Archive for category: Success Stories

Solutions Insurance of Pinellas County

Starting a business can be an intimidating endeavor for many new business owners. But in 2007 when Laurie Laurenty began Solutions Insurance  in Tierra Verde, the economy was experiencing a downturn, and the experience became more than a little overwhelming.

“I thought I had plenty of money to start the business,” Laurenty said. “I had just paid off one of my condos and then the economy went down. I took out a home equity line until I could support myself and got my business going. When the economy went down, it cut off my home equity line after the first draw of $800.”
She had to find other ways to keep the business going. After exhausting efforts by using credit cards and taking a loan against her Roth IRA, Laurenty turned to the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development for help.

“When all of this was happening and the economy was going down,” Laurenty said, “just going in and talking to Yolanda made me feel like I could keep going. Those first two years, I did not think we were going to make it.”
Yolanda Cowart, a certified business consultant for FSBDC at PCED, said that they instantly developed a relationship. Along with introducing Laurenty to tools for financial development, Cowart assisted in getting the business certified for the Republican National Convention small business network. She also encouraged her to explore other certifications such as Pinellas County’s Small Business Enterprise program.
Not only has Cowart developed a relationship with Laurenty, but also with Solution’s Business Development Manager and Laurenty’s daughter, Renee Tylicki. Tylicki is being groomed to take over the company when Laurenty retires.

Tylicki has also utilized many tools the FSBDC at PCED has to offer. She meets with Cowart at least twice a month to discuss any concerns or needs that she may have. She has also taken several classes through the FSBDC at PCED.

“It has been great to watch her grow into her role and evolve into the company as she is positioning herself to run the business when her mom retires,” Cowart said.

Tylicki is just thankful she has access to the resources available at the FSBDC at PCED.

“It is a great resource for somebody who might not know or someone who needs help with little aspects of their business,” Tylicki said. “Everyone should take advantage of it.”

Tylicki also joined Cowart’s focus group in which she joins other women business owners to talk about their experiences in owning and operating their own businesses. “I have learned a ton,” Tylicki said of the group. “All of it is new to me. Every time I go there, I learn something new.”

Solutions offers all lines of insurance; everything from homeowners and auto to personal, business and general liability. The company is currently entering the world of government contracting.

Laurenty said that though she had a rough start, she is now in a more solid financial position. In 2013, the business earned approximately $275,000 in revenues. She now employs two full time employees and three contracted employees. One of those employees was obtained through the FSBDC at PCED’s relationship with CareerSource.

Her goal is to double the revenue in the next five years before she retires – in nine years.
“I really appreciate everything the SBDC has done for us,” Laurenty said. “The first two years were so hard, I don’t know where we would be if it were not for the SBDC. I don’t know, maybe we wouldn’t have made it at all.”

Infiniti Aesthetics of Sarasota County

“If you would’ve told me a year ago that I was going to be doing this right now, I would have never believed it,” Kelly Stevens, owner of Infiniti Aesthetics, said.

Stevens found her passion working in the field of aesthetics. Work had gotten to the point where it didn’t leave a lot of time to do what she really loved, so she started thinking about her options.

“I decided to get out on my own and it just kind of all came together,” Stevens said.

Stevens sought out assistance at the Florida SBDC at USF Sarasota-Manatee, in the form of entrepreneur training classes. What she found was much more than just training.

“I really was sort of just feeling things out and seeing if it was way over my head,” she said of her first class. “Then the instructor went around the room and asked everyone what their business was. Every instructor I’ve dealt with at SBDC, when they’ve found out what I was thinking about doing, they encouraged me to do so and it really did help. It led me to look further.”

Stevens took the Starting Your Business seminar at the Port Tampa Bay FSBDC office, and Accounting and Tax Procedures for New and Existing Businesses at FSBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development.

Since first reaching out to the Florida SBDC at USF Sarasota-Manatee, Stevens has opened her own business, Infiniti Aesthetics. She travels throughout Charlotte and Sarasota counties offering her facial rejuvenation services to more than 60 clients.

One challenge she has encountered along the way has been a lack of capital to order enough supplies to pick up extra business. In response, she sought out the Florida SBDC at USF consulting services of Marty Zients, a certified business consultant. Zients assisted her in securing a $40K Small Business Administration loan.

“He worked on my business loan for a couple of weeks,” Stevens said. “Now I have a business loan and I have to thank Marty for that.”

In addition, Stevens sought the consulting services of certified business consultant, Dr. Anita Rose, to inquire about marketing demographics and human resources.

Stevens said without the help of the Florida SBDC at USF Sarasota-Manatee, she is not sure what she would have done, and she recommends that others reach out for assistance when in doubt.

“Go to as many classes as you can,” she said. “Get yourself involved. Meet with a consultant and make sure you use all the resources that you can. Even if it doesn’t seem like it’s something that applies to you, go anyway.”

