|
President's Corner
Just a brief not to wish everyone a wonderful holiday
season. So much will be happening in all our lives in
the next few months, as we participate in the
festivities. We look forward to seeing everyone
again after the new year.
Thanks to all the Women and businesses who made
our annual dinner such a huge success! It was such
a fantastic evening. I can't begin to give enough
credit to all who helped, donated and participated!
I also want to personally thank all the members of
WBO for their support this past year. I have enjoyed
my time as president, and know that you are in great
hands as Jeanne Loveland takes over this office for
2007.
WBO 2007 Board
President: Jeanne Loveland, Café Marie
VP: Angela Riehn, Edward Jones
Investments
Secretary: Jan Davis McDermott, Echo
Education Enterprises
Membership Director: Lisa Hudy
Treasurer: Patsy Aiken, Miller and
Associates, PC
Program Chair: T. Rose Roane,
Contours
Express
Website mistress: Hillary
Handwerger,
TLCI Website Solutions
E-mail mistress: Andrea Blome, ABI
Consulting
Event Coordinators: Lori Shephard,
Simply
Scrumptious Catering and Carolyn Anderson-
Fermann, Simply Organized Life
| in this issue |
 |
|
|
| Meeting Update- AND THE WINNERS ARE... |
|
|
Four outstanding members were presented with
awards at the WBO Annual Dinner and
Expo
Business Growth- LORI SHEPARD, Simply
Scrumptious Catering
- Owner & Executive Chef
- “personalized catering for all occasions”
In February of 2006, she invested in herself, she
reinvested her profits in the business and began
construction on her own commercial kitchen,
adjacent to her home- optimizing time management,
maximizing efficiency and minimizing travel.
Lori took occupancy of the new space in August of
2006
Lori's Keys to Success are:
- Creating fresh handcrafted foods made from
the finest ingredients
- Providing spectacular professional service which
Lori attributes to an amazing staff
- Exceeding customer expectations by creating
delightful experiences specifically build around the
customer’s fantasy
- Working hard at being different and having fun!
- A supportive partner, her husband of 28 years
Scott
- Creating fun. Lori wanted a place where it
would be fun to work. She creates that culture, not
just with her operating style, but also by creating a
fun place to work in.
Recognizing the need to build relationships as a
part of a marketing plan, Lori is involved with local
business community and national trade associations
Business Growth- JEANNE LOVELAND, Cafe
Marie
Jeanne’s journey began in 1991 at the
original Café Marie where she worked as waitstaff
while earning money to finance her college
education.
Two years later, when the café moved to its current
location in the Courtyard Shops on Plymouth Road,
Jeanne became general manager. She bought the
business from her partner in February 2003, and
earlier this year, she began to transformation it.
Principles:
- Communication: At every step of the way,
Jeanne communicated the transformation
plan to her staff and customers.
- Environment: Create an oasis where
people can meet and linger; chat and exchange
ideas.
- Teamwork: Jeanne
prides herself on the loyalty and longevity of staff in
her organization, well below the normal turn over
rates.
- Community: Jeanne is an active supporter of
local
organizations, often hosting fund raisers on their
behalf, and she continues to be involved in the
church founded by her grand parents in 1876.
Notable Changes - Expanding dining space
to the outdoors created an open air extension of the
peaceful indoor environment.
- Redesigned the interior dining area and staying
open while doing it!
- Incorporating trends to stay current with
customers pallets.
- Addition of fresh, new, uniquely combined
ingredients.
Business Growth- RENE GRIFF, Arbor Brewing &
Corner Brewery
Rene and her husband Matt have a clear
understanding of their business, their customers, and
the principles guiding their decisions.
They are authentic; they do what they love. They
do it well, and they let the rest take care of itself.
They created a business plan around their own
personal uniqueness and made it their competitive
advantage.
Arbor Brewing Company Pub and Eatery opened in
1995 in leased space on East Washington Street in
downtown Ann Arbor with
dining space for 140 people and one fully licensed bar
plus the brewing space. In 2002, Arbor Brewing
expanded to allow their brewing capacity to double
to 4800 kegs. The expansion also added a separate
bar and banquet space, and a private beer cellar
adding additional seating.
