Showcasing early entrepreneurs has a twofold purpose. One is to offer an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. The second is to provide a forum through which they can guide other aspiring business owners around avoidable obstacles and toward a path of attainable goals. Sharing insights starts with hearing their stories firsthand as through this conversation with
Grace Amante, owner
3J Group, Inc.
www.autotray.net
grace.amante@comcast.net
847-398-5772
MY MOTIVATION
Like many businesses, 3J Group, Inc., was formed out of necessity – the need to develop a product that did not exist. While I was working during the day and taking college courses in the evening, I found myself balancing a quick meal on my lap in the car before class. I tried using magazines or newspapers to stabilize my dinner, but nothing was working. Yet, I couldn’t find anything of substance in the marketplace that would work as an in-car lap table. So, I decided to build a prototype of what is now known as the AutoTray. It’s a compact, portable, lightweight food tray with a non-skid surface that rests comfortably on the lap. It measures only 8” x 15.5” and less than an inch high which makes it easy to stow away in any vehicle. Plus, it has a crumb compartment and an indentation to rest a cup.
MY UNIQUENESS
Similar type products to the AutoTray are heavy, more bulky, expensive tables designed not for food, but for reading and other tasks. Consequently, they are not easily stored in the car, especially if you’re stowing one per person for a normal-size family. My product is thin, yet durable, and fits under the seat, in the door’s side pockets and, of course, in the trunk where it takes minimal space. In addition, I made it a point to make the AutoTray affordable so that the everyday family can easily afford them.
CLIENT PROFILE
Several consumer groups would fall into my ideal client category – People who spend a lot of time in their vehicles and on the road either for work, school, running errands, or taking road trips. Naturally, these would include families, salespeople, truck drivers and students.
MY MARKETING METHODS
For the most part, I’ve been promoting the AutoTray by taking it on the road so to speak - attending networking events, conducting focus groups and by word of mouth. Right now, my immediate goal is to direct prospects to my website. To do this, I’m getting ready to advertise on Facebook™ and Google™, and am considering a YouTube™ promotional video.
SHARED ADVICE
What surprised me the most about developing this product was learning about consumer habits through my focus groups – what they buy and what drives them to buy. For example, how parents' tastes greatly differ from their children's when it comes to colors. The main thing that I would have done differently would have been to do more upfront consumer research to see exactly if this type of product would appeal to the masses and if so, what they would like to see in such a product. I could have avoided many expensive rookie mistakes had I conducted the focus groups first. But, at least, I know I will never make these same types of mistakes again. My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs would be to do your research up front so you don’t find yourself putting the cart before the horse.
Showing posts with label google adwords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label google adwords. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Friend's last request turns into memorial services business that celebrates life
Showcasing recent entrepreneurs has a twofold purpose. One is to offer an added marketing communications or social media element to help promote their businesses. The second is to provide a forum through which they can guide other aspiring business owners around avoidable obstacles and toward a path of attainable goals. Sharing insights starts with hearing their stories firsthand such as through this conversation with
Deborah Williams, owner
Loving Touches Memorial Services
www.lovingtouchesmemorialservices.com
dwilliams@lovingtouchesmemorialservices.com
847-991-0546
BEGINNING MY BUSINESS
I began Loving Touches in July of 2009. What motivated me to start this type of business was that I had lost two of my best friends to breast cancer. One had asked me to handle her memorial service to take the burden off her two sons. She specifically said she didn’t want the traditional morbid funeral, but something fun that focused on all the good times of her life. That wasn’t something normally done at the time, but with the input of her sons, I took on the challenge. I created a DVD of her life, developed a huge photo collage, booked a hotel ballroom and brought in a band. The eulogy was a celebration that covered five areas of her life delivered by five family members, neighbors and friends. At the end, we all toasted her with a shot of Bailey’s which was her favorite. When the event ended, everyone approached me saying that I had missed my calling – and that planted the seed for Loving Touches.
MY SERVICES
Our services are offered both as a package or ala carte. We customize our memorials based on the particular interests and events of the person’s life. Some families have requested bagpipers, flag ceremonies, and a Japanese white butterfly release. Our number one requested item is our eight to 10-minute DVD which is an uplifting life-story summary depicting an era or various life celebrations of the loved one. Each service can be as unique as the person whose life is being celebrated.
MY UNIQUENESS
The beauty of what we do is that it is very cost effective. Combining cremation along with our memorial service is about half the cost of a traditional funeral. – very appealing in this economy. In addition, cremation and what we do are 100 percent environmentally safe which is of great importance to many people, today.
