From left, Chris, Walter and Zenon Klopick, co-owners of Tenderloin Meat & Sausage Inc.JOHN WOODS/The Globe and Mail
Tenderloin Meat & Sausage Inc.
Where based: Winnipeg
What the company does: Retail and wholesale butcher
The company's challenge:
Tenderloin Meat & Sausage, a 15-employee company which sells a variety of meats to grocery stores and to its own customers, has been growing by about 15 per cent every year for the past 15 years, with revenues hitting about $2.5-million in 2011. While it's expanded its building twice before to accommodate that growth, the owners, Walter Klopick and his two sons, Christian and Zenon, want to expand again.
Mr. Klopick says they'd like to add another 2,500 square feet to their 3,500-sq.-ft. building, both in the front, where retail customers gather, and in the back, where the food is made. He'd also like to spruce up the front of the building and buy new equipment, and figures he could double gross sales with an expansion and an upgrade.
He says he needs $300,000 for the expansion and upgrade.
What the judges advise:
Build in phases
While Mr. Klopick would like to expand all at once, Toronto-based business consultant Evan Carmichael suggests doing it in phases. It'll be easier to get money from investors or a bank in lesser amounts, and he'll be able to improve the building faster if he starts with a smaller, more attainable, amount.
Invest back into the business
By doing it in phases, he can use the increased revenues that he's made from the initial expansion to fund the rest. "If sprucing up the retail store is the quickest way to get a return, then do that first," Mr. Carmichael says. "Start making money and invest more profits back into a larger renovation plan."