Feb. 23, 2023

Laura Benson’s story reads like the stuff of startup dreams.

She grew up on a dairy farm near Crooks and started Filly Flair in her basement in 2010, originally as a way to cover her rodeo fees.

She quietly set up a website and began selling on Facebook before the social network even offered business pages.

By 2012, it had started to take off. The rapid growth of social media, the boutique industry and Benson’s own eye for what would sell combined to create an apparel powerhouse unlike any launched in South Dakota previously.

“I built Filly Flair, No. 1, out of necessity,” Benson said. “I had no money, and it was a means to try and create a business that could support myself and my family.”

It did that and then some. Filly Flair grew to a team that included paid models, photographers, social media marketers and customer service staff, including a 20,000-square-foot warehouse north of Sioux Falls and more than 1 million followers on social media.

However, “I love business. I don’t necessarily love fashion,” Benson said. “There was always something else in the back of my mind and heart that this isn’t A to Z for me. This is part of the story. It’s a chapter, and that’s truly what I see Filly Flair as. I will forever love and support the team, but I feel like I didn’t get to experience that and go through all that growth without it being for something bigger.”

That “something bigger” could be the chance to pay it forward, she suggests. Today, she launches The Business Growr, a new venture offer mentoring and coaching geared toward business owners who also are mothers. The idea, she said, is to better grow your business online while spending more time offline.

“I have wanted to help other people with their businesses for years,” Benson said. “I’ve always been too busy, and I never knew exactly what that looked like. I don’t have a desire to focus on boutiques. I just want to help people who are truly passionate about growing a small business.”

It’s a timely endeavor for her too. In 2020, she was approached by a Massachusetts-based private equity firm focused on e-commerce, which ultimately took on a majority stake in Filly Flair.

“When I was first approached, I didn’t have a lot of interest,” Benson said. “But I always keep options open and wanted to embrace the idea and see what they would tell me about my business and what I would learn about my business. It was an incredible process to experience.”

It was also during the pandemic, which caused this mother of three to realize “I was ready for a shift in life,” she said.

She’s still a minority owner in Filly Flair, doing “high-level” work with the business, which grew to eight-figure annual revenue and has a nationwide customer base.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our country and one of the hardest but most incredible opportunities,” Benson said. “So this idea has always existed. I just didn’t know how it was going to come to fruition. But this is the start.”

With The Business Growr, she plans to offer weekly trainings with different focus areas each week and an open Q&A. Members also can submit questions via email and have access to an online community of fellow entrepreneurs that includes online forums and potentially in-person meetups. While Benson continues to be based in the Sioux Falls area, the program is open to anyone.

The focus is on women who own six- and seven-figure businesses “and are very serious about this,” she said. “Maybe they have employees and employee issues and they need a sounding board and need to understand how to have hard conversations. And just the day-to-day battles. It’s our job to be problem-solving as entrepreneurs. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just part of it, and having a community where you go to be heard and learn is the thing I’m most excited about.”

Founders membership will be limited to start and priced at $349 per month with a minimum three-month commitment. For founders, the price won’t change.

Content modules will start with a focus on time management — structuring work time and family life — and then will be formed according to the needs of the group.

“When they sign up, there will be an extensive survey to fill out so I can see where everyone is at,” Benson said. “I want to help where the need is. We’re all busy moms, and instead of giving 50 hours of content they’re never going to have time to consume, I want to develop it with them and walk through week by week with them.”

She also plans to offer a $10,000 scholarship to a business to help it accelerate and will donate a portion of all memberships to a nonprofit focused on feeding kids overseas.

“I want this to be your weekly check-in,” she said. “Am I being accountable to my own goals? Am I really stuck? Sometimes, it’s just having that person to ask how much have you worked on your priorities this week. Or are you putting smaller priorities in front of things that really move the needle? You can go in, ask a question and once a week get on a call and feel remotivated for the week.”

To learn more about The Business Growr, click here.