Category Archives: Business
Mad Men is Finally Back!
Morning Playlist
I enjoyed the whole first episode but there was one thing that did stick in my mind. Pete Campbell is highly successful, being a partner, married with a new baby, and living in the suburbs. However, he is shown as unhappy and no matter what he achieves, left unsatisfied. His wife Trudy understands his longing and as she puts it “Dissatisfaction is a product of Ambition.” Ding, ding, ding. Same here. It’s wonderful having ambition enough to start a business, go to school, and achieve more and more. I do find myself always wanting more though. Last year, it was if we can only get into Whole Foods. Now we’re in several regions of Whole Foods and I’m saying, if we can only get into Publix. That desire pushes me everyday to do more, to be better. At some point though, I do need to stop and enjoy myself, look around and appreciate how far we’ve come and accomplished. It has just been over 2 years since the company started and we are already nationwide, in Canada, and Puerto Rico.
There may never be a ‘cure’ for that dissatisfaction. But I’m going to work on it. And one things for sure, I’m glad that I was blessed with loads of ambition because there are so many people that have skills, talents, and potential, and don’t fulfill their destiny because of the lack of ambition. Maybe that is a greater tragedy than being dissatisfied. Anyways, can’t wait for the next episode to see what these crazy advertising execs do next!
Building a Consumer Brand
Last week I was interviewed by Josh Turner. Not the country singer Josh Turner, who’s song “Would You Go With Me” that I love, but Josh Turner of Gateway CFO. Josh of Gateway is extremely nice and very patient. After a Skype debacle that left him waiting for 15 minutes, I was finally able to connect with him and start the interview.
In this episode of Gateway to Profits (player below), Josh sits down with Erin Meagher from Kelapo Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. In just two years, Erin has grown Kelapo into a national brand with a strong distribution network, a unique manufacturing process, a tremendous reputation in the marketplace, and a product with tons of health benefits. Click here to listen to this episode of Gateway to Profits.
Go USF Bulls!
Z, Kelly, and I routing for the Bulls!
My alma mater is NC State so what am I doing routing for the Bulls?!? I was at USF tonight speaking to the student members of the International Business Board. That’s the president, Z, vice pres, Kelly and myself. They had to teach me the USF sign, which is coincidentally very similar to the Wolfpack sign!
I haven’t spoken to a group of students since I left teaching. It turned out to be more nerve racking than I thought. But I LOVE sharing about my experiences in business and entrepreneurship. If I can inspire one person to pursue their dream through my enthusiasm and dedication to business, then I feel successful. That’s probably my motivation for starting this blog!
Evil Plans for World Domination
In Flight Reading
I went up to Chi-town on Tuesday evening and brought along the book “Evil Plans. Having fun on the road to World Domination”. Probably, not the most appropriately named book for in flight reading! But it’s really a light, playful look at making the most of your life and finding love with purpose. It is written by Hugh MacLeod, who draws cartoons on the back of business cards, and also authors the website GapingVoid.
I read the entire book, cover to cover, before we even touched down in Chicago. Well the thoughts and ideas that it put in my head must have planted a seed for what was to come. I can’t reveal too much before our next tradeshow, Expo East, but my evil plan for Kelapo is seemingly shaping up quite nicely!
Get the book. Read it. Even if you’re not an aspiring entrepreneur, like me 🙂
Is Now the Time to Invest in the Stock Market?
For the last two years, I’ve watched Squawk Box and Squawk on the Street every morning. At night, it’s a whole hour of Mad Money with Jim Cramer. Can I just tell you how annoyed I was when Cramer moved to the mornings as well after Mark Haines and Erin Burnett both left the Squawk? It’s not that I don’t like him, but it’s enough hearing his rantings just once a day. Well with all this economic news I’m absorbing, I figured I’d put it to use. I’ve had an untouched IRA account sitting in a money market fund for over two years. I put it all in cash after the 2009 downturn in the economy. As the stock market has been yo-yo’ing in the last two weeks, I’ve taken advantage and started buying into funds at a really low price. It’s fun routing for lower and lower prices as I put all my money back into the market. There’s enough time before I retire that all this economic uncertainty isn’t bothering me. I see it as an opportunity. Maybe I’ll even use a couple of Cramer’s stock suggestions!
How do you feel about the market? Invest? Or sit this one out?
How-To Set Up a New Business
Lots of people dream of owning their own business but are unsure about how to get that business off the ground. I went with the jump right in approach and didn’t spend a lot of time research or even planning before starting Kelapo in December of 2009. It was a Monday morning when we decided to go through with the idea that had been brewing for awhile and by Friday afternoon, all parts of the business were in place and we were moving forward and didn’t look back.
I’ve been working on setting up another business entity and forgot about all the steps that are involved with paperwork, the state, and so forth and so I thought I’d give my tips and pointers to others who are trying to figure this stuff out on their own. These are the steps for businesses in Florida. I’m not saying it’s an extensive complete list either, so make sure you do your own homework but this should at least get you started. *Click on the blue links for form templates or online access to forms.
