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Sensor Check
2018Northern Virginia

Sensor Check

Sensors check the heat!

Sensor Check’s customer base grew from 2 to 12 over one year and they expect to exceed 100 new customers in 2018. 

Sensor Check

In 2016, one of Tim Smith’s clients, a local catering company, wished they could find a device that would alert them if their refrigerators and freezers were not cool enough to comply with food regulations. Tim designed a sensor to solve the problem. Another customer heard about it and wanted the device for his warehouse freezer. “I kept being asked by one company after another for help with this problem,” says Tim.

Tim and his wife Sara decided to start a company that could offer a more sophisticated version of the sensor, and Sensor Check, LLC, was born. “We used the initial sensors to springboard into a new product, the Sensor Check Temperature Monitoring System™ that would monitor temperatures, send alerts when things weren’t right, keep a log for inspectors, and more,” Tim explains. “We also realized that we needed to learn how to wrap a business around the product,” Sara adds.

The Smiths have been friends with Bernard Ferret, Senior Business Counselor at the Mason SBDC, for years. In fact, Tim was VP of Engineering in one of Bernard’s startups. When Tim approached him for help, Bernard signed him up as an SBDC client and directed him to the Innovation and Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP), a program of the Virginia SBDC Network.

ICAP finds subject-matter experts (SMEs) to guide inventors and innovators through the process of getting products to market. Once accepted, Tim and Sara worked with SMEs Brenda Brown and Cassity Jones, co-founders of Frontier Kitchen, a food business incubator and a commercial kitchen.

Brenda and Cassity installed a Sensor Check system in two facilities with walk-in refrigerators as part of the process. Very early one morning an alert went out; something was wrong with one of the walk-in refrigerators. Their technician was able to fix the blown fuse before the food temperature reached 40 degrees. If they had waited until the usual time to go to the Kitchen, 6 hours after the alert, $50,000-worth of food would have needed to be thrown out, potentially putting some of their clients out of business.

Tim and Sara are grateful to ICAP. With the SMEs, they were able to create a market segmentation plan, start fund raising, increase their sales pipeline, and become part of the Frontier Kitchen family – all key parts of Tim and Sara’s business.

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Tracy Nayar March 20, 2018 0
Baby Change-n-go
2018CentralInternationalRestaurant & RetailSales & Marketing

Baby Change-N-Go

A change is gonna come

In addition to strategic marketing and development assistance from the SBDC, Baby Change-N-Go received help from the VITAL program to identify better efficiencies and cost savings for exporting, including the reduction of export shipping costs by 1/3 by using a specialist in small parcel shipping.

Baby Change-n-go

You are out and about with your baby, and it is time to change the diaper. You might find one of those changing tables in public restrooms, if you are lucky (and a woman, because there is almost never a changing table in the men’s room). Unfortunately, those well- used tables are teeming with bacteria and other nasty things. Thanks to two mompreneurs — and a little help from their mentors — an innovative product, Baby Change-N-Go, is putting many minds (and bottoms!) at ease.

“People were so frustrated, trying to find a safe, sanitary place to change a baby or a product that could fit in a diaper bag. But there was nothing out there,” says Mahnaz Moosa, Baby Change-N-Go co-founder and chief executive officer. “So we just sketched out a concept of a device that would fit over a door or side of a bathroom stall. Often we began to develop it.”

Mahnaz talked with safety experts, hazard experts, design engineers, child development experts, human behavior experts, and other parents to develop a unique product that fills a widespread, existing need. Often she talked with mentors at the Greater Richmond SBDC, which is directed by Greg Hofbauer. “The timing was perfect,” says Mahnaz, “because they offered just what we needed — expertise in branding and marketing, as well as a range of other issues.”

After launching, opportunities arose for international distribution of the Baby Change-N-Go product. Mahnaz and Brenda Lee Moosa, co-founder and chief operating officer, were referred to the Virginia SBDC International Business Development Program and VITAL.

VITAL (Virginia International Trade Alliance) works with clients to develop actionable market intelligence and research to improve export readiness and performance. Aaron Miller, International Trade Manager for the Virginia SBDC, explains, “Through VITAL, we helped them create export documentation and identify inefficiencies and cost savings. We provided translations of marketing material into Portuguese and Spanish. We obtained a grant to cover the cost of exhibiting at an international trade show and delivered a market report with demographic information applicable to Baby Change-N- Go’s target market.”