IDEAL CLIENT
That would be people in the age range of 45 to 65 primarily because they are looking after their parents, or those who are above 65 and in the position of having to make their own memorial decisions.
MARKETING MY BUSINESS
Currently, about 95 percent of my business has come through referrals from cremation societies or people who have known or used us. The other five percent has come from the Internet thanks to a great website and some Google Adwords. I also advertise in the Pioneer Press and the Daily Herald. I have been featured in Crain’s as well as in the Daily Herald and I will be featured in Our Family Magazine in Barrington.
SHARED ADVICE
What surprised me the most was the traditional value systems of everyone and their resistance to change. Initially, we had surveyed residents of the northwest suburban area who had recently dealt with the loss of a loved one. We found that 73 percent said they were dissatisfied with the service that they had, yet their resistance to making a change was surprising. They were nervous in thinking that a memorial service could be a happy occasion.
The one thing that I might have done differently would be to have marketed the business in advance of starting it. I tried to get it up and running first and then did my marketing. I find that the Midwest is a more conservative area. Change is difficult here. Had we started on the West Coast, we might have taken off a little more quickly.
I’d advise budding entrepreneurs to do your research and be willing to change because you’re going to have to continually re-evaluate your market at first. Who you think is your target customer may not always be the case and you’ll have to adjust many times over. Also, be open to the comments that you receive because many of them will be positive suggestions and recommendations that can help you. In the beginning of any business, there will be many ups and downs. You’ve got to ride those waves in order to make it.
Deborah Williams, owner
Loving Touches Memorial Services
www.lovingtouchesmemorialservices.com
dwilliams@lovingtouchesmemorialservices.com
847-991-0546
BEGINNING MY BUSINESS
I began Loving Touches in July of 2009. What motivated me to start this type of business was that I had lost two of my best friends to breast cancer. One had asked me to handle her memorial service to take the burden off her two sons. She specifically said she didn’t want the traditional morbid funeral, but something fun that focused on all the good times of her life. That wasn’t something normally done at the time, but with the input of her sons, I took on the challenge. I created a DVD of her life, developed a huge photo collage, booked a hotel ballroom and brought in a band. The eulogy was a celebration that covered five areas of her life delivered by five family members, neighbors and friends. At the end, we all toasted her with a shot of Bailey’s which was her favorite. When the event ended, everyone approached me saying that I had missed my calling – and that planted the seed for Loving Touches.
MY SERVICES
Our services are offered both as a package or ala carte. We customize our memorials based on the particular interests and events of the person’s life. Some families have requested bagpipers, flag ceremonies, and a Japanese white butterfly release. Our number one requested item is our eight to 10-minute DVD which is an uplifting life-story summary depicting an era or various life celebrations of the loved one. Each service can be as unique as the person whose life is being celebrated.
MY UNIQUENESS
The beauty of what we do is that it is very cost effective. Combining cremation along with our memorial service is about half the cost of a traditional funeral. – very appealing in this economy. In addition, cremation and what we do are 100 percent environmentally safe which is of great importance to many people, today.
IDEAL CLIENT
That would be people in the age range of 45 to 65 primarily because they are looking after their parents, or those who are above 65 and in the position of having to make their own memorial decisions.
MARKETING MY BUSINESS
Currently, about 95 percent of my business has come through referrals from cremation societies or people who have known or used us. The other five percent has come from the Internet thanks to a great website and some Google Adwords. I also advertise in the Pioneer Press and the Daily Herald. I have been featured in Crain’s as well as in the Daily Herald and I will be featured in Our Family Magazine in Barrington.
SHARED ADVICE
What surprised me the most was the traditional value systems of everyone and their resistance to change. Initially, we had surveyed residents of the northwest suburban area who had recently dealt with the loss of a loved one. We found that 73 percent said they were dissatisfied with the service that they had, yet their resistance to making a change was surprising. They were nervous in thinking that a memorial service could be a happy occasion.
The one thing that I might have done differently would be to have marketed the business in advance of starting it. I tried to get it up and running first and then did my marketing. I find that the Midwest is a more conservative area. Change is difficult here. Had we started on the West Coast, we might have taken off a little more quickly.
I’d advise budding entrepreneurs to do your research and be willing to change because you’re going to have to continually re-evaluate your market at first. Who you think is your target customer may not always be the case and you’ll have to adjust many times over. Also, be open to the comments that you receive because many of them will be positive suggestions and recommendations that can help you. In the beginning of any business, there will be many ups and downs. You’ve got to ride those waves in order to make it.
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