From the Warehouse: 5 Lessons I Didn’t Learn in Business School
Two years ago my husband and I became the co-owners of EcoEnclose, a business that manufactures and distributes sustainable shipping solutions to eco-focused ecommerce businesses. Through my many years as a management consultant and then a food entrepreneur, my husband’s many years in finance and private equity, and our four combined years of business school, […]
Small to Medium Sized Miracles: Food Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
Anyone who has attempted to launch a food business knows how difficult it can be. Whether it’s raising capital, finding and retaining talent, balancing a side hustle with a full time job or finding reliable co-packers, we hear lots of stories from entrepreneurs that raise our sympathies and admiration. But nowhere have I encountered a […]
The Importance of Community
Two weeks ago the Good Food Business Accelerator kicked off its second year. The GFBA is a fellows program that assists Midwest farms and food entrepreneurs with mentoring, training, sales support and financing to launch and grow their businesses. I worked with FamilyFarmed.org in the conception of and strategy for the accelerator, and conducted trainings […]
Positioning Statements: How a Carrot is More Than a Carrot
Earlier this month I spent a week in New England conducting sales and marketing trainings for the Vermont Farm & Forest Viability Program and the Carrot Project. They invited educators to offer trainings on finance, marketing and management to individuals that provide business assistance and capital to agricultural and food enterprises. It was a wonderful […]
Anatomy of a Positioning Statement
In an earlier blog post titled “Positioning statements: how a carrot is more than a carrot” I described how a business identifies itself to its customer vis-à-vis the competition through a positioning statement, and how a well-crafted positioning statement can help an organization grow. I introduced the framework and provided an example from an indoor […]
Don’t waste a perfectly good failure
I was having one of those memorable group dinners last weekend that jumps from one fun topic to another, and has us sharing and learning new things about ourselves. One question that popped up for all to reflect on was “what accomplishment are you most proud of in life?” After some thought, my answer surprised […]