"We turned down more key accounts than we accepted,"
Sterling said. Excluded were big national discount chains, because of a strategy
to focus on specialty stores. "We could have sold three times as much product
this year if we said yes to everyone."
"Our product lends itself more to
a specialty store where there is more of a personal selling approach," said
Brewer.
Sterling and Brewer, with a stack of hefty orders, now had only
a few weeks to raise more than $1 million to get the merchandise manufactured
and delivered. Almost immediately, they needed several hundred thousand dollars
that they didn't have for a down payment.
Banks wouldn't lend to a
startup with no track record, they said. There were firms or individual
investors who agreed to make a loan on the basis of their bulging order book,
but they wanted too much in return, the women said. Still, these last-resort
sources of capital were there if all else failed.
Again, fortune
intervened. Sterling's birthday fell during the financial scramble, and a
relative she ran into at two family gatherings agreed to lend her the money -
just 48 hours before LockerLookz had to wire it to China.
Both the
Sterlings and Brewers attend Prestonwood Baptist Church. Also in the
congregation are a group of anonymous individuals who invest together through an
adviser who places money in business projects where potential profit is not the
only consideration. Again, in the nick of time, the rest of the cash needed
materialized at a reasonable interest rate.
There were other last-minute
saves.
In Xu's successor in China,Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives.Complete Your sculpture Magazine Collection for Less!
another Sun employee named Helen Wu, the Texas partners found a committed,
on-the-ground rep. During one crisis, Wu left her Shanghai office and drove 300
miles through the night to a plant so she could personally address a production
delay that threatened to upend a make-or-break deadline for LockerLookz. Sun's
crew made China work for these first-time entrepreneurs.
Their 2011 line
has 38 items, up from 15. Many are priced under $10 and only one product
category,we supply all kinds of oil
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"This has been like eight years of college and business school
for all the time we've put in it,Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner
disc." Sterling said.
"And we had a lot of guidance, added Brewer,
referring to Xu and Wu in China, along with Sun, Hardin and the village of
supporters it took to bring LockerLookz to market.
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