Dash of Salt & Pepper of Hillsborough County

After spending 10 years as an Assistant Vice President at JP Morgan, Ghada Jadallah traded in the corporate world for an apron in 2009.

“I loved my time at JP Morgan, but my heart is food,” Jadallah said.

As a child she would spend her time watching her mother cook. At the age of 12, her mother taught her to cook and she fell in love.

While at JP Morgan she also noticed that there was a void in the local culinary scene. She said she could not find a restaurant that offered homemade, healthy meals with no preservatives. When she finally did find a healthy establishment, the price tag that came with the nutritious meal fell between $70 and $80 and that inspired her to create another option for consumers.

“That’s a lot of money for a family meal,” she said. “So I wanted to create a meal for families that would be the same price as McDonald’s, but something fresh and with no preservatives.”

Jadallah started Dash of Salt & Pepper in 2010 as a very small business. She would rent space at a commercial kitchen and would cater many events for the Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce member’s for free, in an effort to get her name out there.

After conducting a little research on why food businesses fail, she found that many depended on one specialization and there are seasons for everything. She wanted to make sure she had more than one expertise to offer her customers.

In 2012, as she officially moved her business to a new storefront, Jadallah met Carol Johns, a certified business consultant at Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County, through her husband Lutfi Jadallah, a honorably discharged Viet Nam Era Veteran. Johns specializes in financing, business strategies, and strategic planning and provides assistance to business owners seeking expertise in how to grow and expand a business and how to optimize business performance.

“Carol helped me start looking for resources and planning for the future,” Jadallah said. “She also helped me find the right networking groups.”

Though the two developed a business plan, because of all of her networking opportunities, her business grew so much in such a short amount of time; the first plan did not apply anymore. She turned to Johns again to change the plan to keep up with the rapid growth.

Because business was doing so well, she moved from her small storefront to a bigger space that encompasses three suites. She now also offers cooking classes for kids, plans school lunches and has teamed up with Dr. Tim Bain, founder of Bain Complete Wellness, who sends patients to Jadallah to help them eat right.

“Carol really opened my eyes on things I did not know,” she said. “She gave me the tools to research ways to expand and grow my business. I didn’t use all her advice at once, but slowly incorporated the advice as my business grew. Everything she has told me, there is a time that it made sense.”

When Dash of Salt & Pepper first opened in 2010 with minimal revenues.  By 2012, Jadallah’s revenues were at $8,000.  The business has now grown to include three full-time and four part-time employees and approximately $85,000 in revenues for 2013.  Her goal for 2014 is $200,000 and $300,000 to $350,000 for 2015.   She is currently working with Johns to make sure she reaches her goals.

“I feel really good about her business,” Johns said. “She is in a great location where people tend to spend more money on fitness and healthy eating. We’re going to sit down and set goals that are easy for her to obtain to make sure she makes that target mark.”

Jadallah has managed to stay debt-free in her endeavor and has never taken out a loan. She has done everything with savings and financial support from her husband, Lutfi who is also co-owner of the company and not only works with her daily but supports her dreams for the business.  She said that Johns has helped her focus on spending money on the right things.

Her goals for growth is to saturate the market with her affordable take on nutrition and to make sure that locals spend their money and grow the economy in the area rather than traveling to other parts of Tampa.

As she is spreading the word of her business through many networking opportunities, she is also spreading the word of the Florida SBDC Network.

“Small businesses should use SBDC because they can help them out with all their needs – how to start doing their financials, what to buy and how to spend their money on the items that matter to the business. Also, in the future, they can help them with small business loans,” Jadallah said.

C Suite Communications of Sarasota County

“You have to invest to get,” Patricia Courtois said of her renewed focus on growing her local business. “It isn’t about a free ride. You’ve got to ask for help.”

Courtois owns C Suite Communications, a brand communications firm that takes client’s insight about their business and translates it into communications, whether it be advertising, social media or public relations. “We’re just fascinated by what motivates people to change behavior and how we get to that emotional connection,” she said. “Our feeling is, let’s figure out the right way is to reach people and get them to change their behavior,” she said. “We want them to buy. We don’t want to sell to them.”

Tim Clarke founded Clarke Communications and Public Relations in 1987. Courtois left a position with a New York health communications firm to join the team in 1999, to lead the public relations division. After she succeeded in building that side of the business, she bought the company in 2004, with business partner, Bill Pierson.

Just as most small businesses have, Clarke experienced its own challenges with the Great Recession, and in January 2008, the company was bought out by an independent, mid-sized agency headquartered in Syracuse, New York. After two years, the sun was scheduled to set on Clarke Advertising when the firm decided it wasn’t profitable for them to have an office in Sarasota.

“Because of the legacy of this agency and our active involvement in the community, and the clients who didn’t want us to go out of business, we took up the ownership and management of it once again,” Courtois said.

