Turning a boar's ear into silky prosciutto

Okay, that title is a bit of a stretch. I do not know that Herb Eckhouse and La Quercia actually turn pigs' ears into anything good for us to eat, but I do know they make delicious prosciutto and coppa from humanely-raised, antibiotic-free hogs. I don't know how they do it; I think magic is involved, but, boy, is it good. That's Herb and his wife and partner (partner and wife?) , Kathy, in the photo to the right.

Despite being up to his elbows in cured meats, Herb recently visited our Entrepreneurial Leadership class at Drake University and shared his thoughts on starting an entrepreneurial business later in life. Herb also wondered about the concept of teaching entrepreneurship; he suggested it is not a classroom subject, but a mindset that requires action. Notwithstanding his initial reluctance (also driven by genuine modesty) he shared his story and a number of great lessons. First, his lessons:

• It is NEVER too late.
• Timing is everything.
• There is NO substitute for obsessive implementation.

Herb had been dreaming about prosciutto for a long time, after having lived in Italy for several years while working with a Pioneer Hi-Bred. When DuPont acquired Pioneer in 2000, Herb cashed in his employment chips and started working on his dream. He found a commitment to economic development in the Des Moines metro and a demand for value-added food products. Despite job offers, he spent five months studying the feasibility of his dream. Other people thought it was a cool idea; there was a growing interest in artisanal food; there was nothing like it in Iowa, or anywhere else in the U.S. for that matter, and it was an easy way to add value to a readily accessible commodity: pork. He realized he could take a highly perishable commodity and turn it into something delicious and non-perishable. He also figured that he could do that with a cut of meat the market undervalued. Seeing no "red lights" and a feasible business he founded La Quercia.

He didn't want any partners or investors, other than Kathy, because he didn't want to argue about how to fulfill his dream; he didn't want to answer to anybody about how much to invest in making the best product. Oh, and he didn't get paid for seven years. Instead he invested his own money and put his entire net worth on the line. Already motivated by his dream, he could not let the business fail.

He spent ten days with a leading Italian producer who produced a first class product in a clean facility with no dangerous waste by-products. After successfully importing prosciutto for a couple years, Herb and Kathy started making prosciutto in their home. Of course, their Italian contacts said it couldn't be done: the Appian Air was crucial, the whey the hogs ate was different; the local water was no good, and of course the hogs weren't Italian. Despite all those "hurdles", people liked the product; they REALLY liked it. Enough so that by 2003, the Eckhouses decided to buy some land and build a curing facility. They continued curing meats in their basement and further developed their relationship with Niman Ranch, an organization of family farmers who raise livestock traditionally, humanely, and sustainably. The building opened in 2005, the same year La Quercia was introduced to the Whole Foods Market juggernaut.

As Herb moved up the corporate food chain at Whole Foods, everybody loved La Quercia's products. In fact everybody really did love La Quercia's prosciutto: Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and The New York Times all raved about it; even Jeffrey Steingarten, the "grumpy old man" of food critics, said it was the best prosciutto he had ever tasted. But (there has to be a but, this is a story about hogs, right?) Whole Foods didn't seem to really get it. They had an exclusive for the only U.S. made prosciutto from humanely-raised hogs and they weren't telling anybody. Having bet big on Whole Food's commitment, La Quercia found itself between the hog and hard place. With more than his toes hanging over the brink, Herb gritted his teeth, tapped out his credit line and hung on until he finally was able to get Whole Foods to wake up and smell the curing smoke. In nine months La Quercia sold out its inventory. They were finally really in business.

As for the lessons Herb shared:

• It's never too late. Herb was 50 when he started La Quercia. He had spent 20 years in corporate America before starting his entrepreneurial adventure and fulfilling a dream.
• Timing is everything. People had tried to make prosciutto in the U.S. in the '80s and failed; others tried a down-market approach, and failed. A new food era arrived in the 2000s. Also, the time was right for Herb personally. He had gained start-up experience working at Pioneer, and, importantly, he could afford to put his lifestyle at risk.
• There is no substitute for excellent performance, or as he puts it, "obsessive implementation." When he entered into the relationship with Whole Foods, he did not have a back-up plan. He had to make it work, so, he did.

I've know Herb for some time, and I had read about his business. I did not know the whole story though. I am truly impressed. He and Kathy exemplify the entrepreneurial imperative that sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is never too late to make a great product. La Quercia's products are absolutely delicious; try them. And if you ever bump into Herb, after thanking him for making such delicious treats, tell him he has a great head of hair.

Thanks for sharing your story, Herb.

