SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL WOMAN ENTREPRENEURS
This book is dedicated to people who passionately believe that they can achieve more but don’t know how to begin.
SUE STOCKDALE
First Published In Great Britain 2005 by Lean Marketing Press
www.BookShaker.com
© Copyright Sue Stockdale
Smashwords
Edition
This book is available in print at Amazon.com &
Amazon.co.uk
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Typeset in Georgia
Helen Swaby photograph by Tina Hadley - www.tinahadley.com
A proportion of the profits from the sale of this book have been donated to The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award…
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a programme of activities for young people that develops commitment, fitness, confidence and life skills, as well as positively engaging them in their local communities. There are around quarter of a million young people between the age of 14 and 25 currently taking part in the UK, just over half of whom are young women. They come from all social and cultural backgrounds and are of all abilities.
The Award is challenging and it’s fun. Taking part equips young people for life and work and inspires many of them to achieve more than they previously thought they were capable of. Sales of this book will help more young people to experience the challenge of the Award, possibly helping them to become entrepreneurs of the future.
“Are You The Next Great Entrepreneur?”
Do you like making your own decisions and being in control of your own destiny?
Do you feel passionately about an idea, product or service?
Are you happy to work longer hours for a smaller initial income while you build a brighter future?
Have you spotted an untapped gap in the market that you believe you can fill?
Can you handle the pressure and responsibility of running your own business?
If you answered yes to 2 or more of the above questions then learn from the mistakes, challenges and successes of others when you read Secrets of Successful Women Entrepreneurs.
This book is for those who want to start–up or grow a business, and are fascinated to learn what drives people to achieve exceptional performance. It provides an insight on how to think like an entrepreneur, overcome challenges and become more resourceful – and enterprising.
You will be motivated to take action yourself after reading about the experiences of ten women from across the UK who all seized an opportunity and turned their ideas into reality.
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book began during a conversation over lunch two years ago. Since then, I have followed the Seven Steps to Success to see it through to completion.
I would like to thank all the people who have been involved during that time and whose support and encouragement has been invaluable.
Charlotte Howard for planting the seed in the first place, Tracey Jefferies for being a great friend and networker, Frank Martin for helping to shape the research, Sarah Williams and Peronel Barnes for their contacts and editing skills, Debbie Jenkins and Joe Gregory at Lean Marketing Press who have been a great team to work with, Fiona Hoggard and all the team at The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Steve McLauchlan who has been very helpful, Rae, Bruce, Jenna and Connor Howieson and Michael Zarutsky who have continuously supported, cajoled and encouraged me to achieve my best work.
And lastly, to all the inspiring women who so kindly contributed to this book: Linda Bennett, Josephine Carpenter, Julie Meyer, Michelle Mone, Dr Marilyn Orcharton, Geetie Singh, Dr Glenda Stone, Penny Streeter, Helen Swaby and Yvonne Thompson CBE.
Foreword
Secrets of Successful Women Entrepreneurs is a mega–dose of inspiration – I felt like I’d had 5 cups of coffee all at once! It profiles 10 exceptional women entrepreneurs, who are inspirational not because of where they are now – but how they got there and why. Every woman will be able to relate to these women’s stories in some way. The book illustrates how multi–millionaires like Linda Bennett and Penny Streeter started with no money and high levels of risk aversion – not unlike the profile of the ordinary women who come to Prowess members for business support.
All of them had potentially fatal setbacks at one time or another – like Michelle Mone having her new collection stolen just days before a crucial show and Geetie Singh’s business loan falling through just after she signed the lease for her gastro–pub. What sets these women apart is the ability to pick themselves up, learn from their mistakes and keep going.
Interestingly wealth in itself is rarely the driving force: almost more powerful is a compelling vision, strong sense of social value and desire to deliver real quality. That balance is creating real wealth and our economy needs a lot more women like them. Sue Stockdale has clearly structured the book to enable readers to apply these experiences to their own plans. It’s a practical book which should lead to real action and many more women entrepreneurs.
Erika Watson Executive Director, PROWESS
The UK Association of organisations which support women to start and grow businesses
Introduction
There are many successful female entrepreneurs in the UK, yet most are not well known. Is it because most of the entrepreneurs who capture the media’s attention are male? Or is it down to the small numbers of women who are actually running successful businesses? Whatever the reason, my motivation in writing this book is to redress the balance a little.
