caleb arter
Business Model, Theory of Change
Blue Seven’s business model is to offer a distinctive retail experience that is heavily based on the variety as well as uniqueness of products. The potential market is primarily Oklahoma City and surrounding suburbs (online sales are an obvious potential market but something we would prefer to pursue after a concerted focus on the physical location has been made). There are several other retail businesses that do a great job at specific segments of what we do but none that offer the variety that we offer. Key levers for growth include creatively building an experience, focusing on better margins and offerings that are unique to us. All of these can be accomplished with goods that we are able to create ourselves
Biggest Organizational Needs
Clarifying the one or two things we should be laser-focused on doing well instead of trying to do too many things all at once.
Redemptive Opportunity
As a retailer, we strive to lean into a spirit of abundance vs a spirit of scarcity. When you approach others as partners or with a spirit of camaraderie instead of approaching them as competition, their defenses automatically go down and opportunities to speak into their lives and influence them greatly increase.
fellow bio
I have been a part of Blue Seven since 2004. After selling leather goods in Blue Seven I was hired to help work in the shop as well as be a part of a startup that wholesaled small leather goods and other handmade items to retail shops all over the world. For the next couple of years, I attended trade shows selling items for our brand, helped with production of those products, and worked in the retail portion, Blue Seven, when needed. In 2006, a few months after getting married, we were given the opportunity to purchase the retail portion of the business through an owner finance agreement.
Since 2006, we have made it our goal to operate our business the way we think God's word clearly commands us to live. Our goal has been to simply look at what God says about our individual lives and apply it to our business. There are no separate rules for a business. We treat our business' finances and relationships the same as our personal finances and relationships. The most difficult and most rewarding part of running Blue Seven has been maneuvering the hundreds of relationships we have developed through the employment opportunities we have been able to offer. I hope that many have been able to gain at least some of the growth that we have had the opportunity to receive from these relationships.