How Bee-ing Curious Lead to an Expanding Business

Curious Goat General Store isn’t your average general store, Elis Ziegler is the beekeeper behind various environmentally conscious practices and offers products including garden essentials and honey and beeswax products. Located in Milford, Ontario, Elis aspires through their small business to connect their customers with bees and the ecosystem. Elis is actively working to make positive changes by respecting the surrounding land, communities and donating 1.492% of all sales to a local First Nations Seed Sanctuary.  

Elis joined the ShopHERE powered by Google program and was able to access free resources to assist with their business operations. They experienced a digital transformation that helped them begin selling their products online. For Elis specifically, a new website enabled them to sell products all year round, which was not the case before. This was a significantly positive change to their business model.     

“Curious Goat has been a seasonal business to date, offering a service for part of the year as the primary revenue stream. With Shopify, I can now offer products seamlessly all year round, in an excellent platform that provides business support I could not have advanced my business with otherwise, and certainly not without ShopHERE!”

As a part of the ShopHERE powered by Google program, Elis was partnered with an eCommerce Coordinator to brainstorm ideas and receive accessible and timely assistance in building their new website. In the end, Elis felt that their site was able to include all the required features, such as information about sales donations, selling gift cards, integrating the booking platform for Curious Goat’s experiences, and so much more. They were also very excited about the Shopify app integrations that were implemented.   

“In addition to increased confidence in my ability to manage e-commerce and its benefits, I have reassessed my product offerings, and have started developing new products which I would not have done before.”  

Getting started on a new website platform and operating a business is no easy task. Luckily, Elis was able to work alongside their eCommerce Coordinator to build their confidence and knowledge. Ultimately, Elis was confident and ready to operate their Shopify website on their own by the end of the program, which was very important for them as a small business owner.  

“Digital Main Street and ShopHERE are invaluable resources for small businesses of any kind, and bring a level of expertise I have yet to see. Take advantage of what you can to move your business goals ahead!”  

Elis experience with the ShopHERE powered by Google program left them motivated and confident about their new business and website. They identified that the program offered unique webinars and highlighted valuable and useful information. 

“The program moved me way ahead in my business goals quickly, provided lots of professional development and helped me develop new products”  

If you’re curious to see Elis’ store and products, click here. If you are a small business looking to get started on an online store or are interested in the ShopHERE powered by Google Program you can find more information here.