American Express OPEN Forum

Follow:

Highlights:

Employee Management
Money
Social Media
See More
- Topics
  - The World
  - Technology
  - Money
  - Marketing
  - Managing
  - Lifestyle
  - Innovation
- Features
Search

Search OPEN Forum

Search OPEN Forum

Cardmember Profile: Parties that Cook

OPEN Forum

1 Comment

Tumblr
Email

February 1, 2010

OPEN Forum Message

Business Forecasting 2012

Our special feature on forecasting sheds light on how to choose the right model, offers advice from Jack Stack and more.

Get started

Featured Response

“I'd like to hear more about your business. I ...”

ANNETTE AARON

View all comments

Elizabeth Gignilliat is the Founder & CEO of Parties that Cook.

First job…
I dabbled in entrepreneurship from a very young age. At age 10, I made $300 in one summer by collecting and reselling golf balls that people had lost in the woods of a nearby golf course.

I started my own business because…
I wanted to call all the shots and have flexibility with my schedule. Mostly, I wanted to create a career around my passion for food and entertaining.

When not at work…
When I’m not in front of the stove, you might find me bicycling in Bali, sweating at yoga class, eating out at the newest restaurant or performing on stage in an improv class.

My role model…
My mentor in business is Tom Hale, the owner of Backroads. He taught me to provide “fanatical” customer service: Respond quickly to clients and strive to give them more than they expect. If you don’t take care of your customers, someone else will.

What defines leadership in business…
As a business owner, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions that are unpopular. A good leader is able to take the emotion out of decisions and ask: “What is the right business decision?”

Best business advice I’ve received…
Most businesses fail because the owner remains a technician well after the business is up and running. Ideally, at that point, the owner should be working on the business vs. in the business (as outlined in the book The E-Myth by Michael Gerber).

What I’m most proud of…
I had been in a challenging partnership and dissolved that business to re-launch as the sole owner of my current business. It was very difficult to start over again, but it was also an opportunity to reinvent the business. In my first year, revenue grew 75% over my previous business and 187% in my second year.

My advice to other business owners…
Choose business partners carefully, or better yet, go it alone and hire contractors and employees. Partnerships are like marriages – they take work, even more so if you are don’t see eye to eye on the direction and success of the company.

How OPEN helps my business…
We use our Card to rent venues for our clients’ events, and we often don’t get paid by our clients until 30 days after events. Charging helps us maintain cash flow. We also redeem points to reward our team with gifts or meals, or to buy cooking equipment or airline tickets for when we visit our Chicago or Seattle offices. Plus, I love using OPEN Forum to learn about other businesses.

Featured: Crash Courses a VERI Experience

Cutting Business Costs

Have a New Year's Resolution to cut costs?
Get a head start with our latest crash course, Cutting Business Costs.

Launch Course

StumbleUpon
InShare
Tumblr
Email
Share
- Facebook
- Twitter
- StumbleUpon
- InShare
- Tumblr
- Digg
- Reddit
- Email
Print

Related keywords

OPEN Forum, Article, connectodex, parties that cook

What do you think?

Join the conversation ( 1 )

ANNETTE AARON 2 years 0 months and 8 days ago

I'd like to hear more about your business. I own a boutique catering company in NYC. "Creating a Personality with Food" is what I enjoy doing.

Lets connect on Open Forum Annette Aaron