Many great businesses started from modest beginnings. If America is nothing else, it is the place where someone with an idea and a chocolate chip cookie can grow into a major franchise. In the case of Tariq Farid, featured in Inc.Com, he started out only wishing to sell fresh fruit artistically shaped like flower bouquets. A good idea, a lot of work, some cost cutting experiments, and his Edible Arrangements was off to a running start. By the second year his revenue doubled.
Eight months from the inception of Edible Arrangements, someone approached Tariq around franchising. According to the article, which I urge everyone to read, Tariq said franchising your business is far different than expanding your own chain. He attributes part of his success by the way to hiring a creative designer for just the right logo. Very important.
We are happy for Tariq’s success. Edible Arrangements is the perfect example as to what can be done with innovation, initiative, and even a modest amount of investment capital. His story is especially inspiring at a time when the economic downturn has forced many employees to be laid off from their jobs. Many start thinking about the different ways to make a living, and of course the most desirable is to start their own business.
I would encourage anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit, hidden or otherwise, to have a go at it. But aside, from innovation, creativity, and all the rest, you have to be careful in today’s economic climate. While most businesses are eager to partner with a talented and competently run business, either as a vendor or a client, there are predators out there. This rough economy brings them out of the woodwork or out from under the rock, wherever they lay in waiting.
Be sure your suppliers can continue to provide you with the necessary goods and services. Make sure they are on solid ground, financially, and that their reputations are such that you would be at a disadvantage in doing business with them. As for your prospective clients, if you don’t know them, check them out as well. Often the good news is that you got a new client. The bad news is you only got them because they had burned all their bridges and you were their last resort.
There are a variety of corporate background checks that constitute business research. There are bankruptcies, liens, and judgments records, comprehensive background searches on the key individuals, and business credit reports. There are corporate records searches you can run, as well as county criminal and county civil searches to check on pending criminal cases or pending lawsuits. Federal Criminal and Civil Searches are important if you are dealing with a financial entity.
It’s a modest investment to help assure you are protected from the predators and scam artists who lurk among the honest business people. So be bold, be creative, and be bold. But look around for the minefields that can damage even the best of efforts, and the nasty little creatures who are determined to thrust sticks into your bicycle spokes just when you hit top speed. Check them out before you do business.