Research in 2004 showed that just 14% of businesses were wholly owned by women but encouragingly, numbers are on the increase. The UK government introduced a Strategic Framework outlining a number of priority areas aimed at accelerating the process of business start–up. One of these priority areas is to provide role models, hence another reason for this book.
In my business I spend most of my time helping corporate leaders and owner/managers of small businesses to improve what they do. I often use storytelling as a way to motivate and inspire them. There’s something magical about reading or hearing about someone else’s experiences that makes us connect with their situation in a unique manner. Stories take us beyond the glitz and glamour of an individual’s success and help us understand how people achieve things that they often did not think were possible.
The true stories of the women in this book do just that. They are aimed at helping us understand how one can turn the dream of owning and running a business into a reality. All the women could be described as extraordinary because they have all seized an opportunity, and, with determination and commitment, turned it into a successful business. Yet they could also be described as ordinary because while they have pursued their dreams, they have all had to battle with the day to day challenges that face the rest of us – making sure we have enough money to survive, feeding our children and juggling the many different priorities in our lives.
Several themes began to emerge as I carried out my interviews. For a start it appears that most of these successful women started up their companies based on a different set of values and principles to the traditional entrepreneurial values of power, financial success and status. They tended to be more focused on interaction with people and helping others. Ironically, they still achieved financial success but they took a different route to get the same outcome.
All of the women I interviewed possess qualities of self–belief, focus, tenacity, decisiveness and competitiveness. They also have a strong desire to control their own destiny and the way they run their companies reflects their own personal values. However, two big challenges faced most of them – finding finance and managing some type of balance between their work and their personal life.
As leaders they behave in a manner that promotes genuine concern for others, team–working and openness which fits in well with their personal values of respect, integrity, ethics, honesty and a passion for excellence. Let me introduce them to you in alphabetical order:
Linda Bennett – Shoe designer and Founder of the shoe and clothing retailer LK Bennett who was recognised as the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year in 2004.
Josephine Carpenter – Josephine took her passion for fruit smoothies and founded The Big J™ in 1999. She has successfully turned it into a multi–million pound business retailing worldwide.
Julie Meyer – Corporate high flyer Julie launched First Tuesday in 1999 and then Ariadne Capital. She is recognised as one of the Top 30 most powerful women in Europe.
Michelle Mone – Michelle is a Scottish success story. She founded MJM International and transformed the lingerie sector with her Ultimo™ bra and other unique designs.
Dr Marilyn Orcharton – Marilyn created Denplan, the UK’s leading dental healthcare scheme and is recognised as one of the 300 “Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World”.
Geetie Singh – Award winning organic gastro pub owner. Geetie created the world’s first certified organic gastropub in London.
Dr Glenda Stone – Glenda came from Australia and showed us how making things better for women could become a competitive asset. She founded Aurora Gender Capital Management that works towards the economic advancement of women.
Penny Streeter – Rhodesian born Penny was determined to be successful following one business failure. She did it in style and now heads up Ambition 24 hours which was recognised as the fastest growing unquoted company in the UK in 2002.
Helen Swaby – Helen turned her hobby into a multimillion pound art publishing business. DeMontfort Fine Art was recognised as one of the fastest growing unquoted companies in the UK in 2002 by the Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100.
Yvonne Thompson CBE – Yvonne started the first known black–owned and run PR agency ASAP Communications. She also founded the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners and now works extensively in the community helping to give organisations access to minority audiences.
I created a framework called the Seven Steps to Success™ around which their stories are retold. These are the steps I believe are critical to success, not just in business but in achieving any challenging venture. Each step addresses key questions as explained below.
Seven Steps to Success™
Step 1 – The Defining Moment
What prompted the business start–up in the first place?
Step 2 – Understand your environment
What was happening in the marketplace and in their lives at start–up?
Step 3 – Create your own compelling vision
What was the vision that drove them to succeed?
Step 4 – Prepare for success
What were the personal qualities that helped them to succeed?
Step 5 – Start the journey
What have been their biggest challenges and how did they overcome them?
