Mainebiz

V O L . X X V I N O. X I X A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 2 0 32 "It was one of those cases of right place, right time," Neal says. She took over the business on Jan. 19, 2010. "I had a ton to learn," she says. "I'd never learned to use a [point-of-sale] system. I had to learn about ordering and inventory, what we carry and why. ose were some big things." e previous owner trained her over three weeks, and Neal "depended heavily," she says, on her outside sales rep at a distributor and training offered by companies whose brands were sold in her store. She bought the store with pro- ceeds from selling her house earlier in the year, before she and Joel were married. She also had financing pro- vided by the previous owner. "So off the bat I didn't need financ- ing," she says. "It grew from there." A year after the ownership change at Loyal Biscuit, the previous owner returned wanted to open a similar store in Camden. eir deal had included a non-compete clause, so Neal worked out another deal, asking the previous owner to buy out the non-compete and release her from the owner financing — in effect, freeing her from the terms of the original deal. She also received right-of-first-refusal if Hinsman wanted to sell the Camden store, then known as Destination Dog. With barely time to breathe, Loyal Biscuit had expanded to Belfast, opening a store downtown. As luck would have it, by December 2011, Hinsman was ready to sell the Camden store. So by February 2012 — just two years after the original deal in Rockland — Loyal Biscuit had three stores. "We were not ready for a third store, by any means. But we couldn't let someone else come in and buy Camden," Neal says. "We were getting better pricing [from wholesalers], but we didn't have a procedure book or employee handbook. It was crazy for a while, but we made it." Expansion further afield By 2014, her Belfast manager, Chelsie Herrin, was getting married and wanted to open a store in Waterville, launch- ing in August of that year. e store is now at 99 Main St., but the original site didn't work out, ending badly. "For me, it was my first real negative experience dealing with someone who wasn't nice. I have lived a sheltered life. I've never been in circles where » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Heidi Neal, owner of the Loyal Biscuit, talks to PJ Walter, the inventory manager, in her office at the Rockland store. Here at Androscoggin, we've stacked our banker roster with women leaders raising the banking bar in Maine. Our boss ladies are passionate and primed to take your business to the next level. So connect with us on LinkedIn and let's start talking, because growing business is our business and business with us is good. AndroscogginBank.com/AllBusiness WE'RE ALL BUSINESS. June Usher Wallace Retail Banking Karen Hayden Chief Funding Officer Lisa Hook Commercial Banking Deborah Avasthi Treasury Services Maureen Van Uden Business Banking

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