The late Paul Harvey used to host a popular radio called The Rest of Story, where he would share commonly known “facts” about places or people and then surprise listeners by offering a surprise fact or twist to the story at the end. He would sign-off by telling listeners, “Now you know, the rest of the story…”

Julie Myers - Rocket Ventures Marketing Manager

myers@rgp.org

There are many a-ha moments while marketing a technology start-up. Products are so new and the marketplace may be so dynamic that what you may think of as fact today can turn out to be just the beginning of the story.

How do you find out the rest of the story without sinking your entire valuable and, let’s face it, sometimes rare, marketing budget, into something that just doesn’t fit your needs?

The answer is simple, in marketing, as in life, the best plans are the most well thought out plans. This doesn’t mean that you should be so stringent that you don’t market your product until an entire 5-year strategic initiative is created. Rather, it means to take time to step back and assess your needs. Don’t just rush into purchasing an entire plan with pretty collateral from an agency that may or may not be the best solution for you – just because it looks good.

 Are you just looking to generate buzz and not ready to begin selling? If so, having a plan that involves press releases or relies heavily on social media may be in your best interest.

If you’re ready to begin selling, it’s important to have both a marketing and a sales plan. One of the biggest mistakes a start-up can make is thinking that marketing is the same thing as sales. You can be an awesome marketer but a horrible salesperson and vice versa.

Make friends with other marketers. We’ve all been in brainstorming meetings where ideas are flying across the room. Sometimes the best ideas come from other ideas. Having a sounding board for your ideas can be a FREE way of gaining valuable insight into your market. Plus, sitting down and having a meeting with a friend can help you take a step back and get a better grasp on what you’re trying to achieve.

Get your feet wet, but don’t dive in! A common theme heard around the start-up world is “This idea is HUGE! The possibilities are endless!” That’s great and may be true, but trying to get into every market will prove exhausting and may leave your clients wondering what your niche really is.  Figure out your best core market and stick with it. You can branch out into other markets once you have established brand recognition.

Finally, there is no magic marketing pill or plan that will work for everyone. This is a secret that most marketers don’t want to admit. If it were as simple as following the five P’s of marketing there would be no business failures and we’d all be rich. Find out what works for you and your company and stick with it!

And now you know, the rest of the story…

Give us the 30-second rundown on what CIFT does.

We’re the Edison Technology Center that’s responsible for technology-based economic development within food processing and agriculture and agribusiness, and we tend to define that rather loosely. (more…)

Steven Weathers, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership, knows that the automotive industry isn’t likely to come back to northwest Ohio anytime soon — and he’s OK with that. He is focused on increasing employment and growth in RGP’s pipeline of growing companies. Just last year, 1,700 jobs were created at 29 different companies (not even including technology firms) — with investments totaling more than $300 million. Weathers, a 49-year-old transplant of Southern California, knows what it’s like to transform an economy. He’s done it before. Twice. Once in San Diego, Calif. and once in Tucson, Ariz., where he held economic development positions in both cities. hiVelocity caught up with Weathers to learn how he’s helping to shake off some of the rust from Toledo’s economy.

Without the staple of the automotive industry, what is the new economic face of Northwest Ohio?

The new economic face is alternative energy, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and materials and electronics. We have 65 new innovative technology companies started with support of the Third Frontier. Of those, none are in the automotive business.

How would you compare your effort in San Diego in turning around that economy to what’s happening in Toledo now?

We’re probably about 15 to 20 years behind what we did in San Diego. San Diego was a region based on tourism, real estate development and defense. With a downturn and high unemployment, San Diego was suffering in the late-1980s. There is almost a parallel dynamic to what we’re doing here in Northwest Ohio. San Diego converted its economy out of necessity in 1990, and we’re trying save our economy (in Toledo) in 2010. In 1990, there were 60 biotech companies in San Diego. Today, there are well over 1,000. In Northwest Ohio, we have 70 biotech companies — the biotech industry has been one of our biggest areas of growth. If I laid the numbers out on a board you would see so many similarities. The key to this area is diversifying our economic base.