The next logical expansion was to distribute the
award-winning Arbor Brewing brand through retail
outlets.
But a brew pub in Michigan is only
allowed to sell what it produces on premises.
To brew and package the Arbor Brewing recipes, a
micro brewery is necessary.
The Greff’s began to seek suitable space for the new
entity.
Corner Brewery,
their new business is built on a manufacturing
model.
Sales are not limited as they are at the Brew Pub
offering significantly more potential for the Arbor
Brewing brand.
As a manufacturer, the brewery offers product
tasting in its tasting room, traditional outdoor German
beer garden, and in the 50 seat TV lounge.
This model minimizes staff and overhead.
Since Corner Brewery is NOT a restaurant, only light
fare is served.
To offer customers the opportunity for a meal,
innovative partnerships were forged:
customers can to “order in” from nearby
restaurants, or hold catered events at The Corner
which opened in Spring of 2006
Lessons learned
- Planning is critical and must include an
aggressive
marketing plan and responsible financial plan.
- Execution is a daily commitment.
- To remain top of mind, you must invest in the
community you wish to support you. “Give back and
it will come back to you 10 fold”,
Rene says.
- Be visible, work for worthwhile causes that
represent your personal passion, stand up for what
you believe, and be unselfish in giving of your self or
your resources.
- Be happy with who you are, be comfortable in
your own skin, and let your light shine in your
smile.
NANCY RAE FOUNDERS AWARD– Emerging Business
Angela Riehn – Financial Consultant for
Edward Jones Investments
While attending EMU, Angela recognized she wanted
to own her own business. She found a mentor, who
ultimately employed her and coached her for 2 years
in the investment business. She evaluated choices
and made the best choice for her: Edward Jones.
In 2006, after a 1 year of "grooming" by Edward
Jones, Angela assumed responsibility for a troubled
office. She established a location, hired a full time
assistant and celebrated with an open
house. Beyond contacting all of the existing portfolio
clients, she established relationships with CPAs and
Attorneys as a referral network; she
is currently managing $2m in investment for 120
families.
Her Plan for the Future includes transitioning the
existing clients to a higher level,
providing joint seminars with partners for potential
investors and for parents on how to help their
children to be savvy about money.
She wants to grow the office to 150 families & add
$1m in investment - 1st year.
Echoing some of the remarks by Mary Cantando, she
looks to WBO to find support from other women
business owners,
to learn from experienced business owners, to teach
about her areas of expertise, and to contribute.
“WBO is home, a place to share with and learn from
peers.”
|
| Upcoming WBO Events |
|
|
NO meetings in November and December
Monthly Meeting, Tuesday, January 9,
2007
|
| Opportunities |
|
|
In May, CEED
launched a
Detroit Small Business Micro
Loan Program with the City of Detroit, Office of
Neighborhood and Commercial Revitalization to
provide economic support to Detroit based
businesses.
They are
looking for people to fill two important positions,
Business Training & Counseling Manager and
Loan Officer-- please share this information
with any qualified
member, friend, family member or colleague that you
think would both appreciate and understand the
significance of this awesome endeavor and certainly
the value of working in non-profit.
Take a look at the CEED website
(www.miceed.org, click Lending Services) to learn
more about the program. Instructions for returning
resumes are on the job description.
BECOME A WBO MEETING SPONSOR
For $25 you can sponsor one of our Monthly
Meetings. You can speak to the group for 5 minutes
describing your business; promoting yourself to the
WBO members as well as "training your salesforce".
