BY SUSAN AMAT
Posted on Sunday, 12.11.11
Article from THE MIAMI HERALD
Many people use the terms small business owner and entrepreneur interchangeably, but there are real differences between the two.
Lots of people have simple ideas that become “lifestyle businesses” and serve their communities. The founders of these small businesses make a nice living for themselves and may leave the business to their children or sell it.
Today we’ll look at what happens when a concept that seems ordinary is taken on by a true entrepreneur, and I found two great examples. Both bootstrapped their novel approaches, mitigating risk until the models were thoroughly tested. Then they each went “all out,” continually innovating.
There are scores of cantinas and meal delivery services in South Florida. All offer convenience, but one founder who really stands out is Zalmi Duchman of The Fresh Diet. While local services may accept customers in a 20-mile radius, Duchman’s vision is to provide fresh meals nationwide, delivered daily to the customer’s doorstep, through his network of company-run kitchens. This is a stark contrast to his national competitors, who send vacuum-packed or frozen food once or twice a week through the mail. The Fresh Diet has created an online ordering system to accommodate clients’ dietary needs and preferences, even calorie amount, but all the items are always fresh and a treat for any gourmand.
In less than six years, Duchman went from three clients to 4,500. Those first three customers pre-paid for their first month of food. The $3,000 covered all of his initial expenses — domain name and hosting, an 800-number, gas for deliveries, marketing, incorporation fees, even the cooler bags Duchman used in making deliveries. His wife prepared the meals in their own kitchen.
The Fresh Diet quickly moved out of the house and now operates out of six kitchens (Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Toronto), delivering daily to 33 percent of the country. The Los Angeles kitchen services San Francisco and San Diego, and customers in Boston and Washington, D.C., get deliveries from Brooklyn. This month, Fresh Diet is launching its national service to cover the rest of the country. Fresh Diet’s estimated revenue for 2011 is $28 million with a growth rate year over year of roughly 80 percent. The Fresh Diet, now with 200 employees, was named the 15th most promising privately-held company by Forbes Magazine in November.
Abe Ng is another great example of an entrepreneur taking a simple idea to the next level. In Miami alone there are more than 4,700 restaurants, but that didn’t stop Ng from entering the market with Sushi Maki. Ng found a unique niche within the sushi segment by focusing on the quality of ingredients and keeping things all natural. There is no national player in the sushi segment yet, and Sushi Maki is preparing for that role.
Ng’s research provided insights that spurred his innovative approach to distribution. Knowing that people eat in their cars or while walking as often as they eat at a table gave Ng the opportunity to scale his brand quickly. Sushi in the grab-and-go environment is a huge success at colleges, schools, airports, etc. Sushi Maki has also added wholesale and catering lines to their offerings.
The Sushi Maki brand was started from scratch in 2000, when Ng leveraged the opportunity to use the back office and kitchen and test the concept in the Ng family restaurant, Cantons. By bootstrapping the venture, Ng was able to gauge sales (strong) and customer feedback (positive) before opening the first Sushi Maki standalone restaurant a few months later. Now with 16 locations, and several more scheduled to open in 2012, Sushi Maki has 250 employees, annual revenues of more than $12 million and has enjoyed double-digit top-line sales growth over the last three years.
Article from THE MIAMI HERALD