By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

Shifting business to 'net requires careful targeting

Be specific if you want potential customers to find you on the Web.

That's a lesson that Jimmy Stewart learned this year as he strived to move from catalog-based sales to the Internet.

His Batavia company, Jym, specializes in the creation of unique sports awards and memorabilia. For several years, he relied on mass mailings, personal contact with coaches and catalog listings. To spur sales and reduce costs, he ventured onto the Web in late 2001 at www.CoolStuff4Sports.com.

But folks looking for items related to specific sports weren't linking up with him. So Mr. Stewart developed www.CoolVolleyballStuff.net, which has resulted in more traffic. A second new site, www.CoolSoccerStuff.net, is a month or so from launch. A basketball counterpart is in the works.

Soccer bag tags have always been Jym's bread and butter. So Mr. Stewart has designed a new model, shaped like a soccer jersey, on which he engraves the athlete's name and number. The tags should be available sometime in January.

"Business has been real steady; not great but not bad," Mr. Stewart said. "I went back to my Web designer and got some tips on tweaking the site content so I get more hits."

Information: 732-1097.

Lack of venture capital here has biotech firm looking elsewhere

Faced with lack of funding for biotech in Cincinnati, Genomatix is seriously considering a move to a greener location.

"We are looking at moving to either Louisville, Kalamazoo, Mich., Virginia or Maryland, depending on where we get the best offer," company president Thomas Reed said.

The Norwood firm produces transgenes, custom-engineered DNA molecules designed to alter the genetic makeup of an organism. Transgenes are of tremendous value in pharmaceutical research and are also used to make crops disease- and insect-resistant.

Despite Genomatix's potential, limited venture capital in this area has hampered its efforts to grow, Mr. Reed said. "Right now there's a critical window of opportunity for obtaining a market leadership position in outsourced transgene production. We have one competitor in Washington state that just launched its first national advertising campaign. We need money for advertising and for infrastructure growth to compete."

Mr. Reed hopes that funding will become available in Cincinnati before the company commits to a move, but meanwhile he's in negotiations with investors elsewhere.

"Our goal is to be up and operating in the new location April 1," he said. "We can't wait a year to get funding locally."

Information: 631-4DNA.

For owners of vegetarian deli, one step back and several forward

Eric Lusain's move downtown proved to be a catalyst for new business directions.

Early last year, Mr. Lusain opened Manna Vegetarian Deli on Seventh Street. He was already operating a similar eatery in Hyde Park.

As Mr. Lusain admits, trying to make a go of a restaurant is difficult; narrow your target by offering only vegetarian fare, and you increase the challenge tremendously.

But the past year has been a good one for Manna, with one strategic retreat: the Hyde Park location moved to Mount Lookout, but lost some of its customer base during the transition. So Mr. Lusain closed it in November.

"We're doing all of our restaurant business downtown, and running our catering business out of there," he said. "We've also restructured as Manna Health Services, expanding the gamut of services that we offer, centered around health education."

Capitalizing on downtown's workday population of 80,000, the vegetarian entrepreneur has marketed health seminars to corporations that want to encourage their employees to eat well and stay fit.

"It's really lifestyle coaching," Mr. Lusain explained. "Our main goal is increasing employee work productivity. It's been pretty successful."

Related endeavors include a vegetarian lunch program available to preschool and elementary-aged youngsters in local schools, and a cleaning service for residential and business properties that uses only natural products.

"It's been a really good year," said Manna's owner.

Information: 241-8343 or www.eat-better.com

Community embraces a place of beauty

Gloria Byrd has learned a thing or two about the beauty business in the months since she opened Emerge Salon & Spa in Kenwood.

"It's good to have a business plan," she said with a laugh.

"Sometimes, things happen to alter you from your primary objectives, but you have to remain focused; you have to stay the course."

Emerge Salon's clientele has grown, Ms. Byrd said: "Business is great. We've been embraced by the community."

She added that her culturally diverse salon came as a surprise to Cincinnati, and she has had to work hard to demonstrate that everyone is welcome at Emerge.

"My staff truly believe in the vision and work together toward the goal," she said.

Emerge is at 7710 Montgomery Road. Information: 891-9772.

Hide-and-seek toy, here-we-are company

When we checked in with On a Lark last May, company partners Morris Tsai and Janice Tsai Jezek had teamed up with toy inventor Charles Cummings to produce a hide-and-seek cat. The plush toy, enhanced with an electronic chip that enables it to meow "I'm over here!" every 30 seconds until found, has been a hit for the Hamilton company and has won two national awards.

"Since we introduced the plush, we've gotten quite a bit of attention for our company," Mr. Tsai said. "We're now working with a larger company that might take over the line. We would license it to them so they could produce and distribute the product. We would make a percentage."

That company's expansive production facilities could manufacture variations on the plush cat much more easily than could tiny On a Lark. Its extensive distribution network would mean that the hide-and-seek cat would scurry into major toy outlets as well as the niche boutiques targeted by On a Lark.

