Scaling a Home-Based Business (Martha & Ash)

In this week’s episode of Main Street Business Insights, host Matt Wagner sits down with mother-daughter duo, Martha Moore and Ashley Owens, co-owners and founders of the custom drapery business Martha & Ash in downtown Camden, South Carolina.  Since 2003, Martha and Ashley have been making and supplying hand-made draperies, shades, and hardware for residential and corporate clients out of their quant shop in a renovated schoolhouse. Prior to this, Martha operated a custom drapery workroom out of her home, servicing mostly local customers. Eventually, she began working on larger contract jobs for local corporations. Soon after, Ashley, who had recently graduated college, came home to join her in the family business.  When the recession hit in 2008, the team’s commercial projects began to dry up. In an effort to attract more local residential customers, they opened their first bricks-and-mortar shop in downtown Camden and began to experiment with selling smaller items such as throw pillows on the then-fledgling online marketplace, Etsy. At the time, focusing on Etsy sales felt something like a gamble – but over the years, Martha & Ash’s online sales have eclipsed their in-person revenue and have helped them grow and scale beyond their local and regional client base.  In their conversation with Matt, Martha and Ashley share their experience co-leading a thriving business as a mother-daughter team, the importance of delivering a high-quality product, ways they improve the customer experience online, and how they have navigated through massive economic shifts.    Further Reading: Learn about Martha & Ash | See Martha & Ash’s Etsy Shop | Learn about Downtown Camden | Learn about Main Street South Carolina