“We were very fortunate to have found the Greater Richmond SBDC. We have worked with outstanding mentors and even have an export plan,” says Mahnaz. “We wouldn’t have had such a smooth process without them,” Brenda adds.

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Tracy Nayar March 20, 2018 0
StageCoach Theater Company
2018Business ExpansionBusiness PlanNorthern VirginiaSales & Marketing

StageCoach Theatre Company

StageCoach on the road to success​

With the new programs Stage Coach now offers in its permanent location, they  estimate a revenue boost of 30% to 40%, with an additional 10% in revenue driven by rental income. 

StageCoach Theatre Company has been on the road in Loudoun County since 2011. By 2017, the traveling theater troupe was ready to find a permanent home, and the SBDC at MEC-Leesburg made it happen, when Jerri Wiseman and Terry Smith, founders, turned to them for help.

“I guess you could call me an SBDC groupie,” Jerri says with a chuckle. “I went to anything and everything they offered. I was looking for information on how to run a business, particularly in Loudoun County, and the SBDC offered a good number of resources.”

“Jerri came to the SBDC in Leesburg to tackle two main challenges,” SBDC Manager Eric Byrd says. “The first was to determine the best location for the permanent theater, and the second was to change her business model to support and fully utilize a permanent location.”

The urgency to find a permanent home was driven by the StageCoach summer camp program. “We have always offered adult classes,” Jerri says. “Finding a space to hold our summer camp for children, however, was a problem.” Eric helped Jerri with planning and revenue projections. “While expenses would go up, our projections showed that increased capacity and program stability would more than pay for extra costs,” Eric explains. “By expanding classes and corporate training programs, like an improv course for business leaders and by renting space in the facility to other groups, these revenue streams gave StageCoach higher profitability through diversification.”

Jerri found the marketing advice that the SBDC provided especially useful. “Eric helped with marketing — who and when we needed to target,” Jerri adds. “We also did some budgeting. Eric showed me how many kids we needed to bring in to make it work.”

With a new theater home and new business plan, Jerri is confident of the future. She says, “The SBDC has been with us all the way. I absolutely will continue to go to the SBDC for advice. I’ve already made plans to meet with them soon.”

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Tracy Nayar March 20, 2018 0
fibre space, Alexandria
2018Access to CapitalBusiness PlanNorthern Virginia

fibre space

Fibre finds a space in Alexandria

fibre space has a staff of 6 plus 7 instructors who teach classes. Their annual revenue is $1.46 million.  

fibre space, Alexandria

When Danielle Romanetti opened fibre space™ in historic Alexandria, she was excited to finally have her own space. It was an extension of her original business, Knit-a-Gogo, Inc., which offered knitting classes literally on the go. “I taught beginning and intermediate knitting classes in coffee shops, bakeries, and other businesses in the DC area,” she says. “Using these spaces required a solid relationship with the businesses that hosted us and that, in turn, has led to the collaborative philosophy that fibre space™ still maintains.”

As Danielle’s customers grew, the Knit-a-Gogo community needed a permanent home, a place where stitchers could meet outside of classes, buy quality supplies, and share with other stitchers. In 2008, Danielle met with Business Analyst Jack Parker from the Alexandria SBDC. “I knew how to create a business plan, but the SBDC helped streamline it.” Danielle adds, “The SBDC also helped make connections with banks in an attempt to get $95,000 in funding.” Unfortunately, the bank denied the loan, so she borrowed funds from a friend and her parents and used her credit cards.

“Danielle opened her shop just off King Street in 2009 to a large and immediate customer base comprised of students she had taught,” Jack relates. “Her first year’s projected revenues were ambitious, but she was able to exceed them. She became profitable within a few months and has never looked back.”

Eight years later, Danielle began looking for a property to purchase near her existing location.

“Purchasing our own building was the next natural step for the shop,” she says. “We’ve enjoyed steady sales volume since an initial growth period, and I felt that we were better served by investing in property rather than continuing to pay rent.” Jack Parker helped her again with banks offering SBA 504 Loans. “She closed a loan at EagleBank and the Business Finance Group in mid-2017,” Jack adds.

That September, fibre space™ opened its doors in the only known flatiron building in the historic city. As part of the building purchase, fibre space™ partnered with the City of Alexandria to adopt the public space in front of the building for small community gatherings, including her knitters from the neighborhood. “Danielle’s success comes from her marketing talents and knowing each of her customer’s needs, almost before they do,” Jack notes.

There’s little doubt that fibre space™ has found a place in Alexandria.

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Tracy Nayar March 13, 2018 0