Matthew Grisafe is no stranger to starting a and running a successful business. On September 11, 2001 (yes, that September 11), he launched his first company—an audiovisual programming company that services high-end residences and business wanting customized AV systems. Despite a shaky start, Grisafe has grown his business into one of the top AV programming companies in the country. He travels all over the United States, and even to other parts of the world, to provide top-notch programming services.
So why would a successful (and busy) entrepreneur like Grisafe decide to start another company in an entirely different industry? The answer is probably familiar to many entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs—he wanted to solve a problem.
Grisafe is a cat lover. He and his wife Kristie have owned multiple cats in their more than 30 years of marriage, and they care for them like family. One thing the Grisafes have always struggled with is dividing their cats’ pate cat food into even portions so their cats maintain a healthy weight. They would come to the end of a can of moist cat food and have either too much or too little for an appropriately sized portion.
They figured there had to be a solution, so they searched online and looked in pet stores, but couldn’t find what they were looking for—a pate cat food cutter that would divide the can of food into evenly portioned servings. If they were looking for something like this, the Grisafes surmised that they were not the only ones. After talking to family and friends, they decided to take the plunge and have a product designed and produced that they could sell online to other cat owners. Their new company, Purrfect Serving, was born.
Being experienced business owners, they knew how to start a business, but the manufacturing side of things was all new to them. They had never produced a physical product before. It took months of product design before they got had a prototype they were happy with and confident enough about to offer it to the public.
The next step was producing a website. Again, the Grisafes had had a company website built before, but not an e-commerce site capable of taking online orders. They worked with the experienced web design team at Modmacro to produce a small website that they could later expand, should they decide to produce more cat related products down the road.
Purrfect Serving officially opened for business last month. They are taking orders on their first product offering—the four-serving pate cat food cutter.
The Grisafes’ advice for starting a new business:
short url:Don’t try to do it alone. Talk to people who can offer sound advice, and work with those who are experts in areas where you might not have detailed knowledge. And at the end of the day, if you have an idea you believe in, you just need to go for it and not let anyone deter you!”
