Tasha Mazza-Kelton: The Tipping Point

Blog 12:  The Tipping Point          

As a young or small company, when do you know you are on the brink of something that will fundamentally advance your business forever?  For Chris Bower and Tal Rosenbloom of Better Foods, selling into Costco and its $59 billion channel is clearly one of those business-altering opportunities.  So, what is the turning point for your business and how will you get there?

Having started a new firm less than 2 months ago, at Torque we can feel the momentum internally and the business we have launched is clearly on the mark.  The response from clients, industry contacts and the media has been profound over the past few weeks alone.  So, is this a fluke or is there a process of ultimately getting to one of those defining moments? For some companies, it occurs when you meet that dream client, or encounter the ideal investor, or run into a journalist looking to profile a company that fits your exact description.  I personally think it is a combination of the following:

·        Passion for what you do ( this can’t be faked, it has to be genuine)

·        Right outlet for your “story” (whether it is a customer, channel partner, or the media)

·        Timing (of course, this part often can’t be planned)

As an entrepreneur or business owner, it is important to always be looking for opportunities that will drive your business to achieve its next peak.  Be diligent, chase down every opportunity or lead as you never know where your next break will come from.  So what events have occurred for you recently that have been pivotal in your company’s evolution?  Who made it happen?  And how has it changed your vision of what is possible for your business? 

Tasha Mazza-Kelton, Partner www.torquemi.com

Carol Lawson: Dangers of Soy

Good Afternoon,

I saw your article about Chris & Tal's Better Foods in the Toronto Star. (Their burgers, meatballs, sausages and ground are made from half soy.) Were you aware that breast cancer patients who have estrogen-positive cancer are not to eat soy as it has a high level of estrogen that makes the cancer grow. As a breast cancer survivor, I do do not believe that soy is the wonder food that it has been proclaimed to be. More people need to be made aware of its side effects. With breast cancer rates growing in leaps and bounds and the most common form of breast cancer (being) estrogen positive, we need to re-think the merits of soy. I read every label and avoid foods with soy.

These gentlemen may be wonder people in their business but I do not agree with the running of an article that has negative health risks.

Carol Lawson

Tasha Mazza-Kelton: Here's a Compelling Ad....

Blog 11: How “You” can Drive your own Brand Awareness       

I am sure you have all seen it or heard about it lately…that is, this new found obsession with YouTube, myspace.com and now facebook.com.  These free, on-line distribution channels are enabling not only small businesses to gain exposure to prospects and customer audiences, but corporations are also jumping on the bandwagon and experimenting with this new medium among its tech-savvy customer segments. 

The latest example I have to share with you is an on-line commercial by Philips to promote an innovative shaving product specifically geared to men who want to take care of their business “below the equator”.  You have to witness a sample of this ad at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhZ8pyOAeO4 to understand what I mean about creating an advertising message that, without the internet, would not have been possible.  And the results Philips has achieved are far greater than expected.  This is the future of marketing and brand awareness.

For small businesses, these free online marketing mediums are providing an incredible opportunity that did not exist even 2 years ago to provide product information or demonstrate a service offering with minimal cost.  Historically, small business operators had limited options like taking out an ad in a trade magazine or spending big dollars on billboard ads that were just not financially feasible in a company’s infancy.  So, now there are incredible outlets for driving brand and product awareness for entrepreneurs, but don’t think you are the only one with this idea. 

Even more importantly now is the content that goes into these creative pieces or marketing campaigns.  Because of free distribution channels, viewers have to sort through more unwanted information than before.  So the fight is on for really good content.  You can’t rely on advertising gimmicks or whiz-bang features.  Your content and the way it is presented have to be compelling and relevant to a particular customer audience.  So, a) understand your segments, and b) invest the time and effort required in developing world-class content, otherwise, you will just be adding to the buzz of these marketing channels with no desired results. 

Which are the most compelling ads you have seen recently on YouTube or other online channels? I doubt you can find an example more attention-grabbing than the one I listed above.

Tasha Mazza-Kelton, Partner

www.torquemi.com

Tasha Mazza-Kelton: It's All in The Name

Blog 10: Ahh…the Importance of a Name                  

Having been through the exercise of picking a name for a new company multiple times, I can speak first hand about the difficulties in finding those few defining words that perfectly express your business and image.  Nymity, as in anonymity, is the name of one of the featured companies in the Business Challenge.  When I spoke with Terry McQuay, the Founder and President of Nymity, he said he was looking for three things when he picked his company name:

1.    The name had to be associated with privacy.

2.    The name did not carry any lagging perceptions or connotations so that he could develop the brand identity from scratch.

