Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts

Monday, January 26, 2015

How To Write A Successful Food Truck Business Plan In 7 Days

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Turn your passion for pets into a lucrative Business of Gourmet dog treat


Dogs are one of the cutest and can have people more loyal pets. Can be fun & delicious to fuss over them to govern purchase them & accessories. The best care you can give your canine pals devotee, though, is a quality diet consisting of nutritionally balanced, delicious gourmet treats natural foods &. You can buy these in a natural food store for dogs, as well as through an online dog bakery.

Pampered pooches will keep their tails wagging with delight with gourmet dog treats that can be made by hand using the finest quality ingredients (read: animal by-products). If you have a lot of friends who are dog lovers, you can activate your propensity for making homemade treats in a successful business gourmet dog treat.

If you can't get hold of natural ingredients that are better for the health of dogs for homemade Doggie treats, you can buy premium quality brands ready to give natural delights or canines dental chews gourmet for dogs. A pet store natural can offer a wide range of dog bite-sized treats that are wheat and corn-free (suitable for allergy prone dogs). Choose from flavors like peanut butter and vanilla that dogs find tasty. Alternatives can be canine cookies made with genuine Omaha Steaks USDA, peanut butter and cheddar cheese. Or go to Doggie treats that provide your dog's requirements for amino acids (essential for constructing and healing worn out tissues and strengthen bones and blood). Check the ingredients list for vegetables that can nourish your dog's body providing fiber that is essential for a healthy digestive system.

Delicious healthy Gourmet dog treats & also make a great option for business franchise business savvy individuals eager to Bank on their passion for pets. Choose to work with a franchisor that can provide extensive support-thorough training at the home office web-based sales AIDS, support & media advertising, to devise strategies to gain market share. Get secrets from those who have had experience running a business, including affiliates that get excellent payout. Beginners, considering whether to start a home-based business gourmet dog treat may find interesting that dog owners these days are choosing to spend money on Doggie treats & quality meals.




Karen Freeman is the author of starting your Business: Gourmet dog treats to bake your way to success. Like a dog is owner of the bakery, shares her expert tips to start and grow a successful dog treat business from home. Don't forget to visit www.home-made-dog-treats-business.com for tips on how you can turn your passion for pets into a successful business.

© Copyright 2010. Feel free to reprint this article on your site, provided it is not modified article




Thursday, July 5, 2012

Important Things That Gourmet Pet Treats Business Owners Must Ensure


Passionate dog owners who pamper their canine companions with special gourmet treats know just how their furry friends can benefit from well-chosen chow. Aside from satisfying the palate of man's best friend, the best natural selection of gourmet pet treats are nutritious & fresh for most of their shelf life.

Most gourmet treats that come in different flavors look yummy enough to be consumed by humans, and are designed with utmost care and detail, but look again. Are they safe enough to be eaten by your beloved pooches & feline friends? When buying at pet food stores or dog bakeries, make sure you know when the treats were made and what ingredients went into them.

Gourmet pet treats make nice rewards for dogs in training, but make sure you're purchasing from reliable stores. You wouldn't want to give anything less to your talented, adorable and playful pooches. Choose gourmet treats made from ingredients that dogs will find tasty an d which throw in some meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates.There are also premium quality dog treats that help freshen doggie breath & clean teeth, and improve digestion. The best natural treats for cats, on the other hand, help cats stay fit & healthy.

Given the rising demand for quality pet chow, it's not surprising to find enterprising pet lovers venturing into the gourmet pet treats business. To keep business brisk, gourmet pet treats business operators - especially those who love & value their own pet dogs & cats -- know the importance of adhering to a few cardinal rules. These include not resorting to deceptive advertising. Another all-important rule is to use only healthy ingredients. Good business operators committed to offering pet food products with superior palatability and nutrition avoid toxic fillers and artificial additives. So before you splurge on an amazing new line of gourmet pet treats or begin your own business make sure that the products will enhance your animal friends' health & overall wellness. Opt for pet treats made with organic ingredients laden with vitamins and minerals and which contribute to a stronger immune system, less allergies, and lead to more energetic, happier pets. Learn more learning the ropes of starting a gourmet pet treats business from home by checking out online guides and updating your knowledge with insider tips.




