Great American Collectibles uses highly unusual method to raise operating capital. Owner vows to close the business rather than move operations to China.
Aurora, OR (PRWEB) June 14, 2004 -- While most companies in need of operating capital tend to use banks or other traditional means of raising funds, Great American® Collectibles (http://www.gr8american.com) has decided to take its request to the streets, literally.
The spark for this novel way of raising capital is something Dan Sherman, entrepreneur and President of Great American® Collectibles, came up with while at a stop light one day. It just occurred to me while watching a panhandler at an intersection that they probably expose their message to hundreds of people an hour, many of which are in the position to help out a struggling seasonal company like ours," Sherman says.
Great American® Collectibles makes most of its annual sales from October to February. The spring and summer is our time to hunker down and just try to survive," says Sherman. Unfortunately, we might not make it through this summer without a little help. Thats why Ill be holding my sign until we either get help or just cant go on any longer." Sherman goes on to say, Ironically, we are the closest weve ever been to profitability. The upcoming Christmas season should bring us out of the red and Im not going to give up this close to success."
Its more than just the money for Sherman, however. When asked about moving operations to China, Sherman says, We would have been profitable from day one if we manufactured our figurines in China, but our company is called Great AMERICAN® Collectibles, not Great CHINESE Collectibles. Ill fold the company first."
In January, 2001, Dan Sherman was selling enterprise software to Fortune 500 companies. Then, an interesting string of unlikely events led him to start Great American® Collectibles. My wife, Allison, and I were collectors of a line of carved, resin, folk art Old World Santas made by a company in North Carolina. They were going out of business so we decided to save the line, not only for ourselves, but for the 1000s of other collectors worldwide."
In February, 2001, without knowing the slightest thing about making resin collectibles, Sherman incorporated Great American® Collectibles. He explains, We had a strong backlog of orders already on the books which helped. Then September 11th happened. I cant say it negatively impacted our business for 2001 since many of the orders were already placed for that Christmas season, but it did affect our business in the 2002 and 2003 Christmas season."
Now, in their 4th full year, Sherman has run through all of his own resources and needs to raise $10,000 to make it through the summer and build up inventory for the upcoming Christmas season. Hes hopeful that some self-employed successful business person will empathize with his plight and help out in his time of need. Ill be on the corner of the street, holding a sign that says, ‘Business Needs $10,000," Sherman says with a smile on his face. I wonder if I can write off the supplies I used to make the sign?"
The sign also lists a website (www.need10k.com) Sherman has posted online where his sign readers can go for more information.
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