Locations: Solvang, CA and Monterey, CA
Established: May 2003
Employees: 7

Czech glass art, American and international designer jewelry, large scale nature photography

www.zfolio.com

Zdena was raised in a small farming village behind the Iron Curtain in what is now the Czech Republic. She began her business out of a suitcase. When she couldn’t get a bank loan to increase her inventory of fine art glass, she came to WEV for help.

After six years in business, Z Folio is about to open a second location in Monterey’s Cannery Row, including hiring four new employees. Zdena’s success with WEV was celebrated at The Women’s Conference WE Invest exhibition in 2008.

What prompted you to open your own business?
I came to California to go to school, I studied philosophy and planned to get a degree and so on. And about halfway through I realized that I’m going to run out of money very soon. As an international student, I wasn’t able to work. And because I didn’t grow up in this country I didn’t have the daily cultural experience and the points of reference that others had.  So the only jobs that would be available to me at that time would be very low-level, low paid, low skill jobs. I had had a career before, and I knew I could do better than that.

What has been your biggest business challenge?
My biggest business challenge has definitely been sales skills. I’m a shy person by nature and I grew up in a communist regime where the last thing you want to do is stand out.

What has been your biggest business success?
Success to me means having created an environment where artists want to be represented and which people feel happy. My biggest business success has been staying true to our mission, which has been creating an experience for people that’s focused on handmade merchandise, quality, and intrinsic value of artistry and handmade products. We have established our reputation, right from the start, for being honest and fair with our artists and with what we do. That – and that people come here to feel good - mean success to me.

Who is your ideal customer?
My ideal customer is someone with good taste, who appreciates handmade creations, the work of artists and designers, and understands the value.

What has been the biggest surprise about owning your own business?
The biggest surprise about owning a business has been how much it really takes, how much energy and time it really takes to make it work. In retail there are so many different aspects of the business and you really need to know them all. Retail has a little bit of the reputation of being easy, like the idea of a mom and pop shop. That’s not true, if you want to be successful in retail you need to do your homework, you need to study on a daily basis. You just need to be there and pay attention to all the details.

How do you juggle all the pieces of your life?
I think that you make your priorities happen, and at this point the business is the priority. We are expanding so that is the priority at the moment, and I have family. But I believe that it is more of an organic situation and to shift energy as needed. With priorities, you make time for what is important and at this time in my life the business is important.

What advice can you offer other women who might want to start their own company?
Write a plan. Seek the company of entrepreneurs and soak up their can-do attitude. Every time you observe yourself apologizing and excusing, go and change whatever it is that needs to be changed. Welcome change and feel comfortable with it. Never stop learning, always seek ways to learn.

How did WEV help you achieve your goal or dreams?
I needed a loan to expand my inventory, but the banks turned me down. I turned to WEV, met with a business counselor and a loan officer, wrote a business plan and got the loan I needed from WEV’s Small Business Loan Fund. I was operating Z Folio on slim and often disappointing consignment margins and WEV’s business counselor helped me realize that a retail gallery would be a better business model. I started to research locations and decided on Solvang. When I went back to WEV for a second loan, the business counselor thought that with my track record, I’d be able to qualify for a conventional bank loan, and I did.

Now I am expanding to a second location in one of the most fabulous locations on the west coast.

Photography courtesy of Meghan Nicole Photography: www.meghannicolephotography.com