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Home About Us B2B Club Breaking News Contact Donate Events / Programs Feedback Ideas Incubator Industry Clusters Links / Resources Progess Funds Progress Teams Public Art / Murals Publications		Breaking News July 9, 2007 - Boot Camp inspires business By: Scott Dieringer and Bill Burdick, for the Daily Tribune Our names are Scott Dieringer and Bill Burdick, and we would like to introduce you to our company, B-D Specialty Smoked Products, makers of Backtrack wild game attractants. Scott currently is employed at Pepsi America's and Bill is employed at A&B Process Systems. When we attended The Entrepreneurial Boot Camp, we had thoughts of putting together a wild game processing business. After attending the boot camp, we quickly realized that game processing is a very seasonal business that only could generate revenue about half of the year. In one of four experiments, we developed a way to hardwood smoke vegetable oil. This product was to be used in a deep fryer. We tried our smoked oil in a deep fryer in my garage. As it gave food a smoky flavor, we considered it a success. It also produced an odor that stunk up my garage for a month and my house for a week. Realizing that this would be hard to sell, we scraped this particular idea. A few weeks later, we thought of a couple of bear hunters we knew and came up with our final idea. They used our smoked oil in their bait sites and filled three out of three bear tags. They have video footage of the bears concentrating on our Backtrack scent, which we use for advertising. Now, three years later, we have 15 different oil-based scents used for hunting bear and deer hunting and also for trapping. We have several guides using our products, and every year we collect more testimonials with pictures and videos. We currently have our products at Timberline Archery, Archers Pro Shop, A&B Liquidators, Bullseye Sports, General Farm Supply, All Season Sports, Winch Oil and Backwater Sports. All of our products can be viewed at www.backtrackscent.com. Although sales were slow for the first couple of years, every year sees us growing. We heard about the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp through the Daily Tribune, and it has helped us focus on what it takes to grow a successful business. Financially, all of our startup costs are being paid for by us. With more accounts and testimonials, I am sure that Backtrack Scent will be as common to hunters as Gander Mountain. We definitely would recommend attending the Entrepreneurial Boot Camp if you are considering starting a business of your own. The next Entrepreneurial Boot Camp will be held Aug. 1 to 3 and 6. To register for the Boot Camp, call Melissa Loken at 422-4856. Scott Dieringer and Bill Burdick own B-D Specialty Smoked Products.
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