HomeMy WebLinkAboutLearning In North Huron, 1992-10-07, Page 6PAGE 6. OCTOBER 1992.
Tenacity contributes to success in business
Mass production
When Chris Dickson decided to expand her specialty food
manufacturing business 'Goodies by Two Shoes' she put in
a commercial-sized kitchen in the basement of her family
home where she now produces thousands of jars of
pickles, jams and antipastos yearly.
Merchants show how
to turn old into new
by Bonnie Gropp
thrift: prudent use of money and
other resources
In a time when there's too much
waste and not enough money The
Five R's in Brussels has given new
meaning to the word "thrift shop".
Opening in 1991, the community
store had the best intentions of
recycling old materials, but no real
direction other than the turnover of
second hand clothes. Now a grow
ing need ("We were swamped with
materials," one organizer said.) has
resulted in an ambitious recycling
program which included the hiring
of two co-ordinators to sort through
the deluge of material and decide
on ways to utilize it.
Obviously when clothing is
brought into a second hand store,
much of it is not suitable for resale
as is. So rather than send it to the
dump, the innovative craftspeople
at 5 R's began working wonders
from the leftovers.
Lace, corduroys, denims, cottons,
velours and trim are cut down and
put to use. A special cutting
machine is used to cut material into
strips that can be given new life as
mats or purses. "Denim", says store
manager Wendy Martin, "is really
flexible", and is used to make
bears, kittens, country items or
quilts.
Soft materials, such as t-shirts or
jogging pants are bagged for sale as
dusters.
Other than Miss Martin and the
recycling co-ordinators the staff at
Five R's is strictly volunteer. The
store has become a unique place for
people to come, a sort of drop-in
centre for people with a little time
on their hands or for a few minutes
of friendly socializing. Even chil
dren have gotten into the act com
ing in to ask if there's something
they can do.
Instructions of work needed to be
done are posted on the wall at the
back and Miss Martin says people
needn't be creative as there are
many simple tasks to do such as
cutting buttons off material.
The business, however, is offer
ing people a chance to be more cre
ative with special workshops in
things like rug hooking, covered
hangers, Christmas ornaments and
quilting to name a few, the third
Wednesday evening of every
Continued on page 7
Personal Touch Hairstylist
Men's and Women's
Personalized Hairstyling
By
Peggy Curry
Continued from page 5
wholesaling. "I knew the retail
business was too limited." She first
tried selling to larger markets her
self but found it was too time con
suming.
So, upon advice from an acquain-.
tance of her sister's, Chris
approached a food broker about
marketing her product to places in
Metropolitan Toronto, Kitchener,
Guelph and points in between.
Chris says, of late, the wholesale
distribution has been concentrated
more in South-western Ontario and
she has been doing direct wholesal
ing.
"In the food industry there are a
lot of commissioned sales people to
market the product, but the manu
facturer is in charge of shipping
and handling, whereas a broker
does all of that," she said. This
option greatly appealed to Chris
due to the expense involved in
shipping her type of product
Chris modestly contributes much
of her success to her product.
"Because we’re a consumable prod
uct and we're small our repeat cus
tomers keep us in business," she
says, adding her antipasto has them
coming back for more.
EDUCATION DIRECTORY -
BUSINESS & FARMING
Computer training on
Macintosh, Frances Sparing,
357-3885.
Money management and
estate planning workshop,
F. E. Madill Secondary School,
Sept. 14 - 28 (Mon.), Linda
Henhoeffer, 335-3887.
Complete Financial Planning
Workshop, Howick Township,
Della Baumgarten, 327-8510.
GST, T4s and Payroll, Doane
Raymond Pannell, one night or
afternoon - 3 hours, 6 people per
session, Nancy Exel or Debbie
Fincher, 357-3231, $35.00.
Starting a Small Business,
Goodies by Two Shoes, course on
demand, Chris Dickson, 335-
3877.
Computer Training, corporate
training or for your business,
Wingham Computer, Bill
McQuiggin, 357-3560.
Law and Liability -
Preventing Intoxication, Server
Information Program, Wingham
Recreation Dept, Wingham area,
Rachelle, 357-1208.
Volunteers Working
Together, The Skills Program,
Wingham Recreation Dept.,
Wingham area, Rachelle, 357-
1208.
Bookkeeping Fundamentals,
Conestoga College, F. E. Madill
Secondary School, 12 weeks,
662-2530, $86.80.
Bookkeeping/Accounting,
Conestoga College, F. E. Madill
Secondary School, 12 weeks,
662-2530, $86.80.
Comer of Edward & Albert St.
Gorrie
335-6281
Because Chris has managed the
impossible — succeeding at small
business in a time when others can't
— she was approached by the
North Huron Education Committee
about giving a course on that very
subject. The course will be offered
on demand and can be organized by
contacting Chris at 335-3877.
Chris doesn’t promise that she
will guarantee your success in
small business, but says her course
will be more of a combination
guidance and pep talk. She says
one thing important is that you
don't need to know everything, but
for what you don't know, you need
to be prepared to hire someone.
Another must is an accountant
and lawyer, whose services are
invaluable to the small business
person. There are many books on
the market to guide people interest
GREY TOWNSHIP
We offer computer courses in
our fully equipped training
centre. Call for a
calendar.
We also offer on-site
to your requirements.
An authorized IBM
Centre we also sell
PS/1 Series of personal
computers and repair most
makes of computers.
course
training
Service
the IBM
gCOMPUTEf^
• SERVICES Ltd.
145 Main St. E., Listowel
J Entrance at side of Ward & Uptigrtwe building
I291'3040 .An qgfflate o/Ward & Uptigrove)
ed in beginnings, she said, such as
"Women Mean Business", and any
financial institutions will help you
establish and plan as well.
And you must remember
patience and tenacity. "I read
somewhere recently that an
overnight success takes 15
years,"said Chris.
And what will Chris's evaluation
be when Goodies By Two Shoes
celebrates its five year milestone?
"This business has a lot of poten
tial, though personally, to be quite
honest, it has been terrible timing.
I wanted to play with the business
and not have it demand as much
time from my family, but it grew
much faster than I had intended.
But when a potential comes
along, you have to make the deci
sion to grab the advantage or let it
go, she concludes.
s.c.u.
COMPUTER
SERVICES
LIMITED