Judy Randle

Torrance, CA (USA)
Role(s):
C-Level Executive (CEO, CFO, etc.)

the Cup Above

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Location: Torrance
Industry: Food Service/Restaurant
Year Founded: 2009
Number Employees: 10-50 people
Description: Our startup company, Ceramics To Go has a training and distribution facility in Lake Elsinore, CA, and a manufacturing plant in Stratford, OK. We're looking for all available options to raise $1 Mil in small business funding in order to fuel the growth of our franchise business. At this point, Ceramics To Go's Uniform Franchise Disclosure Document (UFDD) has been approved by the State of California. We have a 150 page operations manual and detailed business plan. We are members of the International Franchise Association (IFA). We are a truly unique "blue ocean" concept with the potential of opening thousands of franchises creating a guaranteed customer base for our products. We believe that what we have will become the hottest new franchise of the next decade. See (URL removed) and visit our website (URL removed) I have included some additional information below relating to the purpose of the funds and the type of funding that I think would be the best fit. Ceramics To Go is primarily interested in receiving capital from: -Equity Funding (Venture Capital, Angel, Private Equity, etc.) We would like to use the funds that are raised for the purposes below: -Operating/Growth Capital (Payroll, Sales & Marketing, etc) Ceramics To Go is an approved franchisor and member of the International Franchise Association (IFA). Until now, most franchise opportunities were limited to fast food, ice cream/yogurt shops, postal services, afterschool sports programs, gyms, tutoring, cleaning services and a “Paint-it-Yourself” ceramic studio concept geared primarily toward children. You will find our limited competition (the other guys) listed for the most part under “Children’s Birthday Parties” and not “Art or Arts-n-Crafts” opportunities. Although Ceramics To Go does appeal to the existing “kid” market, we are much more and targeted toward the adult consumer. It is easy to satisfy a child. After all, mom is going to love just about anything they make. The adult consumer is much more difficult. They expect results and in today’s fast pace world, they do not have the time to spend days mastering the art of painting ceramics. Our “paint between the lines” projects offer them an opportunity to get results on their first attempt and walk away with something they can be proud of. Imagine an art studio environment where you can: 1) enjoy your favorite Starbucks® latte, espresso, drip or other coffee sensation.* 2) choose from a variety of exotic teas. 3) partake in wonderful pastries and other snacks. 4) browse and/or purchase finished art pieces created by local artists. 5) create an original ceramic masterpiece that begins as one of our pre-lined designs or start from a completely blank canvas if you are a little more experienced or talented. 6) try your hand at throwing on a pottery wheel. Classes are offered for novice consumers. 7) hand-build your own clay piece that can later be decorated and kiln fired. 8) Capture the “flow.” 9) meet with friends as a productive social outlet similar to book, scrap booking and gardening clubs. • A sign stating “Starbucks®” will be displayed on each storefront. Ceramics To Go® is about “Capturing the FLOW, One User at a Time.” Flow is “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” “The pursuit of happiness has been contemplated by many thinkers over the ages, from Aristotle to Thomas Jefferson to Viktor Frankl, and the conversation continues today. No matter how much society has evolved in physical comforts or cultural achievements, happiness remains elusive. We talk about it, we write books about it, and yet we barely recognize it.” In these very difficult economic times, life circumstances and life styles are changing. People are discovering that consumption of excessive physical comforts and “keeping up with the Jones” has not necessarily resulted in a state of satisfied happiness. “Happiness”, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, comes in those moments of effortless concentration when minutes, even hours seem to pass without so much as a glance at the clock. He claims that we have all experienced flow in moments when we are totally focused and completely un-self-conscious. Flow elevates us out of ourselves into that longed-for state of happiness. Ceramics To Go® is not about painting ceramics; it is about “flow “. In essence, our enterprise is about taking on every passive addictive industry legal or otherwise which satisfies the consumers search for happiness through “flow.” We see how young children naturally embrace “flow” as they play with their toys and coloring books for hours on end. As adults, responsibilities and stress steer us away from play and we lose touch with those happy actions that bring us into a state of “flow”. It becomes easier to fall into quick fix effects through excessive consumption of products and behaviors until they become harmful. Such over indulgence in passive stimulation such as television watching, gaming, alcohol consumption, eating, binge shopping, etc. leads us further from not closer to satisfaction and happiness. Through Ceramics To Go® our new creative model breaks through the heretofore-social assumptions associated with arts-n-crafts. We go beyond supplying the atmosphere and tools to reconnect to creative flow. We add an unprecedented guarantee of successful outcome that sustains the effect of flow beyond the experience. Because of this “success” model, added levels of socialization and interaction happen to increase rather than interrupt the joy of creating. We are a business that provides a service in which people can be so creatively involved that their worldly cares drop away. We are a business that provides products that people can feel completely successful with at the end of their experience. Ceramic craft painting in the past was a time consuming long investment resulting in satisfaction for a minority. It is our goal to introduce ceramic painting as an affordable inviting venue to the flow process for the masses with an easy yet unique successful end product created in that process. We plan to go where no man (business) has gone before. We plan to do this first and foremost by returning to the basics of human happiness.