I love a good win-win story. This one is about three brothers and the encouragement of entrepreneurship. It starts with a company called Tasty Dawg. Founded in 1984, it is based in the Chicago area. Like all successful businesses, it evolved. It became a catering operation and is now called Tasty Catering. The three brothers continue to run the growing operation.
However, what is interesting is the "spin offs." I do not mean it in the typical way. Rather, these owners encourage entrepreneurship with existing employees and family members. It is a very unique culture that comes from the top.
Take T. F. Processors. One of the owners did not like the fact that the kitchen went unused for 16 hours. So one of the brothers sought new markets. He found one, but it required a significant capital investment. Hence T.F. Processors was born. The result is a new business catering to schools and eventually for private labels.
It is win-win. Existing equipment gets used more for profit making purposes, employees take risks, sales are increasing and complimentary businesses are born. Well, you get the idea.Examples are That's Caring, Touhy Capital, Rios Ventures, and nuphoriq.
For economic developers, I ask the following:
- How do we find firms with this culture?
- What resources can we bring to help existing firms with this culture succeed?
- How can we encourage other companies to follow this path?
You will enjoy the article and the background. This article appeared in Forbes and was written by Darren Dahl. Link to article:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrendahl/2016/06/07/how-tasty-catering-is-serving-up-a-new-generation-of-entrepreneurs/2/#2f8f5664705e
