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Idea Cafe's Mary Marks MOM Biz Grant
Grant Winners Reports
Throughout the year after receiving our Mary Marks MOM Biz Grant, each winner sent us updates on how they're doing so we can all learn from their winning biz example.
Our Top Winner, Debra LaPorte, of First Impressions in Lafayette Hill, PA, provides child identification kits.
Looking Back on the Year After Receiving Idea Cafe's "Mary Marks MOM" Grant
Idea Cafe: What was your most important accomplishment, financially and professionally?
Debra: This past year has been a roller coaster!
In the fall of 2001, business was very slow, but ever since January 2002, it's been steadily increasing to the point where, today, in the fall of 2002, I think I'll have to hire some staff soon. I'm so swamped with orders and inquires, it's hard to get everything done.
My most important financial accomplishment was exceeding my estimate of income for the year. If things stay as they are, I will gross over $200,000 this year. I'm already three-fourths of the way there. I would've never imagined that the business would grow so much.
Professionally, I have certainly grown as a businessperson, in particular, I'm better able to source suppliers and market to large corporations. My contacts are much broader; my orders are much larger; and the company is expanding to Europe in the next month or so. I feel much more confident in my abilities, especially since I've been handling every facet of the company for several years. The last few months have really tested my patience and endurance. I don't get much of a break at all during the entire week, as I work every weekend. Still, I'm extremely happy with what I'm doing, and I hope the wave of success continues.
Idea Cafe: How do you feel you personally grew in this year of business accomplishment?
Debra: As mentioned above, I have grown tremendously as a businessperson. The day-to-day activities of running the business go along pretty smoothly, although there have been many snags (recently 16,000 kits had to be reprinted because of a typo! What a nightmare!). I feel I can handle adversity better, problems don't faze me as much, and if something goes wrong, I act on it immediately.
I also have a more positive outlook for the company and about succeeding, as things were always a little "iffy" before. I think I have become more creative and resourceful, and can communicate with customers more effectively. All in all, it's been a great year for learning and growing as a person.
Idea Cafe: How did Idea Cafe's Mary Marks MOMS Biz Grant affect your small business?
Debra: Idea Cafe's grant helped me through a really tough time in late 2001, when bills were piling up and business was slow. I think if I hadn't been awarded the grant money, I may not have had as much motivation to keep the business going. As I mentioned in my grant application, I have never taken out a loan. So I was glad to have the grant money to put back into the business.
Aside from the money, all the positive messages I received from people with congratulations, helped me tremendously. Knowing there were strangers out there who had such confidence in me and in my abilities helped carry me through the rest of 2001 and into 2002. This recognition was more powerful than even the money. I can't say enough how thankful I have been to be involved in Idea Cafe's Biz Grant Contest, and I very much appreciate everyone who has helped to get me where I am today.
Summer 2002 Report
Business-related goals for Summer 2002
1. I'm introducing a PVC ID card and need to work on the design and ordering details.
2. Total redesign of web site to incorporate new card. I'm working with a web designer for the first time!
3. Keeping up with all the orders!
4. Found rep in the UK who's going to test market the products. I'm shipping an order out this week to him, hope things work out. If so, products will be manufactured in the UK for distribution.
Business-related accomplishments for Summer 2002
1. Site listed on CBS.com as resource for child abduction. I just happened upon it, they must have found me on the Web.
2. Met with QVC representative. We're discussing how QVC can either sell or use the products as child safety promo items.
3. Got a large order for Food Lion supermarkets.
4. I thought the summer would be slow, but business has increased!
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in Summer 2002
1. Problems deciding how to redesign the site, since I have done the site from the start. I have to be able to give some responsibility to the web designer.
2. I'm working too much, need to learn to take more breaks.
April, 2002 Report:
Business-related goals for May
1. Get orders out on time.
2. Find 2nd fulfillment company, as I have too much work for the first one to do.
3. Try to stay organized with all the order chaos!
4. Try to secure order with QVC, a potential customer referred me to the head sales guy there, and the man wants to talk to me about my products!
