Category: Meet TAP Clients

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Client Story: Benesafe

5/30/2023

Esther Salata and Benny create a safe outdoor environment with Benesafe Solutions

What do you do when you want to send your dog, Benny, out to play but you don’t want to use harsh or toxic chemicals in your yard to keep away mosquitos, ticks, and fleas? If you are Esther Salata AND you have degrees in Conservation Ecology and Environmental Science and Ecology, you create a natural lawn and garden spray. Of course you name it after Benny!

Enter Benesafe Solutions. Benesafe uses a proprietary blend of non-toxic ingredients to keep outdoor areas free from annoying pests. Best of all, it doesn’t harm people, pets or “good” insects like bees and butterflies.

The Issues
Growing a small business has many challenges. For Esther, her current distribution channels were not driving sales to the level she wanted. She knew there were better ways of thinking about sales, marketing, and branding, so she turned to TAP for guidance.

What did TAP do?
TAP consultants Jessica Ziegler and Jessica Mashkevich worked with Esther to do a deep dive into branding, distribution channels, and marketing collateral.

They created a competitive analysis for Esther and discussed how the non-toxic ingredients, coupled with its effectiveness, were Benesafe’s unique value proposition and competitive advantage.
They conducted a distribution channel analysis and also reviewed Esther’s sales presentation. They looked at what was, and wasn’t, working and evaluated potential distribution channels for Benesafe.
They reviewed label design to ensure that potential customers were getting the right message when seeing Benesafe on store shelves.

Esther also faced a common problem for entrepreneurs. It was hard to get the word out about a great product. So TAP created a calendar of activities to help guide sales and marketing, and made recommendations for better use of social media and public relations. TAP consultants also suggested how local ‘guerrilla marketing’ tactics could boost awareness.

Taking advantage of growing environmental awareness, each of these small steps added up to an actionable marketing plan for Benesafe, allowing Esther and Benny (the official Benesafe mascot) to get the word out and build sales.

Esther wrote this in a post-project survey: “TAP provided me with two women mentors who were a perfect match for my business. They provided great perspectives that no other mentor has provided. I also feel more empowered to have such successful consultants who believe in me.”

#AAPI #womeninbusiness #AsianAmericanPacificIslanders #AAPIHeritageMonth #AAPIMonth #entrepreneurs #smallbusiness

TAP Client Stories

5/10/2023

TAP clients are experts in their business. They run restaurants and make packaged foods. They have retail stores and sell amazing products. They're personal trainers, landscapers, aestheticians, manufacturers, wholesalers and run non-profits and after school programs. So how does TAP help? Our consultants know how to increase sales, improve margins and operations and market a business. Watch these stories to hear what clients have to say about working with TAP.

Client Story: Que SeRaw SeRaw

5/5/2023

We have our final #smallbusinessweek story to share. Meet Que SeRaw SeRaw, a vegan restaurant in Burlingame, California. Owner Kerry Bitner talks about what it was like to work with her TAP consultants. #entrepreneur #womeninbusiness #smallbusiness

Client Story: Crespo Whiskeys & Wines

5/5/2023

Crespo Whiskeys & Wines in Dobbs Ferry, NY is next up on our #smallbusinessweek features. Watch this video to hear owner Jershom Osheaf talk about how TAP consultants helped him with critical aspects of running the business. This video was part of our annual April benefit. To see other client stories, be sure to visit this page. #smallbusiness #entrepreneur

Client Story: Eve Milan New York and Spa

5/4/2023

Eden Gilliam is the owner of Eve Milan, a beauty business. Working with TAP was a game changer for her. As National Small Business Week continues, we bring you this video from our April benefit. To see other client stories, be sure to visit this page. #smallbusinessweek #smallbusiness #entrepreneur

Client Story: Tech Valley Hospitality Shuttle

5/3/2023

It's National Small Business Week, so we continue to celebrate the entrepreneurs we featured in our annual benefit in April. Meet Trent Griffin-Braaf of Tech Valley Hospitality Shuttle in this video, and learn about the work he did with TAP. To see other client stories, be sure to visit this page. #smallbusinessweek #smallbusiness #entrepreneur

Client Story: Lorena Mardones of Jade Garden Design

5/2/2023

Today we continue our series of client stories from TAP's annual benefit in April. You can watch the full replay here. But now, let's take a close up look at one client, Lorena Mardones, of Jade Garden Design. To learn about other TAP clients, please visit this page. #entrepreneurs #smallbusiness #smallbiz #smallbusinessweek

Client story: Meet Freddie Lee's Gourmet Sauces

5/1/2023

TAP's annual benefit in April featured a series of client stories. You can watch the full replay here. But now, let's take a close up look at one client, Freddie Lee's Gourmet Sauces. To learn about other TAP clients, please visit this page.

WATCH TAP's Annual Benefit

4/28/2023

Did you miss our annual benefit? Want to learn how TAP has expanded to California, and is helping entrepreneurs across the country? Be sure to check out the replay below.

Meet Gessie Tassone, Owner of A&T Iron Works

10/21/2021

Meet Gessie, Owner of A&T Iron Works
A&T Iron Works, established in 1974, is located in an impressive 17,000 square foot facility in New Rochelle, NY. Gessie, as president, runs daily operations with her daughter Theresa. She is deeply passionate about the industry, the quality of her products, and growing the business. She was recently recognized at both the state and national levels for her efforts, strong leadership and impressive achievements.

Why did Gessie need TAP?
Gessie partnered with TAP to improve cash flow management, streamline her operations and expand her business. She also needed help prioritizing time spent on soliciting sales. TAP stepped right in.

How did TAP help?
TAP consultants Angela Pearson and Tracy Grey focused on helping Gessie increase productivity by developing a time log to pinpoint inefficiencies. They helped her set growth targets by segment and identified sales and marketing opportunities to achieve them. The consultants encouraged a more proactive sales approach that would qualify potential customers and thus save staff time writing new quotes. This included a more efficient “contact us” format that would help determine priorities and size of estimates. With the help of another TAP consultant, Amy Lai, they created a cash flow template so Gessie could ensure she had funds to meet daily business needs in an industry where working capital is tight.

Where are they now?
With TAP’s assistance and Gessie’s resilience, A&T has already begun to regain its position in the industry. They hired four new employees and are landing more high-end jobs within target segments. Gessie credits TAP with “helping us to take a step back and focus on the overall picture of the company. By doing this, we could increase sales, better manage our cash flow, and improve our website.” A&T is now more organized and efficient and thus able to bid on more projects. As a result, A&T has already been able to increase clients by 20%, and sales are up 30%.