4 Small-Business Lessons Learned in Reality TV Limelight

By Caroline McMillan

The rise of reality TV has created a new breed of celebrities known for their inane routines (think "Jersey Shore's" gym-tan-laundry combo) and absurd predicaments ("Big Brother," anyone?).

But some shows also have affected hundreds of small businesses. And as their success stories demonstrate, even the briefest of stints on the national stage can have considerable impact and teach lessons to seasoned and newbie entrepreneurs alike.

The Charlotte Observer spoke with small-business owners who have been featured on reality TV shows in the past couple of years to hear what they've learned from their Hollywood experiences.

Here are their insights, each valuable whether you have a national bandwagon or an intimate, loyal following:

1. Every business needs a cohesive vision. 

Before appearing on the Food Network's "Restaurant Impossible," Dana and David Cohen's Sweet Tea's Restaurant in Pineville was months from closing its doors for good.

The restaurant, once a catering service only, had moved to a shopping center. But no matter how much advertising the owners did, they struggled with foot traffic. Applying for the show "was kind of a last-ditch effort to get some big advertising," Dana Cohen said.

After an in-person interview, they were picked from the hundreds of applicants. Filming started in early December 2012, and their episode aired in March 2013.

Here's how the show works: Celebrity chef Robert Irvine spends two weeks revamping a struggling restaurant by changing the menu, retraining the staff and using $10,000 to renovate the interior.

Sweet Tea's, Irvine said, didn't have a cohesive vision for the restaurant. The decor was more eclectic than cozy. And the self-proclaimed "Southern comfort food" spot had incongruent entrees such as chicken marsala and subs.

Irvine and his team retrained the staff and taught the chefs to cook everything with a Southern flair, adding menu items such as fried green tomatoes, black-eyed peas and hushpuppies.

Sales are up 300 percent, and there regularly is a waiting list for tables. Plus, they're doing catering for Hollywood film crews in the area, Cohen said.

Before "Restaurant Impossible," Sweet Tea's struggled with identity, Cohen said. Now, she said, "consistency is so important to us."

2. Creativity begets value - and validation. 

As Google and Facebook have demonstrated by spending millions on perks to generate spontaneous inspiration among employees, creativity is critical to success in the increasingly crowded 21st-century global economy. But that's important whether your business is a Silicon Valley tech giant or a family-run business in small-town USA.

Sisters-in-law Madeline Baucom and Enza Friedman, who opened Maddy's Fatty's Bakery in Cornelius, will attest to that.

The duo, who started their business out of Baucom's kitchen with no formal culinary training three years ago, applied to be on "Cupcake Wars" before they'd even opened their brick-and-mortar spot on U.S. 21.

Their "Mission: Impossible"-themed video, complete with one-piece leather cat suits and Tom Cruise-esque moves, caught the attention of the producers. And just five weeks after they opened their new facility (a tough one to explain to new customers, thanks to the confidentiality agreement) they were flown to Los Angeles for filming.

Unbeknownst to the contestants, their episode had a soap-opera theme. That posed a problem for Baucom and Friedman: Neither had ever seen a show.

The pair lost in the finals, but not before getting rave reviews from the judges for their creative confections, including "Cheddar Habanero Crisp" (the habanero pepper was an ingredient with a "twist," just like every soap opera has).

The judges "raved," Baucom said. "We thought we were good, but when we saw they thought we were good, it showed we're doing it right. We should trust our instincts."

3. A strong social media presence pays off. 

Social media helped Heather McDonnell get her Fort Mill, S.C., bakery, Cupcrazed, on "Cupcake Wars" just three months after it opened, and it's been key to her strategy since.

A former school teacher-turned stay-at-home mom, she'd already built a Twitter following based on her blog, Stepford Life, a satirical take on her neighborhood, and had plans to open a bakery.

So when McDonnell was at home, watching the first season of the show - a competition that starts with four contestants who are eliminated, one by one, in three rounds, all competing for a $10,000 prize - she tweeted at @FNCupCakeWars to ask about casting. They told her to email them.

Within 10 minutes, a producer called to say they wanted to wait until her store was open but that she'd made "the short list," McDonnell said. And three seasons later, just months after McDonnell opened her shop and submitted a formal audition video, she made the cut.

After causing an on-air fire - customers still bring her fire extinguishers - and baking much-lauded sweet tea cupcakes with lemon sweet tea frosting, McDonnell and Cupcrazed won. She recently was recognized as Martha Stewart's "Entrepreneur of the Week."

Now, the bakery has more than 13,000 followers on Facebook - 9,000 more than before the show - and every day McDonnell uploads photos of their coolest offerings, including the occasional TV-show-themed one.

And if foot traffic is slow one day, a few new pictures posted to Facebook and Instagram can spike sales, she said - sometimes within the hour.

"You better be good at social media if you're going to do something in retail," McDonnell said.

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