• Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Flickr
  • Slideshare
  • Rss
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
SBDC Tampa Bay
  • Home
  • Solutions
    • Certifications
      • Business Certifications
      • Minority-Owned Business
      • Woman-Owned Business
      • Veteran-Owned Business
    • Consulting & Training
      • Training
      • Training Calendar
      • Consulting
      • Schedule a Consultant
    • Business Solutions
      • Growth Acceleration
      • Government Contracting
      • International Trade
      • Starting Your Business
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Student Teams
      • Organizational Development
  • Resources
    • Business Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Insights
    • Blog
    • Media Inquiries
  • About Us
    • Mission / Vision
    • Consultants
    • Meet the Staff
    • Meet Our Clients
    • Partners / Affiliates
  • Training
    • Training Calendar
    • On-Demand Training
  • Results
    • Success Stories
    • Economic Impact
  • Locations
    • Tampa
    • Hillsborough
    • Hernando County
    • Pinellas County
    • Highlands, Hardee, DeSoto
    • Polk County
    • Manatee
    • Sarasota
  • Contact
  • Schedule a Consultant
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Blog

Established Bejeweler looks to SBDC for new direction

Featured News, Success Stories

Creative Crystal Company of Sarasota County
Consultant

Thirty years ago, Lucia Reid was working with Michael Jackson look-a-likes in the entertainment business, in need of the famous rhinestone glove. After finding that rhinestones weren’t that easy to adhere to fabric, she came across crystals in Europe with a heat-sensitive glue backing. “They’re incredible,” she said. “So I got rid of the dance group and kept the crystals.”

That was the start of Creative Crystal Company, the first company in the United States to distribute the Bejeweler. The company manufactures the product, which is an electric hot-fix applicator that applies Swarovski hot-fix crystals to a variety of fabric types.

When the product was introduced to the market, business was booming, but along the way, there have been some challenges for the company as well.

“When we moved to Sarasota in 2001, we were growing quite fast and we wanted to get a loan to expand our growth,” Reid said. So, she reached out to the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida. The organization provided a no-cost review of their financials that helped to position the company to obtain a $150,000 U.S. Small Business Administration loan. “This put us in a much larger field than we’d ever been in,” she said.

Reid faced another challenge more recently, in growing her company. The company already distributes in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, but did not have a model for getting to the European market. “I reached a point where we wanted to expand distribution of our product…and when it came time to get the approvals that we needed, we just hit a stumbling block.”

As a result, Reid reached out to the Florida SBDC Network again, this time to David Auxier, a consultant at the FSBDC at USF Sarasota-Manatee. Auxier was able to contact the right officials in Europe to expedite the proper protocols. “Now we have a distributor for the Nordic region and we’re looking for distributors in other areas of Europe,” Reid said.

As the industry continues to change, Reid says she is looking forward to a continued working relationship with Florida SBDC at USF consultants. “We’ve been in business for 30 years, which means a lot of our clients are older people, and we need to hit the younger people,” she said. “We’re looking for a direction that will take us on the path to success again, and I think the SBDC will be able to show us how to get where we need to be. They’re helpful. They’re friendly. They’re very well-educated. They know what they’re doing.”

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://sbdctampabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/CreativeCrystalPic3.jpg 768 1152 admin /wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Locked-Host-Logos-Horizontal-USF-Small-e1635274663378.png admin2015-11-04 23:42:432021-12-15 18:42:25Established Bejeweler looks to SBDC for new direction

Categories

  • Business Essentials
  • Business Plans
  • Buying a Business
  • Certifications
  • COVID-19
  • Crowdfunding
  • Disaster Preparedness
  • Economic Development
  • Finance
  • Government Contracting
  • Growing Your Business
  • Healthcare
  • Human Resources
  • International Trade
  • Marketing
  • Press Releases
  • Radio and Podcast
  • Starting a Business
  • Success Stories
  • Success Stories Videos
  • Tech Commercialization/Tech Transfer
  • Veteran
  • Web and Social Media

Email Newsletters

Sign Up Now

Contact Us

Regional Office Contact Info

USF CONNECT
3802 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 201
Tampa, FL 33612

813-396-2700

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Florida SBDC Network

The Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida, and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network’s lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.

Logos

Business Assistance

USFMuma

State Designated as Florida’s Principal Provider of Business Assistance [§ 288.01, Fla. Stat.]

© Florida SBDC at USF | contact webmaster
8 Tips for Business Success After BankruptcyBack Stateside – What’s next for returning Veterans?
Scroll to top