Sarah Lindholm’s Business Plan
Cooper Martin is a company that was born out of need.
While recovering from total knee and total hip replacement surgery, the father of Sarah Lindholm’s boyfriend struggled with finding comfortable clothing. He was used to dressing professionally (not in sweatpants), and yet when he left the house in the months following his surgery, he was at a loss for anything acceptable to wear. A new idea planted in Sarah. The father’s recovery is long since complete, but Cooper Martin founder Lindholm remains inspired by the people she meets who struggle on a daily basis to dress themselves and feel good about themselves.
Sarah Lindholm is a former attorney with no formal training in any of the things that she now does on a daily basis to run her business. She had no background in design, manufacturing, retailing, medical and health care, or rehabilitation. But her intense love of fashion and her strong desire and determination to make an impact on people’s lives has made all the difference. According to Lindholm, “Education, training and expertise – or lack thereof – should not deter you from pursuing a dream or a different lifestyle.”
Advice from Sarah Lindholm to other women entrepreneurs:
Write a business plan – and a good, well-developed one at that!
“Mine was the product of almost one year of research (and teaching myself accounting for the financials),” Lindholm said. “Although many, if not most, of the projections are hypothetical, it forces you to think through a very, very detailed process. There are at least thousands of things that come up that you did not and could not plan for, but walking through and writing down a detailed plan to attack the big steps better prepares you to deal with the unexpected problems.”