"This deal would basically cut years off development time," Mr. Tsai said.

Said his sister: "We would still own the technology, which we could license to other companies for different applications. And everything would still have our name on it, so it would be good exposure for On a Lark."

The company still produces whimsical animal-character puzzles, games and gift items bearing the artwork of Kevin Whitlark. Ms. Jezek anticipates that increasing sales of On a Lark's high-visibility toy will have a positive effect on the company's other merchandise.

Information: 860-2711, (888) 477-6532 or www.onalark.com

E-retailer expands site and gets positive results

The past few months have been significant ones for PlusSize.com, an e-retailer of clothing and accessories for women.

The Web-based enterprise, which aims at the millions of women who wear size 12 or larger, now represents the products of more than 500 retailers, up from 50 earlier this year. And, says company founder Jeff Recker, shopping the site has gotten easier.

"We now have our own shopping basket so you can search from over 7 million products with a single shopping basket," he said, explaining that a customer used to have to check out from one "store" before purchasing items from another retailer. An arrangement with Web designer Altura made the streamlined features possible.

Said Mr. Recker: "We now carry everything from garden supplies to toys. We are a clearinghouse for catalogs."

With PlusSize.com perking along nicely, Mr. Recker has shifted some of his attention to another cyber venture. He's now vice president of national sales and strategic development for RxMadeSimple.com, another company in the Digital Rhine Main Street Ventures community.

"It's an electronic prescription management program," he said. "The software we've developed enables a physician to go online and prescribe medications. It reduces errors and leaves an electronic trail."

Mr. Recker is helping the two-year-old company expand its operations nationally.

Information: www.PlusSize.com or www.RxMadeSimple.com

Move, expansion give cafes a definite pickup

Kidd Coffee has been on the fast track this past year.

The Mason-based company has signed a new agreement with Wingate Inn and Conference Center in West Chester to provide the facility's coffee. It has opened a new cafe in Depot Square in Sharonville and is preparing to franchise. And when company owner Victor Kidd moved his Mason cafe just two doors down Reading Road this fall, he saw a tremendous jump in java sales.

"Business doubled immediately," he recounted. "We have a free-standing building and both ends of it are like big billboards, so people notice us. Access is better. We have expanded our menu to add more pastries and more lunch items. The drive-through traffic is huge."

By installing computers with high-speed Internet access, Kidd Coffee attracted a significant number of people who want a little cyber with their caffeine. By offering a cozy lounge area with fireplace, he made Kidd Coffee a destination for those who want to relax.

With all legal work complete, Mr. Kidd anticipates kicking off his franchise business in early 2003.

"We still have people calling us fairly frequently about franchises, without our doing any advertising whatever," he said.

With locations in Lebanon and Sharonville running semi-independently and the Mason cafe in the capable hands of his son and daughter, Mr. Kidd is increasingly free to concentrate on his pastoral duties at Mason Community Church. But he still enjoys the personal contacts with customers.

"I see this business as an extension of my ministry," he said.

Information: 398-0718.

High-quality fun creates high volume, high growth

The owners of MyToyBox.com have used their talents and experience to shape their enterprise and keep control of its explosive growth this year. By May, when the Internet-based company was profiled, Tim Bartlett had left his sales job to devote all his time and energy to his wife Debbie's business.

By sticking to its mission of selling high-quality toys and shipping promptly, the company consistently exceeded its monthly revenue goals and, in the fourth quarter of this year, achieved a 100 percent increase over the same period last year.

"We established ourselves as the No. 1 Internet reseller for five of our major suppliers, which is not an easy accomplishment. We also expanded our product line by 100 percent with products from 10 new suppliers," Mrs. Bartlett said. "And we received a significant increase in repeat customers and new orders from referrals."

Mr. Bartlett's computer skills got a workout, upgrading the company Web site to handle the new products and increased traffic. Two major upgrades to the Web site's server were needed; more enhancements are on the way.

The company will move out of the Bartletts' Pierce Township home in February to 10,000 square feet of warehouse and office space nearby. The couple will hire additional staff once the move is complete.

"Then we plan to expand our product lines in 2003 by an additional 100 percent," Mrs. Bartlett said.

Information: www.MyToyBox.com

UC students' business busy, but they won't stop there

While completing the first term of their senior year at UC, entrepreneurs Chris Faraji and Greg Totten have increased sales of their CD business cards. And their company, Xhilarations Business Solutions, is venturing into a couple of new areas.

"It's going well; we're becoming overwhelmingly busy," said Mr. Faraji. "We're in the process of getting involved with software for attorneys that will cut down on their paperwork. It should be out in January."

There's another project in the works, which has to remain confidential for now. It's a high-tech educational tool that is in the development phase. The partners hope to unveil that product in six months or so.

Meanwhile, the two plan to finish their degree work more or less on schedule, perhaps even getting a bit of academic credit for their real-life experience.

"We're definitely learning how to balance our time," Mr. Faraji said.

Xhilaration is located in Clifton. Information: 252-6446.

E-mail: jcallison@cinci.rr.com