Daily Inspiration: Meet Becki Chesnes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Becki Chesnes.

Hi Becki, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started playing music in school band when I was 12. By the time I was 14 I knew I wanted to play flute professionally. By the time I was 17 I knew I wanted to run my own company. At age 19, I moved to LA to attend USC’s world renowned music program.

Once I graduated, I decided I preferred the lifestyle in the Midwest better than the west coast, so I moved back to Cincinnati, OH.

In 2007, I started my own music company. At the time, I had initially envisioned more of a recording or production company. Over the years, I gravitated back to a more flute centric concept and The Flute Shop was born in 2016! Its 10 year milestone was this past April.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think if you ask any business owner if it has been a smooth road and they answer yes, they either aren’t managing that business or are fibbing!

Small Main Street business in America needs much more support. Because of that, I think most business owners of really small companies like mine feel many of the same pain points. Capital funding is a top challenge for start ups and growth cycles. That has been and continues to be a challenge for my inventory based business.

Understanding the market and getting customers to change their buying behavior to choose us rather than another source is a struggle in an overly saturated space.

And selling luxury products and services in the Midwest during periods of inflation or struggling economies like now is much more difficult than other parts of the country and world. The reality is most of the population even in our niche and geography can’t afford a lot of our products and services, so that’s a challenge to help ease the barrier to entry for many of our customers.

And of course the psychological burden of running your own show can be intense. Being a business owner can be isolating and stressful, so partnering with people and organizations who can help carry some of the psychological weight and help with solutions to struggles is so important.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My company The Flute Shop is a flute specialty company. I am a flute product dealer, run an education program consisting of private lessons and classes and provide repair support for flute products. I also produce live music in partnership with other companies and organizations as well as for weddings.

I am very proud of many things I’ve built at TFS, but the top priority for the culture is to operate with the highest level of integrity. I personally back up everything I do, sometimes at great cost to me, but I believe if something isn’t done right, there’s no point in doing it. I think the concept of quality over speed and quantity has gotten lost at some organizations. I’m standing firm on prioritizing standards over profits. Let’s slow down, and do things properly, with purpose and intent.

And I really believe in putting the customer first. The customer experience is always top of mind.

I’m proud of the boutique business model. I think it offers a very comprehensive one stop shop experience and everything is customized for each client personally by me.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m definitely a calculated risk taker. Nothing risked, nothing gained. I originally started my business out of my home, which was very economical, but wasn’t going to foster much growth. I think every business owner interested in achieving growth reaches key decision points over time that are potentially risky and might not pay off.

My approach to risk is two fold. Step 1 is always the research phase. What can I find out about a particular topic to understand the risk? Is there anything I can do to mitigate or lower any inherent risk? After I understand it, then comes phase 2 – making the decision. Even with the best research, there will still be things about an opportunity or move that could be surprising. At the end of the day, you have to use your best judgment based on the information you have and leap!

When taking risks, I always think of the famous poem by Erin Hanson:

“There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tfscincy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tfscincy