Karen Freeman is the author of Start Your Own Gourmet Dog Treats Business: Bake Your Way To Success. As a dog treats bakery owner, she shares her expert insider tips to starting and growing a successful dog treats business from home. Be sure to visit www.home-made-dog-treats-business.com for tips on how for you can turn your passion for pets into a successful business.

© Copyright 2010. Feel free to reprint this article on your site as long as the article is not modified




Monday, June 11, 2012

3 Simple Steps to Catapult Your Organic Dog Food Business


Many dog owners are now discovering the many benefits of weaning their pets from dry dog food dependency. Although many of these food items are formulated to suit the nutritional needs of our canine companions, many pets eventually end up with one or more medical conditions like obesity, diabetes and even bloat. At the same time, these dry dog food products can become increasingly expensive. If the dog owner continues with this kind of pet feeding, the monthly bills for dog food alone can be staggering. Or, if the dog owner chooses to buy more affordable but less nutritious dog food items, their pets' health could be compromised.

This is why the organic dog food business is booming these days. In order to launch your own pet food business, here are a few things you should do.

1. Go gourmet as opposed to ordinary organic food fare. If you are a small time organic dog food business owner, you will likely have more success as a gourmet canine food manufacturer. There are already a lot of organic pet food businesses out there, which means that you have a lot of competition to deal with. But gourmet products are more profitable, and because these are considered as luxury items, you can sell at higher prices to a limited group of clienteles.

Just make sure that your gourmet dog food products are unique and distinctive. Use as many organic ingredients as you can.

2. Choose organic packaging as well. Here is one trade secret: many dog owners might be enticed to try your products more if the packaging is eye-catching. If you have enough funds, try to create custom made containers that are both serviceable and environment-friendly. Using recycled materials will help cement your reputation as an organic food manufacturer.

3. Make sure that you make arrangements with courier service. If you are operating your business online, you would rely on heavily on the courier service. Make sure that you make arrangements with them on how you want your products picked up from your place (which is great if you are sending out products by the bulk) and how you want these shipped (next-door-delivery, unmarked boxes, special lining, etc.)




Karen Freeman is the author of Start Your Own Gourmet Dog Treats Business: Bake Your Way To Success. As a dog treats bakery owner, she shares her expert insider tips to starting and growing a successful dog treat business from home. Be sure to visit www.home-made-dog-treats-business.com for tips on how for you can turn your passion for pets into a successful business.

© Copyright 2010. Feel free to reprint this article on your site as long as the article is not modified in any way and the resource information (about the author) is listed as above.




Sunday, June 10, 2012

Homemade Gourmet - Honest Homemade Gourmet Business Review


Homemade Gourmet Helps People Connect While Enjoying Food

This is not a false statement. Before we really go bonkers over Homemade Gourmet and its benefits we will be objective in this review. The best decisions in any opportunity are always formed out of knowledge. Learn how this actually opportunity works in less than 7 minutes of your leisure time.

1) At The Beginning

The lady behind the Homemade Gourmet enterprise is none other than Tami VanHoy. She lives by her strong Christian beliefs though that shouldn't be our main basis of discussion today. As founder and CEO, she started selling her own recipes and food mixes during the holidays in 1997.

It wasn't long when other women also took an interest in reselling her products. Tami's goal is simple. Your dinner should be on the table in 30 minutes or less. Homemade Gourmet, Inc is headquartered in Canton, Texas.

2) Your Cost And Products

Seriously, I'm also a fan of food but just because we're reviewing this objectively I'll calm down. Homemade Gourmet's range of product choices are pretty wide. Starting from its flagship product of ' 4 meals in 4 minutes' package (which is about $129) right up to standalone desert mixes.

Give or take $7 for each individual pack and you're good to go. You could choose to become a distributor by becoming a "preferred customer" at $79 to startup. Hold your horses, wait until we get to the end.

3) Do You Know The Compensation Plan?

Ultimately, when you join in as a distributor you are joining into a network marketing system. By cutting away all the fat and hype out there you will find the real bones behind the Homemade Gourmet inner workings.

You can earn 25% on commission is someone orders via your replicated website. Then, 40% on reorders you personally deliver to homes. The main thing that may catch your attention is the 9% you earn from your first 9 downlines. Though there is a catch.

