Business Incubation and Development
DCi
Donoho Companies Inc® (DCi) is a business incubator; developing and building powerful consumer products, businesses and services under our own brands.
Jess Donoho Companies® create strategies, business plans and infrastructure for exceptional consumer product manufacturers.
8
Current DCi Companies Under Management
19
DCi Brands and Companies Built and Successfully Sold
20
Outside Manufacturers Represented to Specialty, Luxury, Military and Industrial Markets
50+
Business, Strategic or Management plans developed for outside companies.
7
Non-Profit Board Chairman or Executive Director Posts
4
Author of four fiction and one non-fiction books in print.
BUSINESS ADVISORY
KERN RIVER DENTAL
A 20 Year dental practice in Los Angeles was struggling. When started, there were thirty-five dentists serving the local area. Twenty year later, celebrities flooded the local area, and the competitive landscape blossomed to over 144 offices. Too many dentists and too few patients
Working with the owner/ dentist, we discussed their forecast, objectives, and retirement horizon. Rather than butt heads with 144 offices, we moved her office back to her hometown of 15,000 residents in central California. The only competition was two offices, both with dentists in their 80’s.
First year profits matched her best year ever. Over the four years of her practice, her revenues and profits have tripled, her quality of life has increased and she is on track for retirement.
So I married her….
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP
LASER MARKING SPECIALISTS
A brilliant engineer with deep experience in aviation markets created a laser marking company at the advent of the market. Armed with contracts with the US Navy, Haas, Lycoming, Boeing and others, they had a base business, but they lacked the infrastructure fr growth and sustainability.
Dci became a partner in LMS, providing capital and infrastructure. We allocated resources to enable the company production to be consistent rather than “feast or famine”. We expanded our client reach beyond industrial and aircraft, building a client base across all segments of the market.
Dci found a suitable partner with complimentary infrastructure and we exited LMS, leaving a healthy and robust business for the original founder.
BRAND DEVELOPMENT/ PARTNERSHIP
GRINDSTONE EQUIPMENT
A chance meeting with Chuck Connelly, North Americas only Master Glover, and founder of Ironclad and Youngstown Glove companies. Innovator of NASA astronaut gloves, ski gloves, work gloves and more. A master of hand articulation. A friendship that lasted his lifetime and produced a partnership with Dci in his most successful venture, Grindstone Equipment.
DCi had a strong industrial and power utility market and Chuck had an idea to revolutionize power utility away from the oven mitt gloves in current use (designed for the US Cavalry in the 1700’s), and into a performance, oriented hand protection. Our partnership was a fast-moving bullet train of activity.
In our first year, we were awarded contracts with Edison, PG&E, Duke Energy, Salt River Project and many more national power utility companies. In our second year we opened Law Enforcement markets with a revolutionary glove design that is in use by every law enforcement and military agency in America.
Dci sold our shares in the company back to Chuck and today, Youngstown Gloves exclusively distributes Chucks designs.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
In the early 2000’s the recreation market was developing revolutionary product, fabrics and technologies, but the industry was anti-law enforcement and military. During this period, the Army was still using pack technology from the 1960’s. Special Forces were trying to buy technical outdoor brands, but they could not get access.
In partnership with Anthony Jackson, former SOF operator and technology expert, DCi hosted a round table at the Kelty Pack Factory in Boulder Colorado. Present were the top decision makers from the Navy Seals and DevGroup. We invited manufacturers from Cascade Designs, MSR, Princeton Tech, Seal Line, Adventure Medical, SOG Knives and others. Over five days we previewed a new type of operators pack. Each night, our sample team modified the pack to need, and each morning we loaded those packs and attacked a local Colorado mountain. Returning, we discussed new modifications and each day brought us closer to a final pack, which became the dominant 3 day assault pack for all military. Our design has been copied by every pack manufacturer in the industry.
During the day we presented and modified product from each of our representative manufacturers. At the end of our five day event we had revolutionized the connection between the technical outdoor community and our nations warfighters.
With two years, the US Military was the largest single customer for EVERY manufacturer present. We ushered in a movement of technical outdoor leaning in to military rather than away from it.