Feedback: Experts weigh in on Cubes & Crayons

(Reuters) - Felicity Chapman had a newborn, a design business in its infancy and a problem. They did not get along. After the birth of her first daughter, Chapman decided she would only work part-time, but found it all but impossible to juggle both her clients and childcare. Chapman knew she needed to find some flexible childcare that would allow her to accommodate her clients' needs, without shortchanging her daughter. The following panel of experts critique Chapman's business model and opportunity for growth:

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EXPERT COMMENTS:

MAT WILCOX, CEO & FOUNDER, WILCOX GROUP

In 1995, Mat founded Wilcox Group <www.wilcoxgroup.com/>, one of Canada's largest national corporate communications and crisis management firms. Mat has extensive issues management, crisis communications and labor-relations experience and has managed communications on some very high-profile crises, including the H1N1 swine influenza, Avian Bird Flu epidemic, public health issues, emergency operations planning and crisis management preparedness, product tampering and product recalls. Mat has provided strategy and counsel to prominent business leaders on more than $4 billion worth of merger and acquisition projects, garnering millions of dollars in media coverage and national - and international - headlines. She has also personally advised CEOs of multibillion-dollar organizations.

"This is a great idea, but it's got a limited audience. Being a mom myself and thinking it through, I don't know how much work I'd be able to do with my child in the next room.

"Her biggest success is going to be from women who are already utilizing it and getting them to refer other women. I think she has to ask them for their support. It's going to be a very tight network of women who can use that space, so No. 1 is going to be how you engage those women to engage other women that they know. So word of mouth and referral is going to be huge for her. No. 2, absolutely go back to the media on critical dates when women are thinking about childcare and that would be mainly in August and September when kids are going back to school. A lot of women may only need after-school care - they pick up their kids and maybe do some work while their kids are plying with other kids.

"She needs to figure out when it is women really need that kind of site and figure out her marketing model based on that.

"There are recruiting services to assist employers to find affordable, flexible daycare for their employees. You want your employees to be happy and if childcare is a big issue for them, you need to take care of that. That might be an option for her - to try to get large companies in her market to support her."

BOB GOEDJEN, COUNSELOR, SILICON VALLEY SCORE NETWORK

In his capacity as a counselor and marketing strategist with the Silicon Valley chapter of SCORE <www.svscore.org/>, Bob helps mentor and advise more than 1,500 small businesses each year. In addition to his work for SCORE, Bob has 40 years experience in semiconductor manufacturing, holding positions as the director of sales and marketing, director of quality and reliability and director of offshore manufacturing. Bob also spent four years in business development consulting with emphasis on Northern California small and medium sized manufacturing companies.

"It's not like opening a store or retail establishment. Since this involves children there are critical elements that need to be addressed or even the best marketing will fail.

"Daycares are expanding all over the place, so it's not like the general model isn't there, but if I was an investor, I'd sure like one of these to demonstrate success in this unique business model.

On expansion: "It's all about getting the next office to understand things the way you understand things. You've got to get that story down really clearly before you try to duplicate it.

"Once you start from the need, you can work back to executing and supplying the need much easier. If you start with the solution, you're really in the mode of trying to find the problem."

STEVE BORG, VP & CORPORATE MARKETING DIRECTOR, SAN DIEGO DIVISION OF THE CALIFORNIA BANK & TRUST