Success Stories
Industry Culinaire
Chef Christopher Rodriques began his culinary training here at Bristol and continued it at Johnson & Wales University in Providence. While working as an Executive Chef for FAME, Chris started his personal chef and catering business. Eventually, his goal is to own his own restaurant.
Chris came to ACE to seek help with a business plan and a way to get his name noticed. He had an idea that if he established himself as the “go-to” guy for great catering, his fans would follow him once he started his brick and mortar restaurant. He has approached his business venture with the same careful planning he uses in his cooking. However, he felt he lacked the business experience he needed to put his plan down on paper in a cohesive and professional manner.
ACE helped Chris with writing his business plan and his branding. The first step we took was to look at what he was doing now for marketing and what his competitive market looked like in this area. Our report that showed other caterers and vendors and their different markets (personal catering, food trucks, large event planners, etc). It revealed what social media outlets he was working with and others that he needed to use to round out his media presence (like LinkedIn, Instagram). The suggestion was made to make his business more mobile and, therefore, more adaptable in order to participate in other events besides your typically catering gig (community events, networking events, exhibits).
ACE hired Chris as their caterer for the 10th Annual ACE Awards and he was a huge hit. He earned two new clients from that event. He is able to use that event to post to his social media account and use the professional photographs taken at the event to promote his own business.
The relationship between Industry Culinaire and ACE is still on-going. We are here to assist our clients throughout the entire process – not just in the beginning stage.
Industry Culinaire Christopher Rodriques krizfazon6283@gmail.com 508.542.0556
The TailHook
The TailHook is a new invention and business created by Andy Kogut of West Chatham, Massachusetts. As a successful carpenter, Andy’s idea for The TailHook came more out of necessity than invention – always trying to reach deep into his truck bed for his tools and supplies. The TailHook is a cleverly hidden retrieval tool that enables the owner to reach just about anything in his or her truck bed. The tool is unique and sturdy and a must for anyone who owns a truck, no matter if its for commercial use or personal recreation.
Andy developed, manufactured and tested The TailHook as an independent inventor but when it came time to sell the product, he felt he was in over his head. Andy was referred to the ACE program at Bristol by a friend after a bad experience with a hired sales person. As a community resource, ACE was prepared to review and research some ideas to help him put together a cohesive and fundamental marketing plan.
An initial phone meeting was set up and information about the current state of his business was shared via email with ACE. Andy had plenty of inventory and, after attending a national trade show with very positive feedback, he had a diverse demographic of potential customers too. All of this sounds great but the business lacked a sales plan. They did not have a pricing structure in place for the different tiers of customers, marketing materials for retail distribution or any plan to help decrease his manufacturing costs.
At ACE, we researched The TailHook’s competition to determine what other types of retrieval products were sold to the truck market and how many markets were actually out there. It was determined that, although The TailHook was a superior product both in quality and consumer benefits, the perceived value was being influenced by its cheaply-made counterpart. We developed a tiered marketing structure and concentrated on highlighting the benefits to the consumer and reseller in each tier. In turn, a tier pricing structure was also developed.
The information and leads that were generated at the national trade show were analyzed and organized so that Andy could start selling immediately. Other target lists were created for his other customer tiers as well. And suggestions resulted in a live web site only days after the final meeting with us.
Our suggestions included a 6-tier marketing plan that highlighted the benefits for each tier, the suggested price point, ideas for pitching his product to each demographic and the reasons we chose the specific groups.
And finally, goals were set to help The TailHook company stay on track, increase their profits by way of decreasing manufacturing costs and increase their media exposure.
The TailHook, Inc., PO Box 97, West Chatham, MA 02669, www.thetailhook.com
Elite Home Trends
Nicole Desrosiers is a Bristol student with a flair for design. Nicole planned to use her realtor’s license, coupled with her business education and her natural talent for designing home spaces to launch a new home staging business.
She was introduced to ACE by her management professor, April Lynch and she immediately took action.
After the initial intake process, it was clear that there was much to do. As part of the initial development process ACE worked with Nicole to research the market, choose a name and develop her web site and meet her photography needs. Naming her business was the priority. We researched her competition, not just in her local demographics, but nationally to find out what made them successful, what types of services they offered and the price points for the different services.
After gaining a deeper understanding of the market, we worked to identify key words/phrases and offered several ideas for names. After the second meeting, the name Elite Home Trends was chosen – it was informative yet flexible and would allow her to encompass both her real estate sales and her home staging business under one name. ACE worked with Nicole to help her design a logo and positioning strategy for her business.
In addition to the initial strategy development and brand positioning, we also outlined a list of topics that needed to be worked on including legally registering the business, obtaining liability insurance, choosing a web site domain, developing a marketing plan, designing business literature, creating a client contract, joining professional associations and planning and understanding the logistics of the home staging process. At every stage of the planning process each topic was discussed and a plan was put into motion.
“Ann and April helped me to answer tough questions about my business. They provided me with a framework and an action plan to successfully launch my company and begin my dream of owning my own small business,” states Nicole.
In June 2017, her business was launched! Elite Home Trends and ACE are continuing to work together to build Nicole’s business. We continue to help her build her network of business professionals to develop her image and increase her brand portfolio.
Elite Home Trends 508.991.0402 www.elitehometrends.com