Leverage or Balancing Act?

So is Homemade Gourmet an opportunity which is suitable for you? Only you can decide but remember that typically network marketing systems require you to be able to duplicate your recruiting system. You can double your speed of duplication by learning how to market online. Its simple and effective once you employ the right marketing knowledge.




This article is the property of [http://www.simple-riches.com] - you may freely publish it on a website as long as it is not modified in any way. It must include the author bylines; all hyperlinks and URLs must be made or remain active.

Vern How has been earning online since June 2006. He is a professional affiliate marketer who believes in giving back by helping others.

Find out Vern's latest marketing musings by visiting his blog at Online Marketing Business [http://www.simple-riches.com/blog]

For more information on a fool-proof strategy to profiting massively on the Internet, just check out more Homemade Gourmet Recruiting Secrets [http://www.simple-riches.com]!




Wednesday, May 23, 2012

How to Build a Strong Pinterest Profile for Your Food Business


Your food business needs to be on Pinterest. If you're like most business owners, you probably think Pinterest and social media as a whole is a waste of time. Well it's not.

If you don't already know, Pinterest is the newest social site to hit the mainstream and it can be addictive. Most of the users are women, so if your product or service is marketed to women, you need to be on Pinterest now.

Before you get overwhelmed with yet another social media darling, take a few minutes to build yourself a strong Pinterest profile and a strategy for the best way to use it for your food business.

#1 Separate Your Personal Pinterest from Your Business Pinterest

You can have more than one Pinterest account. Simply send yourself an invitation so you can have a personal account and a business one. Do this as soon as possible because it takes a while for the team at Pinterest to send you the invite.

#2 Create a Username That Prospects and Customers Will Recognize

People will search for you on Pinterest. If you already have a Facebook and/or Twitter business profile try to keep them consistent with your Pinterest profile. If you can't get the exact name try adding "biz" to the end of the name. This will create continuity and make it easier for people to find you on any given site.

#3 Add an Image of Your Logo

Include an image of your logo if it is something people will recognize right away once they land on your Pinterest page. If you don't have a logo you can create an image of the business name, use the header from your website, or even use a picture of your flagship product. If you're a service provider or if there is a face to your business (like Martha or Rachel), upload a picture of that person. Just make sure that whatever you use, it is consistent through all social media websites.

#4 Your About Paragraph

Add a short description in your "About" page. Instead of listing your bio or a bunch of website addresses, keep it short and emphasize the benefits of your product or business. For example, if your food business is dedicated to gourmet party appetizers your bio might be as simple as "Gourmet appetizers delivered right to your door." Or "The easy way to serve hand-crafted appetizers at your next party...in 20 minutes or less."

#5 Add Follow Buttons

When you're creating your profile you have the option to add:

· Your website

· Your Twitter profile

· Your Facebook profile

They'll show up as buttons under your picture on your profile page. Fellow pinners can then click on any button and be taken to the respective site. Bonus: When you "pin" something you can click the Twitter button to tweet it or click the Facebook button and post your pin to Facebook in seconds!

As you're creating boards for your food business, try to capitalize on a few branding tactics. For example, add keywords to your board's names. For example, a few keywords to use in the food business can be: "gourmet food", "quick and easy recipes" and "food gifts".

Be sure to use related keywords for your specific business in the titles of your boards and also in the description section of what you pin and you will build a strong Pinterest profile in no time.




Kalisha Blair is a copywriter and social media enthusiast with 14 years of experience in the hospitality industry. To download your free 17 page report titled "Pinterest for your Business", please visit http://www.kalishablair.com




Sunday, May 20, 2012

Starting a Wholesale Food Business


Those who enjoy making gourmet food are always eager to demonstrate to their friends and relatives for them to taste the delicious dishes they like making. A more useful way to let people sample your favorite and best dishes would be to start a wholesale food business. In this way, you would be able to make money as you continue to serve people with wonderfully made food.

When you get to start this kind of business, the first thing is to invite the friends or relatives to just come and sample the food free of charge and as they do so they will be coming back for more. It is a means of getting contacts and clients for your business.

Offering to volunteer at social events in the schools, or other such places can also help to spread the news about your cooking. Take with you several types of dishes that are your best and get as many people as possible to taste them.

