Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 27 A P R I L 2 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S B A N K I N G / F I N A N C E "What's the target market?" Strojny says. "How are you going to reach it? What problem are you solving? ose are all things they have to answer fi rst." Donnelly puts it this way: Entre- preneurs who want a business loan have to be able to tell the bank a story with a beginning, middle and end. "It's their story and they need to be able to tell it," she says. 'Get your ducks in a row' When Schmitz started sewing her own clothes in 2013, "It frustrated me that there were no fashion design tools that look like me, there was no option to customize it to my own body. One of the reasons people sew their own clothes is to make clothes that fi t." Reaching out to the online sewing and design community planted the seed for Mybodymodel. "It's a very body-positive commu- nity," she says. "I found out I wasn't the only one, many women would be very excited and willing to pay for their own body model." Shortly after she decided to develop an app that would do just that, she got the TechStart grant. Some of the required match could be her own time, rather than cash. Schmitz used grant money to part- ner with Big Room Studios, a Portland software designer. "I wanted to know what it would take to make it happen," she says. She also hired Janet Antich at the- ink-spot in Portland to create prototype sample illustrations, recruiting friends to be models. She did online market research. "I wanted to make sure this was a prod- uct people wanted," she says. Technical assistance came from Sarah Guerette at the Women's Business Center at CEI. She used Survey Monkey, she talked to mentors at SCORE. "I used a lot of free resources," she says. "In Maine we're lucky to have so many resources." C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » An entrepreneur's timeline Erica Schmitz, a consultant for a health care nonprofit, has been sewing her own clothes since 2013, and had become frustrated with the lack of realistic online body sketching templates. The Portland resident found out she wasn't the only one — it's a challenge for hobbyists, costume designers and fashion designers. So she decided to do something about it. January 2017: Decides to create a custom body design app. February 2017: Awarded $5,000 R&D Tech Start grant from the Maine Technology Institute; grant requires match of $5,000. Spring 2017: Works with software designer Big Room Studios and art studio the-ink-spot, both of Portland, to design a prototype. April 2017: Applies for a $25,000 seed grant from MTI, which would have to be matched with $25,000 from another source. April-August 2017: Researches best practices for a Kickstarter campaign, builds an email list, lines up testers and online community support. Creates promotional video. June 2017: Awarded $25,000 MTI seed grant. August 2017: Kickstarter campaign raises $26,867 in three days from 725 contributors; goal was $20,000. October 2017: Reduces hours at day job to 30 a week. October 2017-Fall 2018: Using 18 testers — sewing and knitting bloggers and vloggers — a prototype is developed and readied for launch. February 2018: Takes part in Portland 2018 Top Gun startup training program, sponsored by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs. Fall 2018: Plans launch of mybody- model.com for hobbyists, customer designers, professional designers and more. People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with People fall in love with an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think an idea, and they think everyone's going to want it. But you have to find a market that's not being met and fill it. — Nancy Strojny SCORE Let's discuss your business needs. Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac, Owners ©2018 People's United Bank, N.A. | Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender "Cousins Maine Lobster has had the pleasure of working with People's United Bank for three years. They make us feel like we are family, which is a critical component of our business. Having grown up in Maine and understanding the Maine way of life, we are honored to get that same treatment from People's United." 207-828-3155 350 Fore Street, Portland 201 Main Street, Bangor Local banking. Local perspective.

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