Secret Academy Episode - Michael Houlihan & Bonnie HarveyMichael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey are the founders of Barefoot Wine - a company that launched with virtually no capital, from their laundry room in 1985. Barefoot became America’s #1 wine brand and the Barefoot brand is one of the most recognizable wine brands globally. Bonnie and Michael are the co-authors of New York Times best-selling business book, “The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand”. Since the sale of Barefoot Wine to E&J Gallo, they have channeled their efforts into consulting and coaching other people and entrepreneurs on how to launch their products and get them placed in big box retailers. Michael and Bonnie have been featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post and many more! Michael and Bonnie have further adapted their teachings and launched the “Barefoot Startup” movement, which encourages newly launched startups to adopt key bootstrapping tenets and sales-driven principles and tactics.
- How Barefoot Wine got started.
- How to exploit opportunity.
- How Mike and Bonnie were introduced to the idea of entrepreneurship.
- Asking the right questions to the right people can help launch a successful brand.
- Why feedback is critical - even from low-end employees.
- If fear of failure and ignorance have inhibited Barefoot Wine from launching.
- What the big changes were that helped Barefoot Wine become such a successful brand.
- How important positive representation can be.
- If Michael and Bonnie’s tactics used would render the same results today.
- 3 key tips on launching a successful product into the marketplace.
- The biggest mistakes that needs to be fixed to distribute a product successfully.
- Why process management is a major necessity when launching a successful product.
- The correct process to follow when placing a product into distribution by big box stores.
- Understanding the difference between selling online and in store.
