Stuffed cabbage, zucchini boats, sweet corn with maple-bourbon brown butter and bacon, roasted white cheddar cauliflower soup, baked pumpkin oatmeal…
Drooling yet? Yeah. Want some? YES! If you’re in Bowling Green, Kentucky, you’re in luck because you’re in the delivery area for Beet Box Market. That means Michelle Darnall can send you chef-cooked healthy prepared meals, fresh produce boxes, and healthy local groceries, right to your doorstep.
Not in Bowling Green? There’s still hope, and it tastes delicious. Let’s talk about Gone Nuts, the all-natural nut butter company Michelle bought for $20K. So far she’s grown it to nearly $50K in sales. Considering that peanut butter alone accounts for a $5.7B marketplace, not counting cashew or almond butter, this is going to get good.
But it all started when Michelle couldn’t keep Gone NutsTM on her Beet Box shelves. (OK, that sentence is special.) Her customers went… nuts… over the stuff and wanted more. So, in 2019, Michelle bought the company.
Not just all willy-nilly-like, though. Even before becoming an entrepreneur, this mom of three was surrounded by entrepreneurial mentors who’ve given her sound advice all along. They’re watching out for her - and watching out for an opportunity to invest in what she creates.
Into the Capitalism Incubator
But even with a host of mentors around her, Michelle recently joined the Capitalism Incubator. It’s already potentially saved her millions of dollars. That’s because the prevailing advice “out there” is to get into big box retail first… a rather pricey maneuver. The other bit of advice many would share with her is to build her own production line, to the tune of millions.
Instead, Michelle is doing the work the original founder of Gone Nuts didn’t do (probably because he followed the other piece of advice everyone gives. He built a product-oriented business rather than choosing a person on a journey of transformation, a person he could serve along the way. And yeah… everyone eats nut butter (well, almost everyone), but your ‘who’ really can’t be: EVERYONE.
Doing the work she’s doing now could mean a whole digit - or a even a comma’s-worth of difference in the long-term value of her brand.
Who's Michelle's Person?
That first question: who? After all, there are lots of audiences that crave clean nut butters that taste delicious. Michelle’s leaning toward herself. Moms like her know how important healthy food is for their family. They read ingredients. They get… choosy.
And they’ll tell you the truth: Choosy moms do not choose certain red-lidded peanut butters so full of artificial and unhealthy ingredients that they’re really not even fit for human consumption. That kinda points to the big problem Michelle can solve for her person. Her brand will be a huge time-saver for moms who don’t have time to read all those labels - and whose kids want delicious nut butter flavors like: Blueberry Almond (my favorite!), Date Me (Michelle’s favorite), Cin City, Bees Knees, Naked, and Mocha Almond.
Currently Gone Nuts sells in local boutique shops near Michelle and on her Shopify site. Amazon? That’s a definite possibility, but she’s focused right now on mastering one sales channel at a time.
With one brick and mortar store, three kids, and a nut butter empire to grow, it’s no surprise that one of Michelle’s mentors has been pushing her to follow the Owner’s Model… though he didn’t call it that. He just called it “getting someone to run everything.” She’s started, and hired a shop manager, a kitchen manager, and a web and social media manager.
As Michelle says, “If I had to do my social media, there would be no social media. I only post pictures of my vacation! And that’s just in case I were to lose my phone - at least this way I’d still have my pictures.” We get you, Michelle. We get you.
What Drives Michelle?
Always got to ask about what drives the entrepreneurs we feature, and Michelle had a great answer. Her husband is an educator and a good sport to go along with all this entrepreneurism. But she’s building this for her kids - not only for them to have a secure financial future, but also, potentially, a business for themselves one day. And in the meantime, Michelle’s businesses fund her family’s travel adventures. Being able to give your kids the world is one thing. Being able to show them the world and help them gain the perspectives that only come from being away from home a while - that’s invaluable.
I asked Michelle what she’s loving best about Cap Inc so far…
“It’s seeing the possibilities. I’ve never had a lack of drive. I had gotten to the point where I was feeling a little defeated because I didn’t know what to do next. Cap Inc has shown me a path and what to do next, and it’s given me back my drive to make it happen.”
We’ll be watching. (OK, watching while eating nut butter off a spoon, as God intended.)
Your Turn?
Here at Capitalism.com, we're on a mission to make one million millionaires by 2028. Michelle's gotten on her way by taking massive action and we're rooting hard for her... just like we'll root for YOU, too!
The first step on your road to $1 million is finding the perfect business for you to build - one that makes the world a better place while also making life-changing money.
That's why we made this free video training for you. Watch it and find your million-dollar business idea.
