Corporate Story Competition

The Corporate Story Ltd. exhibited at the Winning Business 2006 sales & marketing exhibition at Sandown Park on 13 June 2006. Visitors to our stand were invited to write a three-sentence story explaining how their company came to be founded.

 

First place
The winning entry was submitted by Lucy Martin of Gina’s Nannies:

‘Having been seriously ill during my third pregnancy, I realised that life was too short to put off my dreams and ambitions. I knew I wanted to run my own business, and having been on the receiving end of mediocre service from agencies for many years, I saw a clear gap in the market. Four years later, business has doubled year on year, I have set up a networking group and written a book for women who want to set up in business, and life is great.’

This story had many facets: understanding of the market, perception of unmet customer needs, experience of overcoming adversity, entrepreneurial initiative, and the ability to deliver revenue and business growth in a developing market. Lucy’s initiative also offers benefits to a wider cross-section of society than that constituted by her immediate target group.

From a PR and marketing point of view, Lucy’s story offers points of entry into the world of Gina’s Nannies for journalists and publishers as well as for potential customers and referrers: any phrase in this account could be used on its own as the inspiration for an interview, opinion column, or talk.

Our congratulations go to Lucy Martin, who won a copy of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.

Lucy’s book Make It Your Business, co-authored with Bella Mehta, will be published by How to Books in September 2006. For more information, please visit:

http://www.howtobooks.co.uk/makeityourbusiness/index.htm

More information on Gina’s Nannies, is available at:

www.ginasnannies.com.

 

Second place
In second place came a story by Nick Metcalf, Managing Director of The Steak on the Stone Company Ltd.

‘I was visiting the Trophée Lancôme Golf Tournament in Versailles, France, when for lunch we visited a renowned restaurant in the local village, where, after due ponderance, I ordered the Fillet Steak - well done, aware of the French penchant for extremely rare streak. My steak arrived still almost kicking, and I sent it back to the kitchen to be seared – which almost immediately drew the chef out of the kitchen exclaiming ‘Who'z is ziz?” and ‘Why kill it twice?”. I am a firm believer that the right way to cook your food is exactly the way you like it, not the way the chef necessarily feels it should be done, and it was this experience that led to the design of our premium product ‘SteakStones’, which allow you, the diner, to enjoy your steak – exactly as you like it!’

This vivid anecdotal story clearly explains the rationale for the foundation of The Steak on the Stone Company Ltd: the inspiration, the market niche and the product benefits are all explained in three sentences. The company markets Hot Stone Cooking Systems which utilise specially selected lava stones, preheated either in the oven or on the hob until they are sizzling hot and then used to cook all manner of steaks, from beef fillet to salmon.

Nick’s website www.steakstones.com will be launched in early September 2006.

Nick has also participated in the filming of the third series of Dragon’s Den, the BBC TV programme in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to secure investment finance from elite business entrepreneurs (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden).

 

Third place
A close third came the most succinct entry in the top three, which was submitted by Amanda Hill of Dreams2Go, a one-stop location that supplies gifts and accoutrements for parties and special occasions.

‘Racist, sexist City drove me mad. Calming courses in balloon artistry kept me sane. Students’ and clients’ appreciation of my talents keeps me busy!’

Whilst not explaining the activities of her company, Amanda’s three-sentence story provides a clear and memorable account of why she is in this line of business and what it means to her – which is always a good way of getting people interested in your company. Further details about Dreams2Go are available at http://www.dreams2go.co.uk.

Our thanks go to our top three entrants plus everyone else who contributed their own corporate story.