By the Directory Route
Q I have a product I would like to pitch to corporate gift consultants, but finding them is hit or miss. Is there a catalog, magazine or other periodical I should look for? Also, can you give me some guidelines on how to approach these people?
--Kurt Sipolski, Palm Desert
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A There are two types of corporate gift consultants. Some specialize in recommending advertising and promotional gifts that corporate America can give away--mugs, golf balls, key chains and that kind of thing. The other type works with national retail stores, advising them on which gift lines they should carry.
Assuming you mean the first type, you can find them in the National Trade Assn. directory (a good library will carry this volume) under the heading “gifts.”
This is where you will find the National Retail Assn., the National Assn. of Independent Gifts Stores and many others that represent people who deal with gift items.
Look for the association that represents the advertising specialties industry and get in touch with it. Their staff should be able to get you a list of people who are involved with corporate gift-giving programs.
You should contact these consultants with a package that includes a nice letter or brochure describing your product, any marketing surveys or other work you have done that demonstrates that your product is salable, testimonials from people who have used and liked your product and a sample of the product. If you have your pricing figured out, include a pricing schedule for quantity orders and your delivery parameters.
--Kent Burnes
Burnes Consulting, Grass Valley
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Q I’m adding a software product to my consulting services. I expect to get orders by phone, but not enough to justify a full-time order desk. What about using services that accept phone orders for a variety of businesses? They don’t fill the orders, just fax or e-mail them to the appropriate company. Where might I find this type of service?
--Kathy Marlatt, On-the-Job
Training, Rolling Hills Estates
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A Answering services offer telephone order-taking services. For instance, when you call an 800 number to order something shown on late-night TV, more than likely you are calling a large answering-service company. There are some automated systems coming on the market now, but I recommend using a live person because that is the acceptable standard.
If you want to shop around, go to your library and ask for the State and Regional Trade Assn. Directory, look under “California” and find the number of a trade association called ACETS. It represents telephone-answering companies and can give you a list of those in the state that you can contact. If you want to find a local company, look in your Yellow Pages under “telephone answering services.” Many of these companies can set up an 800 number that your customers can call, and they provide operators who will take the orders for you.
--Kent Burnes
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Q I am in the middle of starting a new business and have invested $30,000 to get it off the ground. I tried to hire several people to write a business and marketing plan for me. All of them said they could write it, but nobody came through and they wasted months of time. My company is a referral service similar to 1-800-DENTIST, but in a much larger industry. We currently have signed up 100 businesses, but I need help with writing a business and marketing plan. I also need to raise at least $125,000 in start-up capital. Do you have any suggestions or advice?
--Donne Kerestic, Orange County
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A One of the first things I tell start-up business owners is not to hire somebody to write their business plan. You really need to do the work yourself, so you will understand the way your business needs to run to be successful. A plan written by somebody else often ends up being a boilerplate-type business plan that doesn’t truly grasp your situation and will not be useful in planning or getting funding.
You should enroll in an entrepreneurial training class like the one we and many other business development centers around Southern California offer. In the past five years, we have helped 1,000 people write business plans.
These classes are time-consuming but often very affordable, and they will give you step-by-step training, including what to put in your business plan and how to present it to funders, potential partners and even clients.
As you go through the management, marketing and operations sections of your plan, you may find that you do not need as much start-up capital as you originally thought.
You also will learn about creative ways to access capital, such as by using vendor and supplier relationships that are among the most overlooked sources of funding. In reality, two-thirds of small businesses get their first expansion dollars from vendors and suppliers who are willing to give you 30-, 60- and 90-day terms because they know that if your business grows, theirs will too.
Along with nailing down your finances and preparing your plan, you should be doing a basic customer survey if you have not done so already. What do your potential customers want from your referral service? How much are they willing to pay? Will they pay up front or put down a deposit? This is another way you could reduce the amount of capital you need to get started, especially since you are in a service business.
--Debbie Esparza
Director, USC Business
Expansion Network
If you have a question about how to start or operate a small business, please mail it to Karen E. Klein in care of the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia 91016 or e-mail it to business@latimes.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. The column is designed to answer questions of general interest. It should not be construed as legal advice.
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LEARNING CURVE: Story of a bread winner. D2