Economic Gardening and the CEO
Economic Gardening Marketing Principles
Economic Gardening helps stage 2 companies increase sales using sophisticated corporate-level marketing tools and cutting edge sales models following our "2% open sales window" research and analytical frameworks. The name comes from the idea that in addition to economic developers going out and recruiting new companies (economic hunting), the community can also invest at home and grow its local companies (Economic Gardening).
The program focuses on two areas:
- Business research into target markets, targeted companies, competitors, industry trends, strategic company issues and similar custom research.
- Frameworks for thinking about root problems preventing growth (core strategy, market dynamics, innovation, temperament, qualified sales leads).
If you wish to see what the reporting on a businsess in EG looks like, enjoy this 18 minute video on our website.
We use high end, corporate level tools and high quality sources (over 100 data services, industry associations, federal government, universities, premier media and national experts) to help make strategic decisions.
Recognize the commitment to be involved from the very first and all the way through the engagement – usually 8-12 total hours.
FAQ for Entreprenurship-led Companies
What is Economic Gardening — in a sentence?
A program that gives growing, second-stage companies access to fresh, high-level market research, competitive intelligence, and digital strategy support.
Experience and the data show you can make better decisions and grow faster with accurate and timely market information provided by professional specialists to support your decisionmaking.
Why is my company a good fit?
Economic Gardening is designed for companies with strong annual sales ($1–50 million) and a team (10–99 employees) with a proven product, market, and an experienced management team.
Basically, companies can outgrow the basic startup support around them, but may not yet have access to the corporate-level tools and research capabilities used by larger competitors.
What does it take to qualify?
Engagement candidates are selected locally, but you'll typically need:
- A market beyond strictly local retail or Main Street customers.
- At least $1 million in annual revenue ($650,000 in rural areas).
- At least 10 employees (6 in rural areas).
- Solid financial footing.
What will my company receive from the program?
You’ll have access to a National Team with a team leader that can provide:
- Market and industry trend analysis; competitor/new product intelligence.
- Geospacial Information Systems (GIS) maps to show where customers, prospects, and competitors are concentrated.
- A review of your digial efforts - website, search engine optimization, Artificial Intelligence use powered web marketing, and social media - and actionable suggestions for ways to improve.
- High-probability sales lead lists and profiles of potential customers.
- Insight into root issues around your core strategy, market dynamics, innovation, leadership temperament, and lead generation.
What will the program do for my company?
Economic Gardening is focused on sophisticated corporate-level research and strategy validation support. It's objective is to increase sales for the business.
How does the engagement work, step-by-step?
Engagements consists of 40 billable hours and typically last 4-6 weeks, from the first interview to the final survey.
Most CEOs invest about 8–12 hours of their own time.
Steps of the Engagement Are:
- Discovery Call (1.5 hours): The team lead interviews you about your company’s history, customers, competitors, market, and growth challenges.
- Research and Delivery: After you approve the focus areas, specialists begin research and post results into secure engagement software.
- Check-in calls: About 10 days into the engagement the team lead will call to walk through inital findings refine questions, and decide where to adjust the research.
- Close Out Call (around weeks 5-6): The team lead walks through the original issues, the questions asked, the answers and reports, and collects your feedback and survey responses on each research item.
What does it cost my company?
Your local Economic Development Agency will underwrite the cost of an enagement. It is in the communities best interests to have the company grow, add jobs, and create wealth.