Succeeding in Your Business by Cliff Ennico

I was pleased to be one of the judges at the 16th annual Connecticut Business Plan Competition sponsored by The Entrepreneurship Foundation (www.entrepreneurshipfoundation.org).

Each year dozens of teams from the entrepreneurship classes at Connecticut's private colleges, state universities and community colleges compete for cash awards, trophies and the chance to meet some of the state's most prominent venture capitalists and angel investors.

The event, like many such competitions, is divided into two halves: The first half deals with personal businesses (mostly retail and service companies serving a local or regional market), and the second half with ventures (mostly technology and product/manufacturing companies serving a national or worldwide market).

Here are some of the personal business concepts that were presented at the event, and my notes on each plan (written in real time so they are not grammatically perfect).

CONCEPT 1: An all-natural pet shampoo developed by a local dog groomer.

THE PROS: Inexpensive to produce, with sales mostly limited to the founder's grooming business so inventory is easy to control. The product is especially effective at relieving skin irritations.

THE CONS: Nothing proprietary or patentable. "Organic" and "all natural" often mean "very expensive" and "premium price" so not likely to achieve a mass market.

SUGGESTIONS: Founder should seek laboratory documentation on product's ability to cure skin irritations and then license it to major pet product manufacturers (Hartz, RalstonPurina).

CONCEPT 2: Creperie and French bistro geared towards college students.

THE PROS: Very desirable downtown city location (although expensive) with lots of foot traffic, within walking distance of three college campuses. Only one competitor in a two-mile radius with a poor reputation.

THE CONS: College students have little money and want cheap fast food, which crepes and steak au poivre with pommes frites are not.

SUGGESTIONS: Forget the students; focus on the workers in nearby office buildings, especially if there is an outdoor dining option in warmer weather.

CONCEPT 3: Catering and event planning service featuring Latin fusion cuisine.

THE PROS: Founders are gourmet chefs from Central and South America experienced in haute cuisine from virtually every Latin American country. Organizers of business events frequently seek unique and different food options.

THE CONS: They have no experience in event planning and will have to rent a legal kitchen from an existing restaurant to cook for events.

SUGGESTIONS: There are no Latin fusion restaurants in Connecticut; start with a real restaurant and then offer catering services from there.

CONCEPT 4: A social media network for college fraternity and sorority members and their alumni/ae.

THE PROS: Easy to create and promote; there's a strong demand by Greek organizations to build alumni/ae networks for financial support.

THE CONS: National Greek organizations already do this for their local chapters and will see this as competition.

Network may be perceived as merely a way for fraternities and sororities to "hit up" alumni/ae for donations.

SUGGESTIONS: Focus on smaller independent Greek organizations (fraternities and sororities that are not affiliated with a national organization), which often have difficulty communicating with their alumni/ae base, and use ConstantContact(r) or other mailing list software to help them identify and reach out to alumni/ae.

CONCEPT 5: A gourmet food truck serving original recipe pancakes at breakfast time.

THE PROS: Focusing on one or two menu items each day is perfect for a truck-based food operation with extremely limited preparation space. Most gourmet food trucks are focused on lunch customers, although success with this business will breed competitors vying for the same parking spaces.

THE CONS: Customers may want breakfast options other than pancakes, and people following certain diets (low-calorie, gluten-free) will want product to be customized more than is possible with a food truck. Pancakes are difficult to eat "on the go" as they require a knife, fork, syrup, etc.

SUGGESTIONS: Offer a variety of breakfast sandwiches wrapped in the pancakes that people can grab and go.

CONCEPT 6: A portable wooden guitar fingerboard with an LCD screen designed to teach children to play the guitar.

THE PROS: Really cool, patentable design that is easy to use. The LCD screen can correct student errors without making noise, so is ideal for environments (such as libraries and school cafeterias) where noise is discouraged. The product can be easily adapted to teach other stringed instruments (such as the banjo or mandolin).

THE CONS: Competes with software, websites and YouTube videos that teach guitar fingering by dramatic visual and aural example. The lack of sound may inhibit students who don't already play an instrument from "using their ears" to identify different chords, harmony vs. dissonance and so forth. Even with this product, you still need a guitar.

SUGGESTIONS: Combine the product with software that helps students associate sounds with correct and incorrect fingerings, or license the patent to a company that already offers Web-based guitar instruction (such as RedOctane, maker of the popular video game "Guitar Hero").

More next week ...

Cliff Ennico (crennico@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO.

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