LOL GM all...sorry for the delay in providing some follow up on my visit but I was out & about last night weeeeeeeee.
Anyways I see that Soapy had a few photo's from my visit posted so I'll begin this follow up report by first confirming that Eric logged onto the transfer agent website of Island Stock Transfer right in front of me at 4:15PM & I was able to confirm that the current O/S as of fridays close was exactly the same number as currently reported in question #6 on WNBD's FAQ section of their website:
WNBD's office is located along the Lakeshore in Barrie Ontario. It's on the 2nd floor of a 2 storey business complex at 11 Victoria Street and Eric's office is in the south/east corner, meaning he has a nice view of Lake Simcoe which is directly east of their offices with only Lakeshore Drive & the beachfront between WNBD's office & the lake(no other buildings obstucting the view). I point this out because Lakeshore Drive here in Barrie is prime commercial/retail property & I specifically asked Eric how long they'd been at their present location and he told me they'd been there approximately 6 years now.
Anyways, I arrived at Winning Brands at 2pm and Eric showed me around their offices and introduced me to everyone that was still there; himself(Eric Lehner Chairman/CEO), Lorne Kelly Senior VP, Patricia Miles National Sales Manager, Shabir Lalany Production Manager, Mike Kostrich CFO, Maggie and Tammy from the office staff.
Eric then brought me into the boardroom where he proceeded to assemble Lorne, Patricia, Mike, Shabir & himself for a sit down meeting with me. Eric began the meeting by explaining how they're very careful to not divulge any non-public material to any visitors and had me give one of the office ladies my license so they could photocopy it & also had me sign an Agreement of Purpose and Confidentiality.
Eric then advised me that now that he had assembled everyone and explained how careful they'd be about how much they'd be allowed to discuss...that I was welcome to begin asking questions of everyone around the table. So I began with Patricia and Lorne by asking them about their relationship building processes with all the mainstream retailers in Canada, the United States & the rest of the planet.
Both Lorne & Patricia took some time to explain their backgrounds and both of them provided me with very detailed insights on how each retailer has their own way of doing biz and how a retailer like Home Depot for example will differ in the way a product gains entry into the USA compared to how a product gains entry into Canada...so although it's definitely a MAJOR bonus to have already gained a successful entry into a mainstream retailer in Canada like Home Depot...that doesn't necessarily mean a product automatically gains entry into Home Depot USA, it just helps a lot because Home Depot USA obviously can rely on the numbers & feedback already provided by Home Depot Canada when contemplating the prospects of giving Winning Brands shelf space in Home Depot USA k.
I won't bother going over ALL the details of this extensive convo on the subject of mass mainstream retailer penetration but suffice to say Eric, Patricia, Lorne and Shabir all provided a ton of detailed feedback on all my questions. In fact at one point Eric had one of the office ladies bring in a large binder chock full of their orders on a week by week basis! Eric & Lorne then added the orders from just this past week and the total was approx. $65K so when one does the math on just this past weeks orders...it would add up to $3.38M in one year IF this was the weekly average!!!
BUT Eric was very careful to explain that due to their ongoing growth endeavors it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to give confirmed projections on their projected sales figures for 2009 since every week their order book will differ...& with each passing month their ongoing negotiations with new retailers in the USA & abroad in places like China, India & especially Australia(which I got the distinct impression was gonna be a HUGE revenue driver I might add) are that much closer to coming online!!!
In fact Eric explained how several global entities continue to attempt to entice WNBD with lucrative private labeling offers for Winning Colours to which Eric & his entire executive team will simply NOT do as they're all driven to make Winning Colours the world's top selling stain remover & to do so means brand building without ever succumbing to even one lucrative private label deal...because quite frankly even one private label deal would open WNBD up to a client stealing WMBD's formula's for example...or transferring the power to the client because once partnered the client could then turn around & pressure WNBD to lower their profit terms as the contract terms played out! So kudo's to WNBD for understanding the importance of maintaining their Winning Colours branding power & not jumping at the many private label offers already received from around the globe 'cause IMO this is going to be key to their ultimate goal of becoming the world's top selling stain removing product!!!
As far as the 2008 numbers go everyone assembled at the table agreed that the entire year of 2008 was about establishing long term relationships with all the retailers now in their stable...& therefore the focus from 2008 was about securing multiple long term relationships/contract commitments with all the retailers they've already secured & therefore the sales figures from last year would be nowhere near as high as the sales figures from this year. So when I asked Eric if they'd be PR'ing 2009 sales projection numbers he reminded me that WNBD's policy is to not PR numbers they can't possibly project due to the fact that each week/each month that's unfolding...the sales/order numbers are in constant motion as more & more retailers begin carrying WNBD's products. So for the time being he's just not comfortable giving projections that at this point they just have know way of knowing what will ultimately be...but that he would still PR ALL relevant events of a material nature like the pending Lowe's roll out & the Australian retailer as yet to be officially named!!!
So going back to what I mentioned previously about the order book status from this past week...I did confirm that orders continue to flow in & Eric will definitely PR all relevant events of a material nature & will definitely begin to ramp up their transparency factors as they go cashflow positive in the next little while here.
In fact Eric & Mike both explained to me that Mike has been on board from the start keeping WNBD's books in order...& when it's feasible cash wise to take on the inherent expenses associated with providing fully audited financials WNBD is already fully prepared & that for sure this is definitely going to occur as WNBD goes cash flow positive in the coming months & that they don't have much remaining debt on the books as it is. So if I were to make a guess I'd say it's not beyond the realm of possibility that given another few months of expansion of their global footprint WNBD will in fact begin the process of taking on the associated expenses of providing fully audited fins...but for now the majority of their resources are being put into continued brand building & market penetration endeavors!!!
As far as the near term expectations go...I can safely say that IMO we'll definitely be getting the Lowe's roll out PR & the Australian retailer PR on the near term horizon...& everyone I met friday on WNBD's executive roster struck me as highly motivated & extremely organized individuals working as one grounded & highly motivated well rounded TEAM to meet their ambitious growth goals...& as far as penny stock start ups go this company is totally the real deal & driven to deliver tangible results from all the hard work that goes into mass market penetration on a global scale!!!
I also confirmed that this latest round of 504 funding has given WNBD all the cash they required to meet their near term objectives & that they already have scaleable inventory financing terms to meet their current increased expansion initiatives. So for anyone doubting this co.'s abilities to attract new more favorable non-dilutive financing terms now that they're global expansion endeavors are about to be propelled to the next levels...I wouldn't want to be under-estimating WNBD at this precise juncture. Because personally after spending 2 & a half hours with this executive roster I have all the confidence in the world that this company will in fact begin attracting new breeds of investors the moment the Lowe's & Aussie retailer roll out PR's hit the wires & fully expect WNBD is a story stock in the making not seen often in ones entire penny playing careers...Eric Lehner & his executive team simply aren't willing to risk all they're in the process of accomplishing by pumping out mind blowing projections PR's which they COULD EASILY DO...they're simply more focused on building real & verifiable growth which they will always be able to fully support...because they will continue to forge ahead in a sound/methodical/well thought out fashion without playing any penny PR-pump machine games...best of success to all:)
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
