BIDDEFORD, Maine — Business has taken off in recent weeks for a pair of Maine entrepreneurs after their lobster company enjoyed a whirlwind of attention through a pair of recent network television appearances.
Cousins and Maine natives Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis first got an exposure boost during an October episode of the ABC show “Shark Tank,” in which they pitched a plan to expand their burgeoning lobster-themed California food truck business to a panel of potential investors — including celebrities such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Lomac, originally from Scarborough, and Tselikis, of Cape Elizabeth, convinced panelist and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran to invest $55,000 in their venture, and the appropriately named Cousins Maine Lobster hit the big time.
In addition to their popular Los Angeles food truck, Cousins Maine Lobster added a Pasadena-area restaurant and — perhaps most significantly — an online salespoint for gourmet themed dishes, such as lobster pot pies and lobster macaroni and cheese.
“We were really, I would say at the moment, we were a little overwhelmed,” recalled Lomac, who returned to Maine this week. “It was a great decision for us, but there were really a lot of emotions. There was a big build up. We thought about it a million times and we finally got to do it. We loved how it turned out. We’re working with Barbara Corcoran and she’s absolutely amazing.”
But the fledgling company’s proverbial 15 minutes of fame didn’t end with the airing of “Shark Tank.” On Nov. 1, the cousins appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and built even more momentum. Lomac said the morning show appearance made clear to potential customers that they didn’t have to travel to southern California to try a Cousins dish — that the company was promoting a robust online business as well.
“We did about 2,500 sales in one night that Thursday,” Lomac said. “We were just slammed. Previously, people just saw us on [‘Shark Tank’] and said, ‘That’s great, but they’re just a food truck in LA.’”
Although Tselikis and Lomac are now headquartered in the Los Angeles area, they rely on their Maine ties to get their hands on the state’s signature seafood quickly and efficiently. They employ as many as 50 people at a 7,000-square-foot processing facility in Biddeford, where online sales orders are fulfilled.
Lomac said Gov. Paul LePage plans to recognize the company for creating Maine jobs and for promoting the Maine lobster brand across the country.
“We want to be the people where, if you think of Maine lobster, you think of Cousins,” Lomac said. “We want to get more trucks on the road, we want to open up some more restaurants. But the next big focus is building the online presence and making the best possible products. Really, the sky’s the limit. Every day, more and more opportunities present themselves. You never know what’s going to happen next.”
I watched this episode of Shark Tank. Found it odd that the duo kept stressing they had connections in Maine, and these lobster suppliers didn’t deal with folks who weren’t from Maine. I work for a lobster supplier, and we don’t have any prejudice against folks who are not from Maine-if we can fill their orders we will take them on as clients.
I watched it too. They seem kinda fulla…. THEY had the MAGIC lobstahs
Where is the link to their website ? Oh yeah I live in Maine and don’t need it but I bet there are out-of-staters that read BDN and would find it useful. I remember it was like a big secret who their suppliers were and they had the only connection to Maine lobsters it was kind of amusing to me at the time. Barbara Corcoran must have come up with the internet idea because I know that was not mentioned on the Shark Tank and I know she is wealthy from internet based businesses and sales. After all this is Maine and there are a lot of lobster men and suppliers. I hope it is true that they have hired Maine people for work but it is more likely they get their lobsters from a company already in business for internet sales and mail orders. Best of luck to them and all entrepreneurs in the future.
Skilled entrepreneurs have, and always have, driven a significant amount of the wealth and economy of this country.
You didn’t build that!
You can stop now, the election is over
Posturing for the next one is already happening.
The upcoming Obama tax increase will put these guys out of business. He already says he refuses to compromise.
people really ought to find out what is going to happen when a tax increase takes place. most people have not a clue how it works for businesses and taxes. and the amount of tax increase is not what is floating in the mind of the sour grapes. take a class on business and taxes and you will find that businesses pay very little taxes if any. and the only reason a business goes out of business is if they mismanage that business. its not on count of taxes.
Newspapers and CNBC are showing thousands of companies that have already begun to layoff workers for both obama care and obama tax increases.
I’m sorry I believe that the companies doing the laying off is still about something else besides Obama care and tax increases. There was a man on CNBC back in October saying he was going to hand out pink slips if Obama got reelected. Yesterday he was back on CNBC and they asked if he had handed out the pink slips yet and he said he changed his mind. He also stated that his company was prospering. And revenue for his company has been the best it had been in 2012 then in the past 12 years. So this laying off for Obama care and tax hikes is just sour grapes and scare tactics to get their employees to not vote for Obama. You know what, there is nothing that anyone can say to change the minds of people that think less of President Obama, so i guess we ought to stop trying. He won another 4 years and we will see if it works out for America. If it does then WE all will benefit from this election decision. And if it doesn’t then the Republicans can try to get back in to office and have a try at it again. Instead of working so hard to see that the opposition fails, they need to work hard at seeing the opposition is successful. You got to know that if the Democrats are successful then so aren’t the Republicans and vice versa. When ever success is achieved at any level we are all the beneficiaries.
Companies are laying off thousand all the time. i GUESS you never had any idea how expensive insurance was before obama care.