Step 6 – Maintain fitness and focus
How did they keep motivated and balance work/life issues?
Step 7 – Reach your goal – what next?
How did they measure success and what are their plans for the future? What advice do they have for other entrepreneurs?
Personally, as someone who has represented Scotland in athletics events, completed an MBA, participated in four expeditions across some of the world’s most challenging terrain and started up my own business venture I reflected upon the key issues I had encountered during each activity. These steps focus more upon the softer issues related to motivation and mindset rather than the hard tasks we have to carry out.
I make no apologies for this. There are already many good business books which offer advice on how to write a business plan or create a marketing strategy – but not so many that actually model people making a difference right now.
The Seven Steps to Success™ give you the big picture on how to think like an entrepreneur, overcome challenges and become more resourceful – and enterprising.
I hope that the inspiring stories you read on the following pages will encourage you to consider starting up a business yourself. Or if you are already an owner/manager I hope it will provide some useful lessons that you can apply to your business.
I would like to thank all of these amazing women for their willingness to be open and honest and to share all their experiences – good and bad – so that others can learn.
Part 1: True Stories From Great Female Entrepreneurs
Linda Bennett
Shoe designer and Founder of the shoe and clothing retailer, LK Bennett
Recognised as the Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year 2004
Key Information
Business: Designer shoes, accessories and clothing
Started business: 1990
Location: 50 outlets across the UK and Paris, France
Turnover in 2004: about £45 million
Employees: around 500
Awards include: UK Footwear Awards in 2002 and 2003, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2002 – Consumer Product Category, Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year 2004
Website: www.lkbennett.com
What was the defining moment?
Linda has always been passionate about shoes and this has influenced her career over the years. As with many young people, Linda was unsure which direction to take after leaving school. She started out taking a business–related degree but then went on to study the history of art before deciding to embark on a career based around a product about which she felt truly enthused. Apart from wanting a career that she enjoyed, she felt this would give her an advantage in business. The product was footwear and she took herself off to world–renowned Cordwainers College in Hackney, London to begin a course in shoe design. The course taught her how to make a shoe but had no emphasis on running a business which Linda realised would also be important.
In order to both finance her studies and learn about running a business Linda was managing and buying for a fashion store whilst studying two days a week at college. This juggling act was particularly difficult. Young people today also face this issue of trying to balance study time with earning an income, and many try to make some extra cash by working in the evenings or weekends which makes studying all the more difficult.
Still driven by her desire to become a footwear designer, Linda went off to France for a few months of work experience in the design studio of world famous shoe designer Robert Clergerie. This experience taught her how the design and manufacturing process worked. Armed with some newly acquired skills, Linda attended the international footwear fair held in Dusseldorf. It was during her visit there that Linda had her defining moment.
Linda could see that there were many shoe factories making high quality shoes but lacking in design content. She began to see that she could design shoes and have them manufactured in Europe enabling her to compete in the UK market where she planned to open her own shops.
Linda believes that gathering as much relevant experience as you can prior to starting up your enterprise is really important. As well as her retail experience, she had had other jobs including drawing up plans for an interior designer. She suggests, “If you are thinking of setting up on your own, it is important to learn as much as you can from jobs relating to the industry you are interested in. However, if you feel you have learnt enough to start your own business, then it is important to be brave enough to make the leap.”
What was the market situation and your personal situation at start–up?
Starting up a business in 1990 was tough. Britain was in the grip of a deep recession and money was tight. People did not spend much on frivolous things like shoes.
Linda had witnessed the poor manufacturing quality of women’s footwear within the UK on her college course and recognised that Italy and Spain had shoe manufacturing skills in abundance. She therefore decided to have her shoes made overseas.
Linda found that she had to be very resourceful in order to start her business. Without the finance to open a shop selling her designs, Linda decided to launch her own collection of handbags to sell in other stores. In order to find manufacturers prepared to make her designs, Linda visited some of the leather suppliers in London that she knew from her college days and they kindly offered to share their customer lists with her. That way she managed to find some handbag manufacturers and started off by designing a collection of handbags which she sold to several stores including Harvey Nichols. She also did some design consultancy for Laura Ashley who at that time had a factory in Wales making handbags.