Once you finish with this, the next step will be to serve at small parties and gatherings at house functions. People will soon begin to ask for more of your food, and this will give you a good client base.

Any invitations to people's parties or houses should be accompanied with one dish or the other which you will use to entice people to start enjoying your food. In this way, you will keep introducing people to a list of dishes that they will find interesting.

As people begin to get interested in you and the selfless way you offer to feed people, you will form many friends who will be commenting about your food most of the time. That is a clever way of winning customers and very soon you will be making some sales on the side.

Also consider serving at community events and meeting more and more people there as end up building your circle of friends. The community activities might just be to volunteer to serve at a booth in a church compound, or school event. It will offer you a golden chance to display your best dishes and serve people freely.

To cut down costs, go for affordable foods and smaller portions, but do not charge expensively for them. At first it will be a bit difficult but eventually when the customers start to like your food, you will be able to recover the moneys you spent at this early stage.

Whenever you go to functions, people will slowly get used to eating your best dishes and they will begin to ask for them.




Plasma baseball bat and youth baseball cleats are perfect gifts for your kid who is a baseball fanatic.




Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ways To Impress Business Clients And Staff With Considerate Prepared Meal Gourmet Food Gifts


In corporate culture, it is very standard that we exchange souvenirs and gifts with the clients as a part of business etiquette. Often, we may be stuck, when considering gifting to a corporate client.

Considering that we are not sure of the personal tastes of the client, we aren't able to determine an ideal gift. Often, the stature of the client makes it hard to zero in on various significant gifts, leading to saddling them with flower arrangements, candy or business promotional items. Obviously, they're going to be unsuccessful in making a mark on the client.

Considering the ready availability of gourmet prepared dinners, a lot of the situation of corporate gifting is dealt with. Gourmet prepared meals are an ideal business gift. People worldwide like to eat, especially when the meal served is conveniently offered at your doorstep with all the nutrients, intact. The extraordinary selling suggestion of gourmet food is its exceptional quality in the cooking variety, ingredients utilized, as well as freshness of components or the presentation of the food item. The notion behind gourmet meals is accessibility of fresh, mouth watering and nourishing foods at one's doorstep.

Gourmet prepared dinners are a terrific respite for people that do have time or vitality to cook. They are able to just purchase a regular food deal or monthly meal deal by having variations of their selection.

There are a variety of key players in this group of prepared dinners. Usually, they have a purchase time of 24-48 hrs. One can easily buy food, ahead of time. The dinner is prepared through chef's standard, and the level of quality is remarkably elevated. The elements made use of are fresh as well as cooking style is really superior. It is much like savoring the dinner of a five star restaurant while in the luxury of one's own home.

Consumers can easily personalize the dinner plan according to their liking. Because of the bulk production, these foods are cost-effective in comparison to comparable meals dished up at an eating venue. For senior mother or fathers whom stay alone, nothing can be even more thoughtful than gifting them, by having prepared foods at their doorstep. For a new mother who wants help with home tasks, gourmet prepared meals has actually come as a large aid for her. The dinner arrives frozen. One simply has to warm the food items and then devour.

There are so many dishes obtainable to select from. The variety is not just offered in recipes, but there are additionally varied varieties in the recipes. The classifications may be diabetes diet, reduced carbohydrate diet, low salt food plan, diet for elderly people, healthier regimen, weight loss food plan and lots of more. The choices are endless.

There are different meals supplied in gourmet prepared foods. It can be an excellent business present as everyone prefers really good food items. As a part of company gift giving, even gift certificates can be given to the clients. By having gift certificates, one can easily buy chosen dinners at one's own convenience. There are different monetary worth present certificates. So, the next time you strike a proposal, pamper your business partner by having gourmet prepared foods and gift cards and be able to rest assured of a long term relationship. The selections are never-ending.




Gourmet Food Gifts of home delivered meals make a unique, thoughtful corporate gift, regardless of whether giving to co-workers, clients or vendors. Learn how Gifts of Food are an excellent business gift solution for every occasion.




Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Business Christmas Gift Ideas: Why Specialty Food Is The Perfect Business Christmas Gift


Many people wouldn't guess, but some of the best business Christmas gift ideas are those which are edible. Bosses, employees and small and large businesses alike are often saddled with meaningless and useless gifts at the holiday time. However, food gifts always prove to be a big hit at company gift exchanges and parties, for boss's gifts, and at other business holiday functions.

