Hidden Gems: Meet Justin Sebra of Armade in MI

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Sebra.

Hi Justin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Armade in MI started in 2018 as a family business with me and my dad, we have since grown into a small artisan shop with 50+ local small businesses participating! We have just launched our new revamped website and are expanding into custom apparel. We make our famous Fudge using local honey and try and keep everything as local and in the community as we can! We are all about helping entrepreneurs get started and giving them an online and retail presence. We partner with local venues and small shops to put on craft shows and artisan events. We are committed to building our artisan community and expanding to multiple store fronts and are looking for partners!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nope not at all, fighting through COVID-19 and building a reliable community in a rural town has not been easy. With a small rural community we face many challenges getting people to stop into the store, the traffic is seasonal and we struggle with profitability while we try and give our vendors and artisans a venue that is truly beneficial to growing their small business. Maintaining solid vendors and traffic during our off season has definitely been a challenge, we are facing this challenge more and more each day. I hope to remain open however without a helping hand I am afraid of what this year has to come.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Armade in MI?
Armade in MI is a Artisan Made Marketplace filled with local small businesses that work together to foster community and entrepreneurship. We offer an Online marketplace as well as retail space giving our small businesses multiple ways to utilize and help their small businesses. I’m extremely proud of the community we have built we have a family of artisans that are committed to being apart of something bigger than themselves.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Mindset is everything and when my dad left the business I was terrified it would fail, so I brough ton more business partners, I wish I would have been more confident in myself and what I brought to the business, when we brought on partners that did not share my vision and this was detrimental to our growth as it lead to friction. Friction lead to distractions which eventually lead to me having to buy out partners to continue to pursue my vision. Had I been more confident I would not have been afraid to fail and could have built the business according to my vision right away.

Pricing:

• Makers Sell with us starting at $100 per month at 30% commission split commis
• Artisans Sell with no fees but a 40% commission
• Wholesale fudge and Custom apparel options.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://armadeinmi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armade_in_mi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArmadeinMI
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/armade-in-mi
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArmadeInMI?app=desktop
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/armade-in-michigan-armada