What was your compelling vision?
Whilst this experience provided the seed of a business, it also made her realise that what she really wanted to do was design shoes and to open her own shop. Her college course had given her the technical expertise and her years of weekend and holiday work with retailers such as Whistles, Russell and Bromley and Joseph had given her an insight into how to run a retail business.
Linda had a vision of selling shoes that she would like to wear herself. She describes the LK Bennett brand as “feminine and elegant yet quirky and fun, appealing to a broad spectrum of different women.” She kept this vision in mind as she made her plans to open her first shop.
She was able to capitalise on her wide–ranging experience as the business began to take shape – selling, designing the store, designing the product and also managing the overall business.
How did you prepare for success?
At last Linda had enough savings from her design work to approach the bank for a loan. She had £13,000 in her bank account and on the strength of this and using her flat as collateral, the bank lent her £15,000 and she found suitable shop premises in Wimbledon, South West London. Linda project managed the shop fitting of her first shop. She managed to persuade the contractors to work seven days a week because the clock was ticking and every day that the shop was not trading was a drain on limited resources. The shop was completed in two weeks – a record!
On the day Linda signed the lease, she cried. She was absolutely terrified at the enormity of what she had taken on. Latterly, Linda has commented “The best time to start up your business is when you have very little to lose. It must be even more daunting when you have a well paid job that you are giving up. However, I had recently left college and did not have particularly high expectations.”
What happened when you started the journey?
The first challenge Linda encountered was running the business with such little working capital. She managed to persuade some of the suppliers to allow her 90 days to pay rather than the standard 30 day terms. This was how the business was financed initially. It was a case of juggling all the time and it was extremely tough.
Looking back Linda recalls this time as extremely exciting but very hard work. She focused entirely on making the business a success, doing the designing as well as the retailing. She was working 7 days a week and well into the evenings. But word gradually spread and people began to flock to the shop. Many other women entrepreneurs have found that gaining customers through word of mouth and recommendation is by far the easiest way to win business and generates loyalty too.
Because LK Bennett was launched in a recession, Linda believes that it helped her learn how to run a lean business.
As the business has grown Linda has encountered many other challenges. She feels that her career has been a huge learning curve. “ The skills one starts with are constantly being added to as the business enters different phases, for example the skills required to run a small team are very different to those required to manage larger numbers of people.”Even now, as LK Bennett continues to open more stores across the UK and Europe there are challenges to face. The major one, according to Linda, is risk–taking. There is a huge difference between the rent for a small out–of–town store and the rent for a flagship store in a central location. Linda is not a natural risk taker and explains that she has to be fairly sure about something before she does it.
Protection of the brand image is important to the business and this is achieved in a number of ways.
The focus is on maintaining high standards in the design of the product. “You are only as good as your last collection.”
The LK Bennett stores are constantly being updated. It is important that the retail environment is attractive and reflects the brand.
Linda is very proud of the staff in her stores and there is an emphasis on staff training. Linda sees this as an important part of how the brand is communicated.
How do you maintain mental fitness and focus?
Once an entrepreneur has been successful it can be a daunting task to maintain that success. Linda believes that her success is down to the people in the business and believes that it is important to surround yourself with people who are better qualified than you are in each of their specialist’s areas.
Leadership style is also another key factor that can help or hinder the success of a growing business. Linda’s hands–on style helps her to be in touch with both her staff and her customers.
While it was all work and no play during the initial stages of starting up the business, Linda tries to leave work by 6pm in order to spend time with her daughter. Linda works in a very intense, focused way in order to get as much done as possible in her working day. She rarely has time for lunch meetings. Even after 15 years in business Linda finds that the brand is what keeps her motivated. “I want to make the product better and better and the brand more recognised, especially internationally”, she commented.
Reaching Your Goal – What Next?
Each individual will measure the success of their business in a different way. While the City views financial results as the key measure for corporates, entrepreneurs also use personal factors as a measure of success. For Linda being in control of her own destiny has been crucial, although she recognises that the day–to–day pressures of running LK Bennett meant that she has not always been able to do the things she would like to have done. The reward for this has been the creation of a brand and the feeling of pride associated with managing a team of people who excel in their jobs. “Obviously family life brings one the most pleasure but I think I always wanted to be proud of my career achievements, particularly as so much of one’s time is spent at work.”
