Name: Jennifer Elias and Julie Tucker
Jennifer and Julie’s Story: Serendipity brought Jennifer Elias and Julie Tucker together in 2002 when each was in a career rut. Each was also becoming more and more of a wine hobbyist -- and, as it turned out, both Jennifer and Julie had toyed around with creating a game of wine know-how!
“Within two weeks, we had a partnership agreement, and nine months later we had a product on the shelf,” Jennifer says. Their game, WineSmarts, generated about $20,000 in sales in 2002. FoodSmarts debuted in late 2002, and for 2004, SmartsCo generated sales of about $400,000.
Julie and Jennifer kept adding games and other fun ways of learning about life’s indulgences, including food, chocolate, sex, beer, coffee and travel. “These were all things that people kind of want to become experts at, but not by reading a 600-page book,” says Jennifer. Yet, Julie adds, both experts and novices enjoy Smarts games.
Their latest products are pocket guides called WinePassports, for understanding the world’s great wine areas, including Italy, France and California.
Company sales surged past $700,000 in 2005. And Jennifer and Julie promise that expanded distribution and marketing, as well as other new products, have them headed quickly toward $1 million in annual revenues.
Jennifer and Julie’s Key Move: Entering and Winning a Business Plan Competition
The idea of shooting for $1 million in sales spurred the move that helped Jennifer and Julie reach a higher level of business success in early 2006. It was kind of like those lottery ads that point out: You can’t possibly win the millions if you don’t buy a ticket!
They entered -- and were among the winners of -- a business plan competition called the 2006 Make Mine a $Million Business program, founded by the not-for-profit women’s enterprise group called Count Me In, and sponsored by Open, the American Express small business program. Their prizes included a loan of up to $45,000 from Count Me In, a line of credit of up to $10,000 from American Express, and mentoring and coaching for a year. As part of their involvement with the program, they were also selected to appear in a nationwide American Express advertising campaign that started in early 2006.
“Because of the overall program, we’ve had an opportunity to grow the company that we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” Julie says.
Jennifer and Julie planted the seeds for their award a few years ago when they put together a business plan to try to qualify for a bank loan. When they were denied, a friend suggested that they check out Count Me In, which helps women-owned businesses with “microloans” of up to $20,000.
Around the same time, Count Me In approached American Express about a partnership that would help more women reach the one million dollar revenue level – rarefied air for female-owned businesses in this country.
“We didn’t know about it, but we were guinea pigs,” Julie says. “Count Me In e-mailed us and said we’d qualified for a $5,000 loan – and then a few months later they suggested that we apply for the million-dollar program.”
Essentially using the business plan they had compiled for the failed bank loan, Julie and Jennifer took Count Me In’s advice and put together a 50-page application that charted how they planned to reach the $1 million level.
“We do a lot of external reporting, and a lot of strategizing, but I’m sure we’re the exception,” Julie says. “I’m sure some people submitted a five-page plan.”
Whether it was savvy or stardust, in August 2005 SmartsCo was named one of six California winners in the program, which also was launched in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and New York. Other California winners included a day-care center for dogs, an organic truck farm, a bail-bond company and an “alternative piano” academy.
“They selected us on the basis of the likelihood that we could become a $1-million company,” Julie explains. “We can expand domestically, and even globally, the way they see it. But there’s not that kind of growth opportunity, for example, with a restaurant.”
In any event, the award brought both immediate and longer-term benefits to SmartsCo. Jennifer and Julie used portions of the new line of credit and the loan to advance product development on new games more quickly than they could have otherwise. And the mentor and coaches supplied by the program “are introducing us to all sorts of people and brainstorming and giving us good advice,” Julie says. “They’ve been a sounding board for us when we have challenges.”
After the ads began running, the women became mini-celebrities. Publications including the New York Times and Working Mother magazine carried American Express’s advertisements touting Julie and Jennifer, SmartsCo and its products. Yahoo! carried banner ads featuring them..
As a result, SmartsCo’s website traffic spiked. And a major player in publishing approached Julie and Jennifer about a co-branding program that will significantly increase their distribution.
“There’s also something about winning an award like this that is tangible and makes us feel more strongly about our company,” Jennifer says. “I mean, we certainly feel good about it already. But to have this independent, outside organization say it is a really powerful thing.”
Jennifer and Julie’s Bonus Insight
From the general reception for the topics of their games, the ladies have learned the power of passions in dictating purchases. They’ve found that stoking a consumer’s interest in chocolate, say, or wine is a dependable hook.
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