What are some of Toledo’s new strengths?

There’s a diverse base of companies starting to grow here. I always talk about … economic development is a lot like human evolution. We’re changing. Without the base of the glass industry in Toledo there wouldn’t be a solar industry — the main material for the solar industry is glass. It’s kind of a logical thing. There are a lot of other ancillary businesses that come with solar industry. There are assemblers installers, framers, inverter companies and suppliers of chemicals.

There are many companies in RGP’s portfolio, but what’s the company that has you excited at this moment?

Right now, we’re very excited about the rail company CSX. They are building their largest intermodal transportation hub in North Baltimore — about 30 minutes from here. It’s going to be their epicenter for intermodal transportation in the Midwest — their Midwest headquarters. There will be hundreds of jobs, and it could turn into thousands of jobs, from what they’ve said.

A lot of the new jobs in Northwest Ohio are highly skilled. How much does education play a role in the success of growing Toledo’s economy?

Education plays a big role — anywhere from community college to applied research institutions. We engage the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, University of Findlay, Owens Community College, Terra Community College and Northwest State Community College. They all bring different skill sets. The idea is we’re always trying to help you grow you’re company. We don’t want you to be at the back of the boat.

Is Toledo on the right track?

We have a long way to go, but we’re moving in the right direction. The goal is to get to 100 new companies. We’ve seen $41 million capital dollars come here because of a new economic value that we’re creating. Of 65 companies we’ve started, 21 have come from outside of the state of Ohio. They’re coming from California, New York, Boston, Connecticut and Chicago. One of the unintended consequences from the Third Frontier is that companies are coming from outside the state to do business here. That’s been extremely positive.

If you had a crystal ball, what would it say about the future of Toledo? Let’s say five years in the future.

I think you’ll find in five years, people will say ‘Wow, we’ve made great progress.’ In five years, we’re going to have greater venture capital, a diversifying economic base, new opportunities and we’ll continue to have new employment. It’s a marathon without an end. We look back and learn lessons, but we don’t get depressed when stuff happens. Lay-offs are the stroke of a pen. If you want to hire people, that’s a six-month process. We need move forward with job creation. That’s never-ending battle.

There are a number of ways to evaluate your chance of success, including whether you are an entrepreneur with the “right stuff” or if your business has the “right stuff.”

The following evaluation should be made before making any new start-up business decisions:

A)      Market assessment

B)      Securing realistic funding sources

C)      Forecasting sales, expenses and cash flows

D)      Potential profitability

E)      Regulatory, legal issues

F)      Personal costs

Arguably, the most important issue revolves around determining who or what your market niche is. You need to quickly address a market review that indicates who are your clients, where are they located, how will you reach them and what are the costs associated with this process.

Secondly, start-up businesses require varying amounts of cash. Figure out how much it will cost to get your business open on its first day and then determine how much working capital will be needed to keep it running for a period of time - typically 90 to 120 days. Be prepared to personally provide a great deal of this early money from your own finances, and then work to secure traditional funding (banks) or from possible angel investors.

When you have completed your market assessment, it is vital that you work with an accountant or local economic development agency to develop projections which will include sales, expenses and burn rates. This information is not only vital when determining potential profitability, but will also help guide you in your effort to secure the proper amount of financing, and also timing as well.

Most businesses have either regulatory or legal issues that have to be dealt with at some point,  such as OSHA, the FDA, health departments, city, state and federal laws, etc. The sooner you identify them, the better prepared you will be.

Last but not least, very few entrepreneurs take into consideration the personal “life” costs associated with starting their own business. How does this impact your family, your personal financial situation, your “day” job, personal and legal risks?

Although there are many more issues you should work through before making a decision, this exercise will certainly help you decide if you have the “right stuff!”

Daniel P Slifko