If you're racking your brain trying to come up with business Christmas gift ideas, specialty foods are always a welcome gift. After all, who doesn't eat?

Depending on the recipient's likes and dislikes, you can personalize the gift enough so they think you put a lot of thought into it. And you don't have to know the person that well to get it right. For instance, if someone is a coffee and chocolate lover (as many of us are!), consider a gourmet coffee-infused chocolate candy gift. It's different enough to be special, yet special enough to be different!

If the recipient tends to be more of risk taker or enjoys trying new things, specialty hot sauces or a new set of spices will do the trick. Environmentalists will enjoy organic and fair trade food gifts, while diabetics will enjoy a special sugar-free artisan treat they can't get at the regular grocery store. And let's not forget our gluten-free friends! Many specialty food producers cater to those with special dietary restrictions.

Since artisan food producers normally specialize in a single line of products, their products are usually handmade, of a higher quality with fresher ingredients, and not churned out by a factory.

Another great example of business Christmas gift ideas are hampers. These can contain elements of gourmet food, special beverages, and baked goods. These are not only a hit at company functions, but also a hit with the families of your co-workers you are giving them to. Hampers can be decorated on the outside with whatever colors you see fit, and can include ribbon and lace. Wicker basket hampers are often a great idea, and give the gift more of a classy and thought out feel.

Gourmet and specialty food business Christmas gift ideas can range from savory to sweet, and from fancy delicacies to special cookies. Examples include things like hard-to-find specialty sea salts and truffle oils to rum pralines and nut brittles.

If you want to see looks of genuine delight on the faces of your boss and co-workers (or maybe even get a raise!), get gourmet business Christmas gifts prepared by local artisan food producers - they are always a welcome gift.




Vivica Fredericks is a foodie who enjoys writing about new artisan foods almost as much as she does tasting them. Her latest passion is the gourmet marshmallows she found online at specialty artisan food market http://fooducopia.com.




Monday, February 27, 2012

Gourmet Business Gift: Chocolates Aren't Just For Valentine's Day


People think that a gourmet business gift should only be given for special occasions. In fact, they can be bought and presented as a gift to a boss or set of work colleagues for any seasonal or business gatherings, such as Christmas and Hanukkah functions at work, Easter holiday gatherings, summer picnics, a complement to a business presentation, or even a New Year's celebration.

A business colleague, client, boss, or board of directors will be appreciative if you can provide some delectable gourmet food gifts. This could even mean that they'll remember you when promotion and pay raise time come around!

When you're trying to choose just the right gourmet business gift, the idea is to pick one that is appropriate to your place of work or company you are giving it to. If can't decide what kind to get, then you can get gourmet samplers that usually have a small variety of hand-made delicacies. You can also include these as a small part of a larger gift basket or hamper. Hampers are a great idea for Easter and summer functions. They can include a large range of different types of food that can accommodate many different types of palettes.

One gourmet business gift idea to consider is specialty chocolates. These are an especially great gift for a board of directors, or any group of people who work together. Instead of having to buy individual gifts for each member of the group, gourmet chocolates can be shared and enjoyed. They are usually packaged in individual pieces, making it easier for larger groups to share without any fights over who is going to take your great gift home! This shows that you care about the company and the people, and will make your gift remembered for some time to come.

There are a multitude of flavor combinations when you are considering a chocolate gourmet business gift - or even a gift for yourself! For instance, gourmet chocolates can be made with fruits, nuts, coffees, teas, herbs and spices.

Do you want to give a chocolate gift with a little kick? Try spicy chocolate flavors that feature chipotle, cayenne and chili powder. Or how about an after dinner chocolate with rum and cola, pina colada, or amaretto? Butterscotch brandy will make your mouth water for days to come! The possibilities are nearly endless.




The only thing foodie Vivica Fredericks loves more than writing about new artisan foods and food trends is tasting them! Her latest passion is the hand made chocolates found online at the specialty artisan food market http://fooducopia.com.




Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Opening a Wholesale Food Business


People who love gourmet food are always interested in sharing their knowledge and the most interesting and rewarding way to do this is to open a wholesale food business and invite friend and relatives to come and sample some on the first day of business.