3.    The name also needed to be open-ended in order to have the flexibility of moving into other business areas such as security.

But, once you have the name, there are still the logistical and legal steps involved in making sure the domain names are available as well as the incorporated or trade names. 

From a brand guru perspective, there are a few key questions that you need to ask when developing a brand.  Ted Matthews, Managing Partner of Instinct Brand Equity, who has been a brand coach for over 7 years, suggests that before you even begin to throw out names, you need to decide if your business is going to be based in your brand foundation (things like your core purpose, vision, mission, or values) or based on your personal character.  For example, if you are fun-loving and it is important to demonstrate that in your business, then he recommends going with a more playful name as it will resonate with your audience (some examples include “Zoom Airlines” or “Gymboree”).

When it comes to actually picking words that will make up your business name, Ted suggests the following guiding principles:

·        Select a name that relates to the business you are in or your position in the market.

·        Think of the story that will go with your business name, this is often the first question that gets asked and you want to begin to develop your brand in a way that has a lasting impression.

·        Brand 101 Rule of Thumb: keep the name to a maximum of three syllables, shorter is preferable as people have a harder time remembering longer names (Nymity has three syllables so they are just at the border, but Apple or Dell are so easy to recall because they are short and simple).

·        Finally, make the name easy to spell and look-up on-line, getting into tricky spelling is a sure fire way of losing potential customers.

If you stick with these fairly simple, but often more difficult to execute, principles, your business name and brand building will be off to a great start!

So, if you are currently in the position of trying to pick a business name, throw out your ideas and we can share our insights and maybe even drum up a couple of ideas for you.

Tasha Mazza-Kelton, Partner

www.torquemi.com

Tasha Mazza-Kelton: Show Me the Money

Blog 9: Show me the money

Monte and Denise Gisborne, co-owners of the world’s first commercially available solar-powered recreational boat called the Loon, are finally ready to realize their vision for the business thanks to their new private investors. After 2 years of searching for investors who would support the commercialization of the Loon, the Gisborne’s feel like they are finally ready to take flight.   The Gisborne’s situation is a dream for many entrepreneurs, but where do you even start looking for funding?

Many entrepreneurs believe they have the golden idea, the right people and resources in place, and have even successfully demonstrated demand for their product in the market, but they just need a financial backer to see their dream come true.  This is where it can seem like a black hole – where do you even being to find financing?  There are a number of investor alternatives and this is typically the path to follow when looking for early-stage funding:

1.     Love Money – this is usually money from family and friends; start here first in order to get your business idea off the ground.

2.     Banks – yes, each of the traditional giants has their own small business division, but if you are going to ask for financing, they typically want to see a business plan, some financial commitment of your own, and finally, a personal guarantee.

3.     Angel Investors – this is a group made up of private investors who are looking to invest $50,000-500,000 (in exchange for equity, of course) in early-stage businesses with aggressive growth potential (you can check out the Toronto Angel Group at http://tvg.org/toronto_angel_group for more information on their application process).

4.     Venture capital or Private equity – these folks are typically looking to invest $1M and above, but beware they will also want to take a significant portion of the equity in your business in return. They can often provide access to critical industry contacts and expertise, but it doesn’t come without the stress of delivering to ambitious growth targets (the Canadian Venture Capital Association provides a listing of firms at www.cvca.ca).

So for an entrepreneur new to the world of financing, those are the basics in terms of where you can go to for funding. Although, it will depend on your intention for the business – do you want to bootstrap the company or realize aggressive growth?  If your plan is the latter, then you can skip steps one and two and go straight to Angel investors.  Keep in mind, this list is by no means exhaustive, but will give you a simple understanding of the various financing alternatives in the market. 

There will be moments when your business will need financing, and then there will be times when the last person you want to see is your investor or banker.  If you want some advice – make sure your investor brings more to the table than just dollars.  Look for opportunities where they can open the door to strategic partners or new accounts, see if they have experience growing a business the way you want to, or make sure they bring an expertise to the table that is desirable and missing from your business today. 

 

Since finding the right investor can sometimes seem impossible, please share your stories of the financier or banker that was willing to see the potential in you and your business.  The rest of us want to find out where to find them…