Linda also recognises the power of role models in influencing her success. “I think that both my family and school had a positive influence on my career. At my school we were pushed to our limit which helped me believe that I could achieve something that I may have initially thought was not possible.”
“My mother is very spirited and rarely concedes defeat and I found her very inspiring. My father is an entrepreneur so he was a role model for me too. Perhaps it did not seem so terrifying to start a business as a member of my close family had already taken the same huge step.”
Linda Bennett’s Top Tips
One has to put all one’s energy into starting a business, do not enter into it half heartedly
Expect to give up some of your social life, especially at the beginning
Create a unique product, or a concept that will give you an edge over your competitors, love what you do
Delegate
Stay focused and believe in yourself
Don’t give up
Josephine Carpenter
Founder, The Juice Company (trading as The Big J™)
A smoothie is a not a charming man it’s a product
Key Information
Business: Manufacturer and distributor of fruit smoothies
Started business: 1999
Location: based in London, selling worldwide
Turnover in 2003: £3.5 million
Employees:18
Awards include: Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 – European Women of Achievement Awards, Marketing Innovation Export Award 2003, Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2003 – Orange Small Business Awards
Website: www.thebigj.com
What was the defining moment?
Josephine Carpenter always knew she would run her own business. From an early age she has always been tenacious and confident and at the age of thirteen had three jobs. While other children were singing with a hairbrush like a wannabe pop star, Josephine was practising writing cheques!
She had a traumatic childhood, and it was because of this that she began to realise that, “if you are going to do well in life then you are not going to get any help from others so you have to do it yourself.” This self–reliance and drive to succeed, combined with her ability to turn an idea into reality, helped her develop a talent for selling.
Josephine felt that in order to achieve her dream of “Josephine Carpenter, Managing Director” she would have to earn respect and success through hard work.
As a child, Josephine was very health oriented. She used to come home from school and mash up raw eggs, bananas, milk and peanut butter to whiz up a fruit smoothie in her mum’s blender. As she got older, Josephine chose not to drink alcohol and began to get frustrated that the only soft drinks that appeared to be available in pubs or restaurants were cola, orange juice or water. She became absolutely convinced that there was a market for fruit smoothies as an alternative soft drink.
What was the market situation and your personal situation at start–up?
In 1998, when she began to research the market, Josephine found that there was nothing like this available in the UK. The fact that the media seemed to be full of stories about diets and healthy eating, and that fast–food restaurants were beginning to offer healthy alternatives to consumers led Josephine to believe that this was the right time to launch her business.
Josephine acknowledges that while she was inexperienced, the drive to make money and succeed was too strong to ignore. She would spend hours on the internet doing research into where she could buy raw materials and how to run a business. She found out all about the US market in fruit smoothies and felt sure that it would only be a matter of time before the concept was brought to the UK.
At the time, Josephine had a good job working for a health and safety company, with all the attached benefits of pension, company car and good salary. Yet she decided to resign and took an evening job at a financial printing company working from 4pm to midnight. While she had taken a massive salary cut, this job gave her 24 hour access to the internet as well as an insight into the world of corporate business. The company printed documents for mergers and acquisitions and often lawyers would be there for hours, proof–reading documents. Josephine would talk to them about companies and shares, which she found valuable although she knew that, as she was the receptionist, the lawyers probably only viewed it as idle chit–chat.
When money began to get tight, Josephine eventually shared her business idea with a couple of friends. They were interested so she borrowed £10,000 from each of them to incorporate the company giving them each 1% equity stake in the business for their commitment and trust in her idea. Josephine felt that she had now well and truly started her business.
What was your compelling vision?
Josephine’s vision was driven by the lack of availability of a product. She wanted to be able to go into a hotel room at 3am and open up the mini bar and find an alternative soft drink to cola, orange juice or water. Her knowledge of the places where she could not get an alternative soft drink drove her to consider selling to those sectors of the market including airlines and the food service sector.