The best way to do it is to avoid imploring them to buy even if your food is very good. Just relax and let them taste the different types of dishes freely in order to get them interested. This is a clever way of catching customers and retaining them; for after enjoying the food free of charge, they will surely feel like coming back for more.

Another way to get as many people as possible to sample your best dishes and create interest is by volunteering to feed people at a school function. This time you will need to display a number of different gourmet food items that can catch attention.

After succeeding with this, the next thing will be to accept invitations to host small parties like birthdays or house events. Within in no time at all, you will see many people beginning to show greater interest and these will help to set up a good clientele for you.

Anytime you get an invitation to attend a dinner party, offer to bring something along. Very soon you will find that you have built a good list of wholesale gourmet choices that can fascinate your friends.

Many will notice and they will begin to be excited at the selfless contribution you are making and observe how tasty they are. It will be your chance to make a discreet offer. If you can succeed to be bringing some extra popular dishes most of the time, it will really improve your chances of making sales.

Another wonderful way of promoting what you do will be to join some community events to help you increase your circle of friends or if you like, customers. It might just be offering to run a booth at a fundraiser, either for a school, church or a community center. It will help to showcase your best food items.

Remember not to waste food even if you want people to familiarize so much with your dishes, but use modest portions that you can afford to give them at reasonable prices in order to cover your costs. These will eventually be made up for in the future when the business begins to pick up.

If you like hosting at parties, eventually people will begin to associate with particular foods that are your specialty.




Beer making supplies include the stainless steel juicer.




Saturday, January 21, 2012

How to Start a Gourmet Food Product Business (Or Any Product) On a Shoestring


The first issue we see nascent entrepreneurs almost universally attempt to address is the perceived need for working capital. When we ask how much investment they believe is required to get their product to market, they never can justify what they identify as their magic number. I have yet to read a business plan that can justify the assumptions that are utilized to support the capital investment being sought, ever, and I read dozens of business plans each month.

My consulting firm reviews hundreds of new product ideas every year. Many have wonderful commercial prospects. However, almost none of the entrepreneurs offering these opportunities for funding have considered all of the possible avenues available to launch their idea. Funding is the "Holy Grail" in the eye of most entrepreneurs, and yet, a capital raise is the single hardest route they can attempt to utilize.

Investors, unless family or friends, demand a very high level of due diligence before they will stage a capital investment. Strong management, a clearly identifiable Unique Selling Proposition (USP), first mover advantage and a 35% return on invested capital kicking in between months 24 and 36 of operation are the basic guidelines typically utilized when underwriting opportunities. These are standards that very few entrepreneurs and inventors can achieve.

There are many ways to "bootstrap" new products or services before seeking a financing round. They are not glamorous, more like the old parable of the tortoise and hare. These strategies require the oldest trait known to inventive man: simple hard work!

Here is an example of a product that we recently "bootstrapped" to a successful market launch, and subsequent funding relationship. I received a call from a gentleman who owned a construction business. After initial platitudes, he advised me that he had created the world's greatest barbecue sauce. We receive a lot of food products for review, and every single one is accompanied by the old bromide, " it's the best in the world". I was wary.

Mr. Barbecue Sauce sent me a box of his three sauces to sample. They were very tasty. I advised him that the taste was surely excellent and potentially commercial but that he would have to utilize more of a "guerilla" marketing strategy than his hoped for investor funding round. We wrangled for several months. He approached other consultants and food industry experts before finally coming back to us and agreeing that he needed to utilize a "plan B".

We contracted to write and execute a business plan for the launch of the sauces. We engaged the services of a dietician, a licensed food product private label source, a graphic designer and a packaging resource. We perfected the label statements and content values of the product. Then we conducted a focus group, obtained testimonials for attribution, and prepared sales collateral.

When the product, packaging and sales materials were market-ready we approached independent and regional purveyors of high-end gourmet food products. These types of retailers are much easier to work with, barriers to obtaining shelf space are small and they are keen to enjoy exclusive distribution of select items. Each door that was initially opened agreed to a schedule of product samplings. We set up a table on an aisle end cap, cooked top quality sausages and asked shoppers to choose which of the three styles of sauce they would prefer on their taste sample. We had an inventory of product on the end cap gondola with a special introductory price.