You will also be mentioned, with a link to your site, in
the WBO Newsletter and on the WBO website. So
volunteer today. We are looking for Meeting
Sponsors starting with the January Meeting. Contact
Carolyn Anderson-Fermann
THE WBO NEWSLETTER CAN FEATURE YOUR
BUSINESS
For $25 you can be a featured business in the
WBO Newsletter. Not only can you get in print, but
your article and links to your site will remain for even
longer in the WBO newletter archives-- support
increased search engine visibility for your site. So
contact Hillary Handwerger at
hhandwerger@ix.netcom.com to tell me which month
you want to sponsor.
|
| Spread the Word – Mary Cantando |
|
|
WBO was priviledged to have had Mary Cantando as
the main speaker at the Annual Dinner.
The talk and her book, The Woman's Advantage
tapped into her 20 years of executive, entreprenureal
experience and provided us a thoroughly engaging
and inspiring look at women who started from nothing
and became major movers in the business world.
Mary posted a number of pictures on a board. Each
picture represented one of the twenty stories in the
book. Based on our selections, Mary then told us the
indepth story behind the business development and
growth.
We got the story of Gloria Bohan, owner of Omega
World Travel who started her business because she
was dissatisfied with a room on a cruise and is now a
billion dollar business. How did Omega grow from a
one person to $Billion enterprise? Gloria focused on
organizing her business for growth. She never let
herself become too satisfied. She kept reaching for
new heights and goals as she continually looked at
ways to streamline her processes and procedures. In
spite of the Internet and recession, Gloria's business
is booming-- she is already working on plans for
destination MOON!
Our next entrepreneur- based on the picture chosen-
was Helene Gralnick of Chico's. Starting with a van,
she began driving back and forth from Florida to
Mexico bring back local folk art for sale out of a store
they called Chico's after a friend's bilingua parrot. A
purchase of sweaters, and their rapid sales, changed
the store's focus from folk art to women's clothing.
Helene's approach to growth was simple: determine
which items customers like and then stock and
restock those items. How did she know what
customers liked and wanted? She asked them.
She'd ask them questions like "Its Sunday morning;
what do you want to wear?" or It's Saturday night
and you're going out for a casual dinner with friends,
what do you feel like wearing? And rather than
standard sizing- Chico's sizes are more forgiving-- 0,
1, 2, and 3; so much easier and targeted to their
customer base, women 35-55 years of age. Chico's
has grown from a single storefront to over 763 retail
locations. From the initial transition from folk art to
sweaters, Helene's achievements, and those of
Chico's relied on being not so much in the apparel
business as in the people business.
Nikki Olyai, president of Innovation Technologies, Inc
of Novi, MI (and sponsor of our dinner) is also
featured in the book. As are many other wonderful
women who started out small and grew through
smart choices and connecting to the right networks.
The subtitle of The Woman's Advantage is 20
Women Entrepreneurs show you What it Takes to
Grow Your Business. The book is about their
experiences and the knowledge that they are happy
to share to mentor other women including:
- Position your business for breakthroughs
- Differentiate your business from others in the
same market niche
- Leverage certification to reach companies eager
to do business with woman-owned entrepreneurs
- Network to develop powerful alliances, partners,
and mentors
- Maintain a positive attitude, remain healthy, and
manage stress.
|
| New Members, Please welcome... |
|
|
Note: If your listing is not in the WBO
Member
Directory on our website, or there are changes to
the listing that need to be made,
please contact Hillary Handwerger or Lisa Hudy with
your newest information.
|
| 2006 Member Discounts |
|
|
TLCI, Website Design, Development,
Consulting, SEO, Marketing, 12% off, 662-0154
Healing in Motion, JB Myofascial
Release, 25% off,
913-4816
Helping Hands Computer Solutions, Computer
and Business Support, 10% off, 995-6875
Contours Express, Women's Fitness, $100
off, 761-8663
Cafe Marie of Ann Arbor, Breakfast/Lunch
Cafe, 20% off, 662-2272
Ann Arbor Diet Center, Personalized Weight
Loss Services, 10% off, 327-2800
University Bank, Banking/Insurance, 1 year
free membership, 741-5858
AFFILIATE OF
NAWBO
|
|
|
|
|
|
WBO members meet monthly, on the first Tuesday
of the month at Lake Forest Golf Course.
Please join us. Meetings start at 6:00.
Find out more....
|
|
