Hitting Bottom

How Mo Siegel improvised the teabag-manufacturing process to save money.

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FROM THE TRENCHES

No, yours isn't the only company to struggle. Take it from Mo Siegel, founder of herbal-tea maker Celestial Seasonings, headquartered in Boulder, Colo. He remembers when his company was still hand-packing its tea in fabric bags.

"We were so broke, we couldn't even afford to have ties to close the bags. So we went to Ma Bell and asked if we could have its telephone scrap wire. If you have ever opened a cable of telephone wire, you see copper wire covered with multicolored plastic. So we would slice the cable like that and slit it open, and there would be these cute little red and pink and blue wires. We would use those to close the tops of the bags."

-- Mo Siegel, founder and chief executive officer of Celestial Seasonings, which reported 1993 sales of $59 million. Quotation reprinted from Inc.'s How to Really Start Your Own Business, by David E. Gumpert