Business-related accomplishments for April
1. Finished taxes!
2. Received an order for 50,000 ID Kits, finally made a nice profit!
3. Sales are out of control!
4. Hired disabled (cerebral palsy) center to assemble kits, they did an excellent job on the first batch at a reasonable price. I'm using them to fulfill most of the 50,000 order.
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in April
1. More orders than I can handle! I guess this could be seen as a problem or something wonderful! Aside from that, things are going smoothly.
March, 2002 Report:
Business-related goals for April
1. Finish up taxes.
2. Decide on how much inventory to give to fulfillment company for assembly.
3. Rework pricing to try to make more profit.
4. Evaluate expenses and see where I can cut costs.
5. Contact customers who purchased a year ago for reorders.
6. Get orders out on time.
Business-related accomplishments for March:
1. Nearly finished taxes.
2. Sales increased tremendously, may be able to make more of a profit this year.
3. Got large order from the US Army.
4. Website contest is giving me sales leads and increasing traffic.
5. Staying up-to-date with Quickbooks entries.
6. Found reliable assembly company that I will most-likely use.
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in March:
1. Put off doing taxes and needed extension; will plan better next year.
2. Many orders coming in and I need to schedule them better for shipment.
3. After doing taxes, I realized that I either need to mark up prices of products or dramatically cut costs to make a decent profit this year - last year was a learning experience, but at least I didn't come out with a loss at the end of the year.
February, 2002 Report:
Business-related goals for March
1. Work on taxes.
2. Find reliable local fulfillment company; assembly is getting too much for me.
3. Get out orders out on time although I can't count them all!
4. Try to start saving some $$
Business-related accomplishments for February:
1. Office better organized!
2. Sales increased tremendously. Will be very busy through the fall!
3. Got large order from 20 office orthopedic group.
4. Added contest to website, 1 monthly drawing, entries pouring in each day.
5. Put special offer on website, customers are purchasing like crazy.
6. Hits to the site are over 10 times more than this time last year.
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in February:
1. Still too incredibly busy to do taxes; may have to file for extension.
2. Still overburdened by assembling the products. Office organization helped a little, but a lot of work to do. I guess it's better than having no sales at all, but still very taxing on my energy. Will hire company soon to assemble.
January, 2002 Report:
Business-related goals for February
1. Work on taxes, have hired an accountant part-time
2. Still more office organization!
3. Adding safety coloring book for parents and children to the website.
4. Local promotion of the business via newspapers.
5. Contacting shoe companies and insurance companies about Safe Shoes product.
6. Try to get products pre-assembled before orders come in. I've been assembling orders after they're placed, and it's very time-consuming.
7. Wrote to many sites to have a link to my site placed on theirs; many of them added my link and I've gotten more traffic as a result.
Business-related accomplishments for January
1. Surprising amount of sales for January -- better than expected!
2. Advertising with banner on Parenthood.com. Haven't tracked results yet, but people are clicking on it.
3. Got two very large orders out on time.
4. Began working on taxes, but still a tremendous amount of work to do.
5. Great feedback from customers about products, hopefully a sign of a good sales year in 2002.
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in January
1. Learned I need to organize my monthly income/expense per month, and not all at once at the end of the year. (It's too stressful!)
2. Learned I have to spend less time on assembly. It's taking away from all the other things I have to do, like marketing. I may hire someone to assemble or look into automation (very expensive, though).
December, 2001 Report:
Business-related goals for January
1. Work on taxes and QuickBooks organization
2. Contact last year's customers for reorders
3. Direct mailings to schools and daycare centers
4. Possible introduction of safety coloring book for parents and children
5. More office organization! I have too little space and too much stuff!
6. Increase advertising and marketing efforts to secure new accounts for 2002
Business-related accomplishments for December
1. Sent out holiday cards to customers
2. Slightly revised the website a few days ago. It's a lot more organized and many bugs were worked out.
3. Chosen as supplier for huge order; waiting to see if client is going to go through with the safety promotion and then purchase my products.
