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.
After four years in the corporate lunch delivery business, Michael Clements is expanding To Go Services into residential and hotel dinner delivery.
He's on the board of RMDA, Restaurant Marketing and Delivery Association, and he used his connections with about 80 members around the country to research the dinner service. He figures he'll get about 20 new customers a night on average, with his planned weekly mailing schedule.
He'll start in Burnsville, where there are 60,000 people. "My estimate is $300,000 in revenue annually" from a city that size. "Do that around the city, and it turns into a nice business," he says.
To Go Services posted $1.1 million in sales last year, up from $900,000 the year before and $500,000 the year before that.
Slower growth is one reason for expansion. Other reasons: "You don't want to have too many eggs in one basket," he says. Also: ÒWe have the infrastructure: the Web site, the point-of-sales system. We might as well capture the other day parts."
Also through his association connections, he's merging with two similar companies, one in Wausau, Wisconsin, and one in Asheville, North Carolina. The three will set up a call center in Wausau for the dinner business.
Clements' company delivers for about 33 restaurants around town. He prints and mails menu guides, and buys the meals wholesale from the restaurants and sells them at retail, plus a delivery fee.
"Essentially we work on commission" for the restaurants, is how he describes it. He got interested as a former manager at Chili's, who had to keep turning down customer requests for delivery because the restaurant didn't do it.
Clements is also about to heavily promote his new Web site tool, which will allow group ordering. Each person in a group, say at a company office, would get an e-mail where they can put in their particulars, then submit one order that amortizes the tax and tip.
One of his competitors has the software, he says, but doesn't promote it.
Michael Clements, To Go Services: 651.209.1800; mc*******@**********es.com; www.togoservices.com