The results were gratifying and confirmed our assumptions that the barbecue sauces were truly commercial and consumer acceptance would be strong. The samplings lead to strong initial sales, but much more importantly, in subsequent weeks repeat sales began to grow without the aid of sampling.

Geographically, the client fanned out to the nearest markets and repeated the same limited, controlled roll out strategy. The results were always the same, a bit of a cult product was beginning to germinate.

For most of the first year of distribution we utilized the "tortoise and hare" approach. We then identified a gourmet product trade show in Orlando, took a stand and sampled the sauces just as we had in the first local gourmet products stores in the owners hometown. The difference is this instance, was that we were sampling, and taking orders from retailers from all over the United States and internationally, key decision makers in the gourmet product industry. Also, because the product was positioned as a gourmet foodstuff, price points reflected the sauces higher perceived value and the products were not buffeted by mass market discounting.

The entrepreneur had invested some reasonable amount of his own money, but this was mitigated by the go-slow approach we had undertaken. His initial sales funded the controlled rollout of the sauces to additional regional markets. He had not diluted a single percentage of his ownership by taking on investment partners. The growing order book from new retailers and repeat purchase orders were valued by his bank and he was introduced to the merchant bank division to establish a line of working capital.

Mr. Barbecue Sauce came to us with the notion that he needed $350,000 to fund the launch of his enterprise. As we initially quizzed him, he realized that he would really need to raise more like $1.2 million to realize his goal. By being open to alternative ideas, he avoided a huge pitfall that most entrepreneurs fall in too: raising $350,000 and failing is expensive, raising $1.2 million in order to insure success is cheap.

In this case, Mr. Barbecue Sauce was fortunate that there was an alternative strategy readily available to customize for his product. He mitigated risk, limited financial exposure, test marketed the product, extrapolated market potential based on real sales numbers and enjoyed the secure knowledge that the product was commercially viable without being at the mercy of investors demanding strict performance markers be constantly achieved.

Most entrepreneurs with truly commercial projects have many more options available to them than they ever consider. It is amazing how few projects are really fundable, and yet, investor funding is almost always the preferred route they choose to undertake. "Bootstrapping" is almost always the last alternative considered. Successful inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses will always do whatever is legally necessary to achieve success. Anything less is the equivalent of dreaming.




Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (http://www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.




Thursday, January 5, 2012

How to introduce your Gourmet Food Business


It is more likely that is often invite friends and family to keep your best sampling dishes because I love you gourmet foods. People who love the kitchen much always are doing this, but the best way to expose your dishes to people is opening a food business.

To introduce more people to your business of gourmet food as much as possible, just invite as many of them, how can the day start producing food and let them taste your kitchen for free. It serves praying for them to come and buy, but just tell them not to hesitate to serve themselves. Here's how you'll end up with loyal customers.

You could also go as a volunteer at a school or a place like where your kitchen will be sampled by everyone. If you take the time to do as many varieties as possible for these occasions, soon you'll find parents and staff, asking your dishes.

This will start landing it some invitations to serve small functions, home heating or birthday parties. This is a good way to start to acquire a small customer base.

Another step to take is to attend celebrations of the House as many as possible and be sure to bring one of your favorite gourmet food items. As they begin to praise your dishes, you will be signing on customers without them knowing it.

Of course many people begin to notice you and your kindness. You will win many friends and as the social circle continues to expand, so will a list of prospective customers. You might also find that few people will buy from you.

If you care to join certain community activities; as volunteer work in a church, school or social centre, will give you a good opportunity to meet more people and allow them to enjoy the food.

At first it will be expensive on you as you try to load moderately for food, but you must keep. To do this, you must make your purchases economically and serve only small portions that do not drain more of your money. Remember when one day the business begins to grow; It will be a good time to recover costs.

Bring with you some of your best food as it goes to different functions, and a list of gourmet food products will continue to grow on pallets. Soon they will start trying to sell them.




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Monday, December 5, 2011

How To Start A Gift Basket Business

The Gift Basket Connectory Is The Ultimate Resource For The Gift Basket Industry. How-to Videos, Guides, Templates, Supplier Lists And More


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