Since retaking the helm, Courtois has had a laser focus on what she wants for the business, and to get there, she knew she needed assistance. Clarke Advertising, now called C Suite, first looked to EDC Sarasota County, to find out what resources were available. “They offered us access to some training programs through State College of Florida, for our team to do team building, leadership training, and presentation skills,” she said. “That was really my first taste of ‘If you don’t ask, you don’t know’.”

A year ago, EDC Sarasota County led her to the CEO roundtable program, through GrowFL. The program is designed to give CEOs access to their peers who deal with similar growth challenges.

After watching her progress over the course of a year, EDC Sarasota County told Courtois she should check out Growth Acceleration Services with the Florida SBDC at USF Sarasota-Manatee. Growth Acceleration Services include multiple certified business consultants completing an intense evaluation of all aspects of the business. The end result is a comprehensive report with recommendations for sustainable growth strategies. The process typically takes three to six months to complete.

“I was so eager to have somebody to either validate or course correct,” Courtois said. “It actually validated some of my fears and evaporated others. I would not have signed a new lease if I had not gone through this process. It reenergized me and it gave me a good feeling that even in the worst of times, I can do this.”

Courtois’s lead consultant, Dr. Anita Rose, said Courtois has done many things right. “Patricia coming from a marketing background, was very strong in the marketing element, but there were a few areas that she and I both came to the conclusion, needed to be looked at a little closer.”

For her part, Courtois said she’s not letting any grass grow under her feet. She’s moving ahead, full steam. “The next step is to go to a workshop to learn how to write a business plan. I’m very good at process but I’ve never articulated a business plan and I was overwhelmed by the thought of doing that. I’m exited about it.”

In addition, she is already focusing on client diversification, with an eye on new opportunities. “The work Anita and her team did opened my mind, so we’ve been able to look at work we may not have before.”

Engaging in community resources has translated to nothing but success for C Suite, as the company was recently named a finalist in GrowFL’s Florida Companies to Watch.

Angelic Hearts Home Care Services of Pinellas County

When Belinda Blake and Heather Lesfloris crossed paths while working in the legal field, they had no idea that the brief encounter would turn into a profitable partnership.

Blake, a court reporter for 10 years and Lesfloris, a legal assistant for 18 years, both had a dream of one day owning a business.

“We had this vision, but we were not ready at the time to take a risk and give up what we had to take that step forward,” Blake said.

It took one conversation for Blake to discover that Lesfloris had a dream of opening an Assisted Living Facility (ALF).  It was during that conversation that the pair began to discuss the possibility of starting their own business together.

The two began to brainstorm and began meeting two times a week, putting everything down on paper.

Before they made any final decisions to start the company, the two turned to the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development. There they met Yolanda Cowart, a certified business consultant who began to offer guidance in the steps they need to get their business started.

“They were in the pre-venture stage when they came into the office,” Cowart said. “I had been working with Heather and she was undecided if she wanted to do an ALF or a home health care business. They went back and forth with what they wanted to do.”

Cowart assigned them a homework task to research the two options to help figure out which direction they should chose. Once they chose a direction, they started to work on their business plan with Cowart.

In February 2012, the duo opened Angelic Hearts Home Care Services in Clearwater, a non-medical home care company that takes care of the personal needs of patients, including light house keeping, meal preparations, running errands and offering companionship.

“I knew if we had the SBDC, we would go further,” Lesfloris said. “We came to the SBDC for counseling so we would not go into the wrong direction. We knew they would lead in the right direction.”
The two stuck with the FSBDC at PCED as the business began to develop. Each took the classes that are offered. Though the pair are 50/50 partners, they are both responsible for different aspects of the business. Lesfloris handles the finance and Blake takes care of the marketing.

Their passion, dedication and collaboration have paid off. They started with $3,000 of their own money when they opened the doors. In 2013, they earned approximately $180,000 in revenues. They now also have two full time employees and 50 independent contractors currently on their roster.

As they look to the future, the pair is now taking steps toward becoming certified to get on the nurse registry so they can began to offer medical services, and aiming to do $60,000 to $80,000 in revenues each month. Blake also has a goal of franchising.

“I do believe that we have a unique niche in this industry,” Blake said. “We have never felt competitive. There is no one really like us in the market.”

Cowart, who still advises the pair, says the two now need to sit down and hone in on certain areas before the growth of the business takes them in a different direction.

“Now we are at that two-year mark, a common point when companies fail, especially in this industry,” Blake said. “Heather and I are big enough to realize that we don’t have all of the answers so we need to go get the answers, because we don’t want to sink. We have to still be a team, no matter what to keep this going.”

Cowart said it is so rewarding to see two women come in with literally nothing, and watch them blossom.

“We couldn’t have done it without Yolanda,” Blake said. “I don’t think we could have ever executed our dreams and our vision. Yolanda and the SBDC made us realize that this was possible.”