, so she launched STIL. How did you manage your time while running this new business you started and having to go to work during the day?
I was managing the business and of course I was working on selling the planners, I still have my job, and I still work in design. What helped me above all else was knowing my schedule and placing everything I do in a given day. I had my hours meticulously planned instead of being like “Well, maybe I should work on my business now.” What is really important is scheduling that time in your planner. If you decide you will dedicate three hours a week or four hours a week to your business, schedule it in your planner. Whether it’s every night from 7:00 to 10:00 PM, or Saturday morning from 8:00 AM to noon, you are working on your business. Make sure to put that down physically in your planner. Because it’s not just in your schedule, it also helps you remember better, and your mind feels more at ease when you know you have that on paper. The key to juggling a full-time job, starting a new business, and studying
How
How do you prioritize tasks on your to-do list when your day job consumes so much of your time?
What we often confuse is importance with urgency. We often focus on urgency more than importance. It’s really a good activity to look at your tasks and think, “Okay. Is this important or is it just urgent?” When we usually wake up, we say, “Okay, I really need to get this done. I need to get it off my plate.” But actively thinking about whether it’s really important or not is a productive task indeed. Often, you can feel overwhelmed by the sensation that you have too much to do. But if you actually look at your tasks, start to detach yourself from them, and decide, “Okay. Maybe I’ll just focus today on something really important that I’ve been ignoring.” Then, spend the time you have to do it because you will feel really great at the end of the day like, “Wow. I actually did that, and I’m not behind on it anymore.”
The desire for a planner that combines functionality and style
Marisa Grotz wanted to have a planner that combines functionality and style, so she launched STIL. How did you manage your time while running this new business that you started and having to go to work during the day?
I was managing the business and of course I was working on selling the planners, still had my job, and I was still working in design. What helped me above all else was knowing my schedule and putting everything I do into one day. I had my hours meticulously planned instead of being like, “Okay, maybe I should work on my business now.” What’s really important is scheduling that time in your planner. If you decide you will dedicate three hours a week or four hours a week to your business, schedule that in your planner. Whether that’s every night from 7:00 to 10:00, or Saturday mornings from 8:00 AM to noon, you’re working on your business. Make sure to physically put that in your planner. Because it’s not just in your schedule, it also helps you remember better, and your mind feels more at ease when you know you have that on paper. The key to juggling a full-time job, starting a new business, and studying
How do you prioritize tasks on your to-do list when your day job consumes so much of your time?
What we often confuse is importance with urgency. We often focus on urgency more than importance. It’s really a good activity to look at your tasks and think, “Okay. Is this important or is it just urgent?” When we usually wake up, we say, “Okay, I really need to get this done. I need to get it off my plate.” But actively thinking about whether it’s really important or not is a productive task indeed. Often, you can feel overwhelmed by the sensation that you have too much to do. But if you actually look at your tasks, start to detach yourself from them, and decide, “Okay. Maybe I’ll just focus today on something really important that I’ve been ignoring.” Then, spend the time you have to do it because you will feel really great at the end of the day like, “Wow. I actually did that, and I’m not behind on it anymore.”
The desire for a planner that combines functionality and style
Marisa Grotz wanted to have a planner that combines functionality and style, so she launched STIL. How did you manage your time while running this new business that you started and having to go to work during the day?
I was
I manage the work and of course I was working on selling the plans, I still have my job, and I am still working in the design field. What helped me above all else is knowing my schedule and putting everything I do in one day. I had my hours precisely planned instead of being like “Well, maybe I should work on my project now.” What’s really important is scheduling that time in your planner. If you decide that you’re going to dedicate three hours a week or four hours a week to your work, schedule that in your planner. Whether it’s every night from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, or Saturday morning from 8:00 AM to noon, you are working on your project. Make sure to physically put that in your planner. Because it’s not just in your schedule, but it also helps you remember better, and your mind feels more at ease when you know you have that on paper. The key to handling a full-time job, starting a new venture, and studying
How do you prioritize tasks in your to-do list when your day job consumes so much of your time?
What we often confuse is importance and urgency. We often focus on urgency more than importance. It’s really a good practice to look at your tasks and think, “Okay. Is this important or is it just urgent?” When we usually wake up, we say “Okay, I really need to get this done. I need to get it off my plate.” But actively thinking about whether this is actually important or not is
Source: https://shopify.com/blog/stil-marketing%20
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