4. December sales were better than expected.
5. Had first large sale of Safe Shoes kits to Farmer's Insurance, hopefully they will reorder.
6. Always thinking about ways to improve the business and writing down ideas.
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in December
1. Learned I need much improvement in the area of bookkeeping!
2. Learned I need to keep a watchful eye on other so-called child safety sites. Found one last month where the guy purchased one of my kits, then was copying it and selling it under another name. Luckily, I got his website subscription canceled and the site is now history.
3. Learned that I may need to slightly raise the price of my products to ensure better profit margins.
November, 2001 Report:
Business-related goals for December
1. Contacting potential customers who requested information and samples
2. Get my office better organized
3. Work on end-of-the-year accounting
4. Make some adjustments to website design and pricing
5. Find reliable fulfillment company who can assemble products for larger orders
6. Send out holiday cards to customers and associates, if time permits
Business-related accomplishments for November
1. Business beginning to pick up again
2. Got complicated Java Script cascading menu installed and customized on site, after much trial and error!
3. Currently bidding on million+ unit order and have a good chance of securing it
4. Orders from schools increased
5. Reorders beginning to come in from customers who ordered within the last 6 months-1 year
6. Am budgeting my work time better, allowing for more time to be with family
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in November
1. Sales still slow until about 2 weeks ago, had to do some strict financial budgeting
2. Learned that I need to cut back on some work time or I will get "burnt out"
3. Learned that I need to have pricing for larger quantity orders worked out and ready to access, instead of waiting for people to ask me for a quote, and then I have to scramble to get them numbers
4. Learned that I need to do some direct mailings to secure more customers
October, 2001 Report:
Business-related goals for November
1. Contacting previous customers for reorders
2. Increase marketing to target unions and more schools
3. Improve website pricing and info.
4. Try to organize finances and track expenses better
5. Get out all information requested by potential customers
6. Contact local media regarding winning Idea Cafe grant
Business-related accomplishments for October
1. Winning Idea Cafe Mary Marks grant :-)
2. Hits to site increased
3. Sales slowly beginning to improve since Sept. 11th
4. New website, www.inventivemoms.com, starting to take shape
5. New long-term customers secured
6. Excellent feedback from customers regarding my company's products and service
Business-related lessons learned or problems encountered in October
1. Problem -- Sales slowed because of Sept. 11th
2. Learned that I need to concentrate more on marketing
3. Learned that I need to cut back on some advertising expenses
4. Learned that I have to budget my time more efficiently in some areas
5. Problem-customers paying late
6. Learned that I need to be more strict about customers paying me on time
Links:
Reports from other Winners:
Winner Lise Schleicher | Winner Tina Miller
See all the great gifts for winners donated by Idea Cafe Regulars
Criteria and process for judging
Questions and instructions for applicants
Instructions for references
Meet Idea Cafe's Honorary Panel of Judges
Find out how you can contribute!
Idea Cafe's Small Business Grant Center home page
To see more grants: government grants, SBA, corporate, more private grants, enter Idea Cafe's Free Grant Center for Small Biz -- a privilege for registered Idea Cafe Regulars only. GO!
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"I wanted to let you know that last week I received an order for 50,000 of my Child ID Kits, a $34,000 order! I should net about half. Idea Cafe's Mary Marks Mom grant helped me improve my site and to stay afloat last year when business was slow. And the monthly reports have helped me become more focused on improving the business. I just want to say, "thanks!"
-- Debbi LaPorte |
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"Aside from the money, all the positive messages I received from people with congratulations, helped me tremendously. Knowing there were strangers out there who had such confidence in me and in my abilities helped carry me through. This recognition was more powerful than even the money. I can't say enough how thankful I have been to be involved in Idea Cafe's Biz Grant."
--Debbi LaPorte |