Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar or an online-based business, it can be tricky to land those coveted contracts that can place your product in the hands of out-of-state consumers.
Michael Morse, president and CEO of Louisiana Fish Fry, says the ability to sell a product nationwide depends on its position and an entrepreneur’s ability to capitalize on what will differentiate that product on the market.
“If you market it as Louisiana based, or if there’s a unique aspect, you’ve got a niche product,” Morse told the audience at a morning BREW panel.
Having a compelling story helps, says Boyce Clark, founder of Lubricity Labs. The scientist began making his specialty hair care products to help his teenage daughter combat her frizzy tresses without using the dangerous chemicals found in many hair-smoothing products.
About a year later, the local news ran a 30-second feature on Clark’s company. That night, he went to sleep with 40 or 50 orders online orders. But overnight, the story was picked up by other stations, playing in some 38 states the following morning. By the time he woke up, he had 7,000 orders and a crashed website that had exceeded its traffic count.
“Once the story got out there, we had a huge percentage of viewers try it and because it was a good product, we retained a lot of those customers,” Clark says, adding he used social media to bring customers on the company’s journey, sharing pictures of himself stirring shampoos in a gumbo pot.
For Matt Beeson, of Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce, one of his core business strategies is attending trade shows to network. Instead of asking people if they would like to sample or learn more about his product, he approaches them with four words: liquor-based hot sauce.
“Find your differentiator, and shout it at them,” Beeson says.
Richard Hanley, founder of Hanley’s Foods, a Baton Rouge-based salad dressing company, suggests entrepreneurs aim local and stay persistent. The first store to carry one of Hanley’s dressings was a downtown establishment he would frequent for lunch. Today, the products are carried regionally by Walmart.
“It all boils down to having a good product,” Hanley says. “If you focus every day on making product a little better, it will.”
