Business Insights – Two Equity Firms Advise

Hans Heer Terry Frishman

Hans Heer (Emil Capital Partners) with Terry (Culinest).

Investors get pitched by a lot of businesses – so they have a really good sense of what works and doesn’t.

Hans Heer (Emil Capital Partners) and Christopher Bradley (Mistral Equity Partners) gave excellent recommendations to students in my Food Entrepreneurship class.

Get advice:

Don’t be shy about getting advice – but ask the right people. Get 3 opinions.

Use your own judgement: trust yourself.

Have a point of difference:

Remember the importance of a unique selling proposition.

Build customer relationships:

Customer trust and people returning drives sales.

Have a sampling budget.

Keep costs down:

Go to a non-union building – costs can be 40% lower.

Every delay at retail costs you a lot because you’re still paying rent.

Part-time employees can help lower costs and give you flexibility.

Supplier terms – ask for 45, 60, 90; longer terms, better cash flow.