BIG Café
February 10’s BIG Café was a great success. This monthly networking event held by the Business Innovation Group (BIG) was comprised of more than 40 local entrepreneurs, students and faculty who brought energy and enthusiasm, creating a strong entrepreneurial atmosphere. Each gathered at City Campus in downtown Statesboro, enabling one another to help solve business problems by providing invaluable feedback while enjoying a delicious cup of complimentary coffee provided by Cool Beanz along with a nice addition of doughnuts.
The two presenters for BIG Café included Tina and Jeff Banks, owners of Kidovations, and Jonathan and Bob Chambers, owners of Citrusolution Carpet Cleaning. Each presented with the intent of receiving feedback from the attendees to help solve business problems. Tina Banks posed the question, “how do I leverage networking opportunities effectively when I am not the loudest voice?”
Elena McLendon, with the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority, suggested that Tina and Jeff “sponsor one of the Bulloch Recreational teams, allowing them to put [the company’s] name on the jerseys and maybe partner with Party Harbor and have an event with lots of inflatables.” Sponsoring a team will help get Kidovation’s name out there, and hosting an event will allow Tina and Jeff to interact face-to-face with the kids who may start attending Kidovations. Dusty Ziegler, owner of Dusty Zeigler Agency proposed, “Get something like a mascot that captures the culture that would be appealing to the kids as well as to adults, and use that mascot to go to events and cultivate that culture; it will take some of the burden off of you.” Other suggestions included contacting local churches to inform them on Kidovations, using social media, connecting with extroverted individuals at events so they can connect Tina and Jeff to others.
After a brief coffee break, Jonathan and Bob Chambers proposed the unique challenge, “How do we market the sale of our business?”
Fred David, owner of Minuteman Press stated, “It’s very important to put together a complete package of what you want, and be able to show a potential buyer what your cash flow is and how you justify your price.” Brian Reiss, owner of Party Harbor Inflatables, suggested, “Don’t advertise it because people may think the quality isn’t that good, and they just want out.” Other suggestions included using a broker, consider owner-financing, and looking at repeat customers to see if they have an interest in buying.
BIG Café was a huge success thanks to everyone who attended and gave invaluable feedback. BIG Café wants to especially thank Tina and Jeff Banks and Jonathan and Bob Chambers for presenting and our sponsors Fred David, Cool Beanz and Elena McLendon, DSDA. If you would like to present your business obstacle(s) at BIG Café, please contact Jill Johns at jjohns@georgiasouthern.edu or (912) 478-0872.
Attend the next BIG Café if you would like to come together to network, drink free coffee and help one another thrive. Also, attend five times and you will receive a free BIG Café coffee mug!
View February’s BIG Café at
youtube.com/watch?v=m9oRdVgYP9s
youtube.com/watch?v=H791jVJdIvk
The next BIG Café will be Wednesday, March 9, 2016, with networking at 8:30 a.m. and presentations starting at 9 a.m.
Posted in Events, In the News