Doug Mitchell reveals the SECRET

Doug Mitchell, "father of 2, husband of 1, leader of many" and a self-described geo-arbitrageur visited our Entrepreneurial Leadership class the other day with his colleague, Paul Gratton. In addition to offering up "The Secret" to the students and me, he also videoed his presentation and posted it on his website for The Mitchell Group LLC. It is also available at CreateWowMedia, Doug's newest venture. And for good measure, I've included it below.

Doug Mitchell and the Power of ASKING - Drake University @ Yahoo! Video

I invited Doug to speak to our class for a couple of reasons: he is a very cool dude in a laid-back California sort of way. (except for that time he didn't recognize a newly well-rounded waitress, but that's another story). In fact, he moved to Des Moines from California, and THAT was a major reason I wanted him to speak to the students; he chose to come here, and sometimes the locals lose sight of the great lifestyle and opportunities here. Also, he is an entrepreneur trying to bring up-to-the-minute media technology to businesses. He is a great source of ideas and reactions for me; he likes cigars, and seems not to take himself too seriously. And he promised to reveal The Secret. Here goes:

Doug is a former rally car navigator and recent triathlete; before that he was an International Business Major who "fell into a sales job." It didn't take him too long to figure out that he couldn't be a "Rock star Salesman" and, more importantly, he didn't want to become one. As he put it, he asked himself "Is it worth it to try to become something you're not?" He left the world of smilin & dialin' and landed in his first virtual office with a start-up with just one month of cash. He asked for the job, and in 72 hours he and his new colleagues banged out a business plan; 46 days later they had a million dollars of financing and it was off to the races. And Doug decided he'd never get a "real" job again. They sold that company; he played a lot of golf, and then he joined another start-up.

As Doug put it, he reached his maximum potential at a start-up #2 and was tired of living on the road, so he asked himself what he wanted to do next. He decided to move away so he could have MORE

Freedom
Networking
Time
Contacts
Focus

to go along with running his own business.

He had an idea for a new multimedia digital business; the software he needed didn't exist, and he didn't really know anything about multimedia gizmos. But he believed there was a real need for the service he had in mind. So he moved to Des Moines and started RentalMetrics. He plugged the gaps in his knowledge and expertise by asking Paul Gratton, another very cool dude (who studied at Drake). Here's Paul climbing on his homemade climbing wall with a couple of comments about the importance of staying on the move:

Doug and Paul asked some software developers to work with them, and they said "yes." They asked their business network if they liked the idea, and they said "yes." The market, however, said "no." But Doug and Paul had learned that they had developed something cool, so in just six months, their new business was something different and new again.

Have you noticed that Doug asked for jobs, asked for insight, and asked for help? Well, he did, and that's his SECRET. ASKING is powerful and underused tool these days, and Doug urged the students to use it.

He closed with some real life advice:

There is no job security.
Find out what you suck at.*
Give back.
Learn to deal with change--everyday.

If you want to ask Doug something you can reach him at the links above or at www.dougmitchell.me.


Thanks Doug

*BTW, I'm pretty sure he means you not try to become a Rock Star at something you suck at.

Artistic Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial Artist

Sixteen years ago a struggling artist and budding business woman, Sarah Grant, started Sticks, Inc. Sticks handcrafts truly distinctive furniture, accessories, and objets d'art (showin' off ma francais) at a unique studio in Des Moines, IA. Sarah was a recent visitor to our Entrepreneurial Leadership class at Drake University, and she stole the show. A vivacious former [girls] soccer mom, Sarah shared her adventurous journey from fine arts student to successful entrepreneur and independent business woman and tossed in more than a little practical real-life advice. She understands the importance of a good story, and in her excellent tale she personifies the challenges and opportunities all entrepreneurs face.

When the economy goes down, the bright and innovative rise up.
Sarah left Des Moines to ski and study art; after graduating college, and plenty of skiing and art, she earned a masters in Italo printmaking (WTH?) and an MFA in painting. She was an ARTIST. Like almost all young artists, she started out as a waitress; she moved on to ticket sales, and then adjunct teaching (I can confirm that that's a calling, not a career). She then taught, for 10 years, at a college of design. The most she ever made was $8,900 a year, and, as she was a credit hour short of fulltime , she got no benefits, but she was an ARTIST.

I don't do tchotchkes.
Pursuing her dream of sustaining herself as a painter and drawer, she told herself, "I don't do tchotchkes" (extra credit if you know what they are). Meredith Publishing, publisher of Ladies' Home Journal, approached her about building a non-country nativity set. "I don't do tchotchkes" she replied. "Well, we'll pay you $500." "I'll do tchotchkes." Neither a sculptor nor a woodcarver, Sarah was a drawer, but Meredith didn't know that. So she found an old box and used a woodburning tool to draw her design, and sold the design to Meredith. Her Mom asked her if she could make another one. From that unexpected start grew Sticks; she learned later to keep and protect her designs.

