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Success Stories
The following synopses are just some of BAC’s hundreds of success stories:
Change Business Strategies
Joe Gomula, president of Ohio Energy Source, a battery distributor in Oakwood Village, is a winner of BAC’s Pinnacle Award for struggling through three businesses over five years before he hit a home run! A feisty, gregarious, do-it-yourselfer, Gomula started in the tree service business in 2001, when he originally brainstormed with BAC counselors. “BAC provided me the structure I needed to accomplish three tasks at a time. They demanded that I go back and complete the task,” says Gomula, who responded well to their direct approach. Under pressure after a second failed business venture, Gomula was ready to job hunt. The counselors challenged Joe to reconsider his options. “You’ve got what it takes to go into business,” they said. ‘You will regret it later.’ Their encouragement was tremendous,” says Joe. With his updated business plan in hand, the energetic Gomula now owns a successful start-up that provides battery applications for everything from bulldozers to watches with a specialty in automobiles.
Turn Hobby into Business
David Jilbert founded Jilbert Winery in Valley City with his wife, expanding their meadery into a destination farm winery, farmer’s market and grill featuring local Ohio cuisine and Jilbert wines. An environmental engineer for an engineering lab in Cleveland, Jilbert took his well-conceived business plan to BAC where he consulted with a retired marketing executive. “The counselor encouraged me to focus. He was a positive re--enforcement. I took baby steps and turned my hobby into a booming business,” says Jilbert, who has an undergraduate degree in business. BAC supported Jilbert through his building of the outdoor deck and grill, completion of a brochure and client list, and publicity. After hard work, Jilbert is poised to be a very successful entrepreneur.
Reinventing a Business
Von Roy Coffee Co.’s, once a premier coffee company in Cleveland, got stuck in its ways and lost its focus on growth. Enter new president and CEO, Jeff Miller in 1996, who took a radical approach to reinventing the business. A natural salesman, Miller relocated the company to a new facility, reorganized the entire operation from the inside out. BAC’s counseling team strategized with Miller who did a total analysis of the company, divisions, employees, customers, policies, procedures and sales. “Knowing how to increase sales with new customers was easy, but knowing how to increase sales with old customers was hard.” says Miller. He changed direction, created a dynamic company culture by integrating new employees with old employees, and marketed their coffees, teas and spices backed by their great service to the restaurant community on radio and TV. “BAC put me back on track. I wasn’t able to take the next step to self-generate and motivate my people. BAC taught me to focus on a smaller scale. If it wasn’t for BAC, I might have sold the business,” says. Miller. Current sales are on the rise.
Home-Based Business
Debbie Holy and Ellie Chalko were close to giving up on their home-based, self-funded business when it was hit with the double blows of Y2K and September 11. Their company, an IT staffing solutions provider, lost a couple of large contracts and was forced to redefine its mission and services, but it kept going. Struggling financially, they turned to BAC. Their BAC adviser encouraged them to pursue an SBA loan. They secured a working capital loan of nearly $400,000 and were able to stay in business. The business has since expanded the number of employees and doubled gross revenues. If they had it to do all over again, both say they would have searched for outside funding earlier. They’re thankful that BAC was there to give them a dose of common sense and a lot of constructive criticism.
Industrial Design
Darby Scott was a successful industrial designer for a large Cleveland design firm when she decided to “go it alone”. She created a business called Darby Scott Design and met with initial success as a result of her talent plus low overhead. (She operated on a national stage out of the family room in her Mentor home.) Her design work has won both local and national recognition. Darby decided to take her business to the next level beyond design into paper engineering and manufacturing.
She knew it would be a huge jump from a service business to manufacturing and returned to the group that was instrumental in the creation of her original business, BAC. She wanted the one-on-one perspectives in finding resources and the help in anticipating issues and problems. “The first thing I needed was to understand the differences between a service business and a manufacturing business,” she said. That’s where BAC comes in. The members of BAC avoid telling new entrepreneurs what to do and instead, ask a lot of questions. Sometimes those questions point to unresolved issues and pending pitfalls. “You can’t skirt the issues in front of a distinguished panel of business men,” says Scott. “The questions help clarify the business plan and goals,” she adds. “The answers you give, and more important, the answers that you can’t, are real indicators of the path your business is taking,” she says. Scott says states that the benefits of working with this pool of consultants are immense.
Franchising
Robert MacCutcheon, a man of many talents, has been an entrepreneur for many years. As such, he has been: a pilot, a stockbroker, an investment counselor, and managed four employment agency offices. He came to BAC when he decided to go into janitorial services. With sage advice from BAC and a lot of energy and the application of sound business practices he learned from his councilors, he now runs a franchise service with 20 employees and contracts to maintain 36 buildings in greater Cleveland.
Small Business Service
Doug Sturges saw an opportunity in dirt. While seated in a restaurant, Doug noticed that the window shades were very oily and dirty. He wondered if this was an industry-wide problem and developed the idea of providing a service that would not only clean the shades, but do it without disrupting the operations of daily business routines. Doug brought his ideas to BAC for advice on how to start such a business. With advice on organizing and financing the operation from the retirees of BAC, plus an investment of $75,000 from friends, Doug founded a successful company that grossed over $200,000 the first year in business. He is well on his way. Plans are now underway to franchise the idea.
Adult Day Care Service
Ruth Reid was a nursing supervisor for Willow Park Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center when she decided to go into business for herself. As a registered nurse she knew how to nurture people but nothing about the care and feeding of a business. Ruth learned about BAC when attending a meeting at the public library and contacted us.
The result is Ru-Clair Adult Day Care Service, a successful business in Beachwood that was launched in 1998 and has grown to two locations handling over 40 clients with ages ranging from 39 to 97. Ruth still seeks advice from BAC retirees as she moves towards her goal of increasing her base from mostly Cuyahoga County referrals to private patients. “I keep coming back for help,” says Ruth.
Small Service Business
This client was nervous about an opportunity to buy an existing maid service priced at $24,000. Her funds were limited to $10,000. The BAC panel suggested that she hire a small business lawyer and an accountant to review the P&L statements and provide direct advice for the negotiating the purchase of the business. Arrangements were made to purchase the business for $15,000 ($9,000 down plus $6,000 over a two-year period) with the help of a home mortgage. Her attorney incorporated the business and her accountant taught her a simple bookkeeping system.
At times, our clients are reluctant to hire the proper help. All they need is a third party to point out the direct benefits. At last report, the client had over 20 maids on the payroll.
A Wise Decision
A recent client asked BAC for advice on buying a truck repair service garage from his employer. According to his boss, the business was averaging close to $500,000 per year in repairs and was highly profitable. The owner was asking $350,000 for the business. Our client wanted our advice as to how he could borrow enough money to take over the operation. He was going to put up a sizeable amount of his own money as a down payment.
We suggested that he ask the owner to supply him with at least five years of financial statements, as well as five years of Federal Business Tax returns. Our client returned stating that the owner responded that this information would not be meaningful since a high percentage were cash sales and not recorded on the company books.
Our advice was for him not to purchase a business that did not keep honest and accurate financial records. We cited a list of reasons and potential repercussions. He appreciated our candor and did not make this purchase.
Sometimes the advice Not to do something is worth its weight in gold.
