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Kathleen Wildwood
Wildwood Herbs, LLC
Madison, Wisconsin
Wildwood Herbs, LLC offers herb and health classes, apprenticeships, consultations, and herbal products. Wildwood Herbs, LLC is education-based with a strong ethical component with regard to the environment and the earth's resources.
Their motto says it all:
Bringing the plants to the people and the people to the Earth.
Owner Kathleen Wildwood took WWBIC's 14-week Start Smart business planning course in fall 2003 with the intent of growing her nascent company. Kathleen knew what she wanted to do with her life, and with the help of the WWBIC training, she was able to move from a challenging financial situation to having a business that works in the real world.
Then, while completing her taxes for 2004, she was shocked to discover that she more than doubled her gross income from 2003! Says Kathleen, "I attribute this to hard work in applying the principles from your wonderful Start Smart class."
Analysis of her business revenues revealed that service revenues decreased during the winter months though product sales remained steady. And, though demand for her organically grown and sustainably-harvested teas and tinctures increased in the winter, Kathleen was unable to meet demand due to capital constraints which limited her inventory purchases. In late 2005, Kathleen updated the business plan she wrote in Start Smart and approached a WWBIC loan officer to discuss a loan to purchase inventory and build distribution chains for her products. In December, the WWBIC loan committee approved Kathleen's request.
Kathleen is now in the process of developing a website capable of taking secure internet orders for the sale of her product, and will be featured on the Wisconsin Common Market, a website dedicated to promoting Wisconsin producers and artists. The Wisconsin Common Market is an online mall hosted by our partner Women's Business Center in Wisconsin, Western Dairyland.
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