Why I Own a Business in the Madison Region (and You Should, Too!)
Find out why it's great to do business in Madison and Monroe, WI.
The Madison Region enjoys a thriving business climate, where residents can find a job they love or open a business of their own.
Kristi Moe took the entrepreneurial route when she started Zodica Perfumery in 2016. The perfumery was inspired by her personal struggle of finding a fine fragrance that didn’t trigger an allergic reaction due to added chemicals.
Her business came together when she discovered studies that connected the season of someone’s birth to their personality and developed fragrances corresponding to someone’s zodiac signs – with an over 90% success rate of people loving their zodiac fragrance. By 2021, Zodica Perfumery was featured on the Forbes Next 1000 list. Livability chatted with Moe about what it’s like to own a business in the Madison Region.
Why did you think the Madison Region was a great place for your business?
When I started Zodica, I was living in Dallas, and when it was time to look into a studio space, it was just so expensive. Madison is my hometown, and in my search, I found the perfect place in Monroe, about an hour away. The town only has about 10,000 people but it has a vibrant town square.
My space is 3,000 square feet. … The building was built in 1894 and had an apartment upstairs, so it was the perfect little incubator for me to get started during the first three years. One important factor is that Madison has an airport with direct flights to many places I need to go for trade shows.
How has your business grown since you opened in 2017?
Madison is a very supportive community and environment for small business owners in general. In 2017, I launched on QVC, and that really propelled the brand. Last year, we grew by 100%. During COVID, I was so worried that I wasn’t going to be able to sell anything, but in 2021, we grew by 193%. We’ve since outgrown our current 3,000-square-foot space in Monroe and are in the process of moving to a 6,000-square-foot space in Madison.
In what ways was the community supportive when you opened your shop?
We have an organization called Main Street Monroe, and they’ve been very supportive, featuring different downtown businesses on social media, which during COVID really kept us afloat, thanks to local sales. They also nominated us for an award, which we won – a Small Business Success Story from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.
With our move to Madison, we’re looking to source new staff to support our expansion, and we’ll have access to a pool of college-educated people there for operations, marketing and accounting, who have worked with small businesses like ours.
Get to Know the Madison Region
Want to learn more about living and working in the Madison Region of Wisconsin? Check out the latest edition of Livability Madison Region Economic Development.