1. Shareholders or Members Agreement If you are a partnership or LLC, you’ll need to write out the parties that are entering into the business together as owners and the amount of shares or percentages of the company that each entity owns. Also noted, are residing addresses, titles, and signatures.
2. Articles of Organization. Very similar to the members agreement but this is what is filed on record with the State. There is a filing fee associated with this and is around $70. Here you establish all registered agents (owners) of the business, your place and purpose of business, and all contact information.
3. Annual Report. After being accepted by the state, you’ll have to file the annual report each year with the Division of Corporations to remain active. The cost is $130. You can file as soon as Jan 1 and as late as May 1, but my suggestion is do it sooner rather than later to avoid late fees and reinstatement fees.
4. Fictitious Names. Fictitious names, or DBAs (doing business as), also need to be filed. If the parent company is called Robinson Inc, and you sell branded toys under the name Johnnie’s, then you need to register Johnnie’s as your fictitious name. Companies do this when they may have more than one brand or subsidiary of their company. This is another $50 fee for each fictitious name registered.
5. S-Corp Election. This is an optional step for LLC’s that wish to be classified as an S-Corp for tax purposes. The original document, Form 2553, must be mailed to the Dept of the Treasury, IRS Center, Ogden, UT 84201. (Again, this address is specific to Florida). There is a two month period for filing within the first fiscal tax year so if you have questions, refer them to you tax accountant.
6. Federal Tax ID. Your company’s federal tax id is essentially the same identification system for businesses as your social security number is to you. The official name is an Employer’s Identification Number (EIN). It will be used for payroll, taxes, business to business transactions and more. It is an online application.
That’s probably enough to keep you busy for an afternoon! My next post will be about all things dealing with sales and money. I’ll talk bank accounts, sales and use tax, merchant accounts, and more!
Getting Ripped Off on Craigslist
Useless Refrigerator
Here at the office, we have a small, college dorm room sized mini-fridge for our daily use. Recently, we had to chill dozens of cases of coconut oil for an account. It was decided that we should source one from Craigslist in order to save money. We found one that day and delivery was included! Perfect!
A guy showed up two hours later with our new, white side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. He off loaded the thing himself and set it up and I paid the $200 in cash, with a stern warning that this thing better work! (What’s that really going to help, anyways? But I did). A couple hours later, the refrigerator still wasn’t cooling and my anxiety started to rise.
We called him back in a panic that the refrigerator didn’t work. I even called my mother to get her expertise on refrigerator installs! Everyone said wait 24 hours because sometimes the cooling mechanisms can be jostled during the move. 24, 48, 36, 72 hours later and the thing still wasn’t cool.
Several phone calls later and our refrigerator salesman is MIA and I’m out $200 and have a piece of junk sitting in our office taking up space. Lesson to be learned: if the guy off of Craisglist also tries to sell you a gun while he’s delivering your refrigerator, don’t take the refrigerator or the gun!!!! And if anyone wants to volunteer to come take an old, useless refrigerator off my hands, I’d be very grateful!
Home Office to Office Suite
Last December, I founded Kelapo, (Kel-á-poe), the premium line of coconut oil for cooking and baking. For the past ten months, I have been diligently working on importing product, hiring co-packers, scheduling deliveries, and building a brand from my home office. Actually, it was really a gym, converted to my home office. Over that time I’ve slowly started to acquire more and more stuff. Shipping boxes, packaging tape, product samples and more, were no longer contained to my office/gym but were overflowing into the spare bedroom. It was time to move out!
I went on the search for an office with air conditioned warehouse space to store our products. It happened to be great timing because there were a lot of units available for lease, due to the downturn in the economy. Most real estate and mortgage companies that used to be renting have since closed up shop. I found a great space, a little bit larger than what we currently need, but it’s in a good location and has reasonable rent. Our new Kelapo headquarters are just north of the Tampa airport. If the runway were extended, it would run into the office! Which means we can hear planes taking off and landing, but it’s not annoying, it’s actually sort of exciting, like when you used to be able to go to the airport when you were a kid and watch the planes take off and land.
Moving from a home office into an office suite is much more expensive but worth the undertaking. We were fortunate enough to furnish most of the office with used furniture bought from Craigslist. Although, some areas are still scarcely decorated. This move marks the start of a big chapter in our history. It means that we will be able to grow more rapidly, bring on more employees, and eventually help us reach our goals. It’s good to be settled back into a business routine and be finished with the move. I can re-focus my energy around our next big moves, which will be announced in the coming weeks!
I am excited to be sharing this journey with everyone out there who follows my blog. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share my business experiences with other start-up entrepreneurs and you can gain some valuable insights. Please feel free to contact me or share your opinions, thoughts, feelings with everyone by commenting below. Thanks! 🙂
Erin Meagher 