I don't do art fairs.
She had vowed to never do art fairs; but as I learned when I moved to Des Moines, one must never say never, and hit the art fair she did. Living like a carnie, Sticks consumed all her time and effort, but she was making it work. Finally tiring of life on the road, a friend at the Des Moines Art Center referred her to a big wholesale crafts trade show. Ignoring her attorney's advice to name her business "Sarah Grant Inc." on the notion that other artists wouldn't want to work for Sarah Grant, so she stuck with Sticks. She did take his advice to demand deposits and minimum orders though. Of course she was the only one out of 4,500 exhibitors to do so, and until the final 1/2 day it appeared that she may have overreached. In that last 1/2 day, however, she booked $7,500 of orders, and the new Sticks Inc. was off and running. Today, Sticks's top ten accounts come from that first batch of orders.

100% Made in the U.S.A.
Sticks has been profitable every year since then. And every product is 100% made in the U.S.A.; something more than one person told Sarah she couldn't do. Well, she learned by doing, and today, one of Sticks's key strengths is in process. Focusing on developing efficient processes, fostering creativity and preserving high quality Sarah successfully made the leap from passion to profit, while preserving her artistic roots. She also takes care of her employees, 140 strong today . Because she started out with no benefits, she is committed to putting as much money as she can into employee benefits, and strives to make Sticks a great place to work. Sticks is truly an American success story.

Challenges and Opportunities
Sarah closed with some remarks on the challenges the current economic climate presents to her and to other small businesses. She may have less money to reinvest; profits will be harder to achieve, but she emphasized that this is a fertile environment for someone seeking to start a business. Inters tingly, she also noted that while the wholesale business has declined, Sticks's gallery business has remained strong. (I suggest that the unique nature and high quality, couple with the local nature of her crafts sets her wares apart.) Many people are scared, so those who can muster the resources to start something can make a real mark. She urged the students to consider this as a real opportunity.

"The great thing about business," she said, "it always changes."

A couple days after her presentation I received an announcement that Sticks was opening a gallery shop in Kansas City for the holidays. Times may be tough, but so is Sarah, and like so many successful entrepreneurs she will make things happen, and probably break a few of her own rules in doing so.

A cuppa entrepreneurship

It was like a living jolt of good java visited our Drake University Entrepreneurial Leadership class the other day. Julie McGuire, founder and owner of Zanzibar's Coffee Adventure, 2723 Ingersoll Ave., in bustling Des Moines, IA, graced us with her thoughts and experiences on her entrepreneurial adventure.

She started off, much to the students' surprise by asking them a couple questions. First she asked them to jot down 2 characteristics essential to being an entrepreneur. Then she asked them to consider whether there is a difference between being a business woman and being an entrepreneur.

After sharing her personal background: Des Moines native; moved to California to pursue international business; took a job in a coffee shop; loved it; was good at it, but it wasn't enough. She wanted a "real career." Passed up opportunity to run a shop for somebody else, and decided to return to Des Moines where nobody was doing premium coffee yet. Why Des Moines? How could she leave Cali? As she explained, someone starting a new business is going to spend 100 hours+ a week working, so it didn't matter if it was in Des Mines or Vail. Also, she knew the "landscape." It also didn't hurt that Mom would cook for her and make sure she was getting a couple square meals regularly.

She wrote a great business plan and went searching for financing. Two years later, 2 YEARS, she finally landed enough financial support to get started. Of course by then, two other coffee shops had opened up. But they weren't in her neighborhood, and they did not make coffee the way she knew it had to be made. BTW, one of the reasons it took so long for her to get financed was because she was a "her." Bankers and investors were not quite ready for a young, single woman who wanted to start her own specialty biz. She also bumped into the "nobody will pay that for coffee around here" mentality, and after two other shops opened , that attitude shifted to , "well, you're a little late, they've got the market covered." Julie, and those that know her are not surprised by this, persevered. And 15 years later she has a successful business that has become a part of many people's lives. Zanzibar's has become part of that landscape she knew so well.

Unlike our other presenters, she did not offer the students a neat list of key traits; instead, she continued to ask questions. How do you come up with new ideas and solutions virtually every day? How do you recruit and keep staff in a customer-service oriented retail business? Was she really an entrepreneur (I answer that resoundingly YES...15 years ago she was a leader as a young woman, in creating a neighborhood destination, or as she refers to it, a third location: home, work , Zanzibar's; there was nothing like it in Des Moines, and there still really isn't). If she was, is she still? And if she isn't, what is she?

