Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
For almost four years, Roxanne Cornell stuck to wallpaper stripping only with her business, LaPrep Wallpaper Stripping in Minneapolis. She would refer painting jobs to others.
Midway through last year, she realized how much business she was giving away and added painting services. “It’s kind of fallen into my lap,” Cornell says. “I’ve got a captive audience.”
Cornell says her company keeps busy with the wallpaper stripping, at least two people every day, five days a week.
The decision to add services was part of her business planning last year, after she brought on a new investor. “I wanted to make sure I could provide the services that I was going to sell,” Cornell says.
She says bidding the paint jobs, at first, was challenging. “Now it’s down to a science,” she says. “I just kept trying it out and trying it out. It’s working now. I can feel confident.”
She says adding painting services probably boosted by more than 5 percent her company’s revenue in 2004, before she did any marketing. This year, she plans a marketing push — especially with paint retailers such as Hirshfield’s, which comprises 38 percent of her referrals. She plans to visit the stores to promote the new services.
Roxanne Cornell, LaPrep Wallpaper Stripping & Paint: 612.816.6940
