Welcome New Client Rock Wool Manufacturing!

Redhawk Consulting is pleased to announce it’s newest client engagement with Rock Wool Manufacturing. Established in 1943, Rock Wool is one the most respected brands in the mineral wool insulation market. Their products are used for both residential and commercial insulation applications throughout the country.

Known for their best-in-class customer service, Rock Wool engaged Redhawk to help them design and implement a sales process that delivers actionable reporting, data capture, a more predictable sales pipeline and greater visibility into sales activities for the executive team. This information and process orientation will allow Rock Wool to continue to improve their customers’ experience. To fully realize the benefits of this new sales process, Redhawk will also program a fully functional and customized CRM solution using the Nutshell platform.

According to Matt Hottle of Redhawk, Rock Wool’s willingness to try new things was key to creating this project. “This company has been well-known and respected in their industry for more than 70 years. The fact that they are willing to re-examine their existing processes is a testament to their leadership and their commitment to always get better at everything they do.”

Rock Wool is headquartered in Leeds, AL with plants in multiple US locations. They supply pipe, sheet and blanket insulation to the distributor and contractor markets throughout the country.

Read this Before Taking on Investors

There comes a point for all startup businesses where they have to consider taking on investors versus bootstrapping their operations to grow the company. For a lot of founders, they wrestle with this decision several times in the first few years.

While I do think bootstrapping is sexy as hell, I’m not opposed to investors. Some startups can’t even take a business idea off paper without significant seed investment and many investors are absolute rock stars that will do anything they can to help an investment succeed.

With that stated, there are a few things to consider before taking on investors. For the sake of this article, I’m going to consider accelerators, incubators, venture capital and any other scenarios where equity is exchanged for cash or subsidies as an “investment.”

  1. A VC fund is considered successful if 10% of their investments do well while you could 100% fail like any of the other 90% of their plays that don’t pan out. Don’t believe the hype; succeeding as a company is way better than “learning from failing.”What is it about that VC fund that makes sense for you- other than their stacks of cash? A typical VC probably only has about 2% of their capital invested in your company while you may have every credit card maxed out, loans from friends and family due and employees to pay at the end of the week. The stakes for you are ALWAYS much higher than your VC investors. Choose wisely.
  2. Who is actually managing that accelerator or incubator? Are they a subject matter expert in the markets their incubated companies are competing in or are they just a big name in the startup world? Name recognition can be a huge asset as long as it’s big enough. Minor celebrities in those communities are probably not driving enough value if they aren’t also providing super-relevant industry experience.
  3. Be careful not to fall for the “easy” country-club deal. Raising money among friends and acquaintances can be a legit way to generate capital but they require much of the same structure, governance and construction as a VC/ PE deal.For example, I found one deal where a minority owner provided capital in exchange for equity but then expected their investment to be paid back first before any other owners could receive any distributions of profit. That’s a pretty crappy provision considering this came with a measly $20k investment.
  4. Pick your startup competitions with care. As I have previously pontificated, startup competitions can be a total waste of time when they are poorly conceived, executed or judged.There was a competition recently announced here in Birmingham where the contestants have to pay $50 to enter, compete in three rounds over a 6 month time frame, 50 companies could enter and the prize was only $10k.The lost-opportunity cost alone is higher than $10k and the contestants are actually subsidizing 25% of the prize money through their own “application fees.” By winning, you would be doing so on the backs of other start-ups. That just seems crappy and it a massive waste of time and resources.

Capital, or the lack thereof, is always a primary concern for a company wanting to start, grow or innovate. Every founder needs to seriously consider their individual opportunities for outside investment. It should not be an easy question to answer and the more thought expended when considering funding options, the higher the likelihood that a company finds investors that are passionate, supportive and truly helpful. If the total value of what they offer is measured in decimal places, you may need to consider other options.

Welcome our New Client Reliance Financial Group!

Redhawk Consulting is pleased to announce its new consulting engagement with Reliance Financial Group. Working with the executive team at RFG, a new strategic framework has been designed and Redhawk will continue working with them to implement that strategy.

Speaking about the new engagement, Matt Hottle reflects on the incredible potential ahead for RFG, “They are in exponential growth mode right now and they want to be aggressive while maintaining their service and performance standards. They have the challenge of capitalizing on their outstanding RIA platform while delivering the support and resources their independent advisors have come to expect. It’s exciting to work with their energetic and high-performing culture.”

With more than $1.3 billion in AUM, RFG is poised to become a major force with their hybrid RIA. In just a few short years, RFG has grown from a small group of individual producers to more than 35 independent advisors in 4 offices throughout the US.

Welcome our new client Two Bros Bows!

We are excited to start working with Two Bros Bows out of Charlotte, NC. Started by two brothers, Hayden and Duncan, the young entrepreneurs created the company when they were 7 and 10 years old. TBB’s chief executive and rock star is their mother, Elisha Duncan, who has helped the boys grow the company from a small operation in a bedroom to a nationally-celebrated toy and imagination company. After their recent success at the New York Toy Fair, TBB has gained interest from some of the largest retail and wholesale outlets in the country.

By combining the fascination of outdoor play with safety and handmade quality, TBB is the hottest boutique toy manufacturer in the country. Currently exploring massive distribution and licensing deals, Redhawk will help the boys and Elisha navigate each opportunity.

As the founder of Redhawk, Matt Hottle, puts it, “We are thrilled to be working with Two Bros Bows. Young entrepreneurs, engaging toys that inspire kids to get outside and explore, and made in the USA—what’s not to love about this company? We are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to engage with TBB. We believe the trajectory for this brand is significant.”

For those interested in hearing more about Two Bros Bows and their story, visit their website at twobrosbows.com.

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