 |
| Bruce Camber and Hattie Bryant with Fess Parker who spends hours
everyday greeting customers in his showroom. Fess even autographs bottles. The
scenery, the promise of a delicious tasting and the hope that they will get to
see Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone brings over 60,000 visitors to the winery
every year. |
|
|
|
|
Los
Olivos, California: Let us reintroduce you to the man who taught us
about the pioneering spirit of America, about breaking new grounds, and about
the art of the impossible. Rediscover the spirit of Davy Crockett and Daniel
Boone and the man who is recreating the Santa Barbara Wine Country.
Our
cameras are rolling and you visit one of the most beautiful parts of California
and find out how Fess Parker built a new business. With his son, Eli, their
wines are sold in premium retail stores, in restaurants, by catalog and on the
web.
The
Fess Parker Winery and Vineyard is located 32 miles north of Santa Barbara on
the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail. In 1987 Fess and Eli Parker purchased 714 acres;
Eli enrolled in viticultural classes and this business was born. While Eli
focused on making wine, his dad concentrated on building the winery and visitor
center. Last year over 60,000 people visited and total sales exceed five
million dollars per year. It is very much a family business!
Fess
and Eli spend a lot of time traveling the country to stay in touch with
customers.
- Contact:
Fess
Parker Winery & Vineyards
6200 Foxen Canyon Road ( P. O. Box 908)
Los Olivos, California 93441
Tel: Vineyard: 800-841-1104
Inn:
800-446-2455 or 805-688-7788
E-mail:
Click here.
URL:
http://www.fessparker.com/
|
|
|
- FIRST PRINCIPLES: Starting a
business is the road to economic independence for most of us average people.
Read a little more to see why
incorporating a business keeps the passion of
the American revolution alive!
- TRADE ASSOCIATIONS:
JOIN, JOIN, JOIN Your professional associations in your industry
are your key to continuing education, market research, collaborations,
strategic partnerships, capital and so much more ... often you'll find that you
enjoy like-minded people and many will become friends for life. Here are two
that Fess and Eli have joined:
FROM TWO TO ELEVEN: Did you hear Fess? He
has eleven grandchildren and he said, "...we hope that some of them will find
this a fascinating enterprise." Of course, his son, Eli already has. You can be
sure that someone within the Parker Family will
keep this business
going for a long time to come.
How is your family known? What kind of
identity do you have?
We encourage you to also study some of the other
family
businesses. |
|
| |
- WATCH TV ABOUT VALUE CREATION: Turn off
TV about people exploiting people. It brings us all down. To find
SmallBusinessSchool, check your local PBS-member station. If you don't
find us there,
drop
us a note and we will get it on your local government station for economic
development. You can also check the rebroadcast of PBS-member station signals
on DirecTV and Dish Network.
- Economic Development Commissions and
Workforce Initiative:
Be a partner with your local PBS-member
station with this campaign for your small business owners to create "Just One
More Job." Begin with this
benefits statement. Always it'll be free from
Small Business School..
-
MORE ABOUT FINANCES. We have a section
about money and it can be useful. BUT -- and this
is a big one -- we all need to know about RMA --The Risk Management
Association. This is real insiders information on your financials so take
note.
This organization is the banker's banker. They know more
about key critical ratios than anybody on earth. Over 3000 banks and 16000
other kinds of financial organizations contribute the essential financial data
from their loan inventory to RMA's "Annual Statement Studies" to calculate key
critical ratios for every major industry type (and for most subsets of business
vis-a-vis the SIC and NAICS). With
over 150,000 loans per year, that is statistical relevancy.
Do you know
the average key ratios within your industry? We haven't learned ours yet for
the TV/Production Industry, so we all need to ask our banker. To really
make a study of it, keep an eye out for the next seminar by RMA in your area.
It'll be the best money you'll spend to understand the organic nature of your
business, and learn what it is that your banker so quickly knows about your
industry. For more, read online:
RMA seminars,
RMA history, and their
small business scoring (i.e. used by the SBA
for their Low Docs).
If you'd like to study the history behind the RMA
(it goes back to Robert Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence),
click
here.
|
|