She acknowledged that she was passionate about her dream and her business; she was very committed and was willing to make the sacrifices to make it happen. She wondered, however, if she could muster the same passion and make the same sacrifices to do it again today.

I'll offer this summary of the traits that make Julie McGuire a successful entrepreneurial leader:
find your dream

• Be prepared to work very hard and very long
• Stick with it; you will encounter obstacles, and you will likely encounter naysayers
• Be prepared for challenges everyday
• Commit to coming up with new ideas and new solutions everyday
• Be attentive to the needs and development of associates and, especially, employees
• Be involved in your community
• Be passionate about what you do

Thanks Julie.

Entrepreneurship is Fat!

Or is it Phat? Anyway, Bob and Joe Riley, father and son entrepreneurs, were the most recent speakers at our Entrepreneurial Leadership class at Drake University. Bob is founder, president and CEO (why do we continue to have presidents and CEOs?) of Feed Energy Inc., a 30-year old "premier supplier of energy solutions for the livestock industry." Joe Riley is Operations Manager of FEC Solutions LLC, a "new energy company" that is developing ways to improve ethanol production and otherwise foster and enhance energy production from ag-resources. Very cool guys; I first met Bob as he walked through a gathering repeating "Cigars and port, 801 Grand; cigars and port, 801 Grand." I followed him to the steakhouse at 801 Grand where we discovered mutual interests including cigars and port and more.

Feed Energy processes fats and oils and produces highly specialized feeds; Bob used to have business cards for "Fats R Us." Under his leadership the company has grown to more than $40 million in sales and is an innovative leader in high energy feed production. FEC Solutions is a new company working to extend Feed Energy's expertise into the fast-developing alternative energy industry with a focus on improving production margins and ensuring access to safe, clean energy.

Bob claims he was forced into being an entrepreneur when he acquired acquired Feed Energy in 1986. For the first three years it was 19 hour days and a lot of OJT(on-the-job-training). Fueled by insatiable curiosity, a willingness to risk failing, and a contagious belief in success he was able to cut back to 15 hour days and build a business where quality comes first, not only in its products but also in how they treat employees and customers. Joe discussed the challenges of starting a new business based on new technology in an industry in transition. Sounds like fun!

Bob and Joe shared their thoughts and advice on what it takes to be a successful entrepreneurial leader with our class.

Bob:

• Be willing to be broke--money is only important for survival; it is not the goal
• Focus on quality--Take any other approach and you will fail.
• Develop a weltanshauung or world view (I had to look that one up).
• Mange risk--t have an intimate knowledge of your costs, your market, your products.
• Pay attention to the details...of your process and your plan.
• Be confident--deliver value.
• Be curious--look for better ways to make it, sell it, communicate it, improve it.

Their motto (or mantra): Profit is the byproduct of quality.

Joe:

• Stay focused--on your business and your goals; filter out the noise.
• Get and stay organized--do the right thing, the right way, the first time.
• Be flexible [adaptable]. Things change; you must too.
• Follow through. Execute.
• Be persistent. NEVER GIVE UP.

They then added some advice for approaching the future:

Bob:

• Get out of the classroom and start a business.

Alternatively

• Graduate.
• Get a job and learn the ropes on someone else's nickel.

Joe:

• Get fired from a job; experience dealing with failure.
• Find a Baby Boomer with money, because money is hard to come by.
• Gamble or calculate? Indian poker or blackjack? Know the difference.
• Build your own model for developing, choosing and starting a business.
• Save the world. Big problems need solutions from young entrepreneurs.

Bob then presented the students with a real choice:

They have found a new metal with unique properties. They have determined that it can increase ethanol production significantly. They have a client willing to use it, and they can be operational with it in less than 6 months at a cost of $50,000.

OR

Experiments have shown that the metal also has unique properties to target and destroy cancer cells. It will take $50,000,000 to commercialize and 10 years to complete all trials and tests.

Which would you choose?

Island for sale?

For sale: Volcanic island; north Atlantic views all around. Size of Kentucky, but liquor is freely available; home to classic Nordic beauties. Great potential for geothermal heat. 320,000 literate, long-lived, previously high-income owners forced to sell. Excellent opportunity for...well, anybody who has any money left. Anybody?

It ain't pretty, but it's better n' nothin'

They were against it. Then the other guys were for it. The market crashed. The market jumped. Aw shucks, we had a debate. Then they were for it. The market yawned; maybe it's tired. Glad my money is at Wells Fargo.