Yet this unswerving belief that people would want to buy fruit smoothies and her passion to make the business work took its toll on her life. She was now working all day on her business, then switching to her evening job at the printers until midnight. Sometimes she would go home and then carry on with the business. She was exhausted but driven to succeed.
“My sister would bring me round dinner on a little foil plate because she knew I would not have eaten. Some days I did not actually get dressed and I would be in my pyjamas at my computer all day just putting things together. I probably did as much as a company with five or six employees could achieve. I was putting in 110% effort because I had no choice and no money.”
How did you prepare for success?
Josephine wanted to learn more about the US market in fruit smoothies, so she decided to take a trip over there to find out more. She learned that the most successful juice bar chain was a franchise operation based in California. In other states such as Utah she learned that the large population of teetotal Mormons played a major role in increasing sales. The relatively low cost of building rents and raw materials along with the sunny weather were all factors to be analysed. It did not take Josephine long to do the sums and work out that this formula would not work in the UK.
What she decided to do was produce smoothies using the format of crushing frozen fruit up in a blender with some juices, so that she could sell this into restaurants, hotels and catering trade. It was not going to be cost effective to open up a stand–alone juice bar and she knew that she could not afford to compete directly with the retail sector, so Josephine identified a gap in the market and aimed to attack it.
Josephine approached a company in the US and bought frozen fruit from them and put it into little pouches. The idea was that when it was opened it would produce one smoothie to order.
There was only going to be one chance to succeed and Josephine knew she needed to launch the product at a major catering trade show held in Birmingham. She enlisted the help of all her family including her brother who is a paramedic and her brother–in–law who is a fire–fighter. Even her sister who worked for an IT firm in the City gave up her job for a week and they all became the face of The Juice Company at the trade show!
“For all intents and purposes, we were this fabulous new company and we had a real buzz on the stand with music and everyone whizzing up smoothies all day. By the end of the show we had John Lewis and Fenwick’s agreeing to list our product. We won best new product of the year, which was great, yet no–one had any idea at that time that the company they were talking to was just me.”
The success at the trade show led to a lot of press coverage and the business began to develop. The first year yielded a turnover of £125,000 and by end of year 2 they had reached over £1M turnover. Josephine knew that these results demonstrated there was a market for fruit smoothies.
What happened when you started the journey?
Just like the other women in this book, Josephine also experienced her fair share of challenges. The first fruit suppliers she went to meet got up and left her sitting in the room during a meeting – obviously not taking her seriously. Nowadays if their salesmen ring her up and try to sell her their product, she makes a point of reminding them how they treated her when she was starting out. She will not buy from them on principle.
Instead she had to go out to America and bring the products back over to the UK. “I remember the huge lorry coming down our street and as we unloaded the containers of fruit into my front room all the curtains were twitching in the street. It was hilarious.”
Another challenge she had to overcome was when a supplier “mislaid or lost” £158,000 worth of stock which they had purchased. Josephine had to placate angry customers who were waiting for their supplies while finding the money to repurchase the stock she had already bought. The subsequent months of legal wrangling meant that it took Josephine’s attention away from driving the business forward.
It took her three years to really recognise the value of finding a good finance person and the importance of managing the cash in the business. When she started the business, Josephine did not have any external advisors. Then later, when she did seek advice, it was not correct, so it put Josephine off asking for help from anyone else.
This issue of cash flow was brought home all too quickly to her in 2001. She had negotiated for nine months to win an airline contract. It was ready to start on 10th September 2001. The atrocities at the World Trade Centre on the following day led the airline to withdraw the contract. Yet external events like those are difficult to plan for, so Josephine had to re–mortgage her house in order to weather the financial impact on the business.
Despite all these problems, Josephine carries on because she feels a responsibility towards her employees as well as being passionate about the product. In fact, leading the people in the company is key to success, Josephine believes.
She regularly carries out an anonymous communications questionnaire asking employees to list what they like about work and what they are unhappy with in the company. The results show the strength of passion for the business. The office is completely democratic and employees are encouraged to sit round the table and talk about strategy. Everyone gets involved in designing and tasting new products, and even in how they are advertised. “Most things are done in–house and we try not to employ outside people and because of this, they enjoy it more.” This issue of involvement may correlate with the fact that a large number of employees have been employed by the company since it started and have remained loyal.