As a third-generation entrepreneur, Danette Kohrs has experienced small business ownership from every
angle. For more than four decades, her grandparents, and then parents, owned full-service bakeries in
South St. Louis City, Warson Woods, and Southwest County. At the age of nine, Danette began working in
the family business and saw, first-hand, not only the successes – but also the struggles – of small business
ownership.
After graduating with a business degree in marketing and advertising, Danette elected not to work in
corporate America, but instead kept true to her roots and went to work supporting the marketing and
business development departments of small, privately owned companies. In 1999, Danette gave in to her
entrepreneurial roots, left her 9-5 job, and launched what is now Trinity Strategic Growth Solutions.
Over the past two decades, Danette has worked with hundreds of companies developing business growth
strategies that drive profits, owner wealth, and personal freedom. Simultaneously, she has invested in
several other start-up companies, including two franchised businesses where she gained invaluable
knowledge on how the franchised business model works, and why its success rate is 4x higher than the
independently-owned business.
She had one unanswered business question, however. Why do some companies sell for millions while
others are forced to close their doors, with nothing to show for years, often decades, of hard work?
Approached by a local merger and acquisition firm to support their sell-side work, Danette agreed to work
with privately-owed, middle market companies, helping them find buyers who would pay top dollar. After
almost a decade of hands-on, sell-side work (including the sale of one of her own franchised businesses),
Danette had the answers she was looking for.
Danette knew that if she could consolidate all of this expertise, and build it into a simple system that
walked small business owners (who are experts at what they do – but not in business growth) through a
step-by-step process of how to build – and run – their companies so they generate more profit with fewer
headaches, and ultimately sell for top dollar, it would be a powerful business growth tool. It took almost
five years to develop and put it into the cloud, but it’s now available. It’s called “Build it 2 Grow.”