Brett Johnson [00:00:00]:
We are Looking Forward Our Way. Hi. This is Brett. Carol and I asked several of our local experts to provide tips for Ohioans ready to start a business of their own or possibly grow the business that they've already created.
Carol Ventresca [00:00:13]:
You know, Brett, we have 4 wonderful guests today who have taken some time out of their busy schedule to provide our audience with information they learned in their own journeys to create a business venture. I'm sure these tips are going to be really crucial for so many of our new owners. So let's get started.
Brett Johnson [00:00:33]:
Yeah. Let's do. So, you know, often an individual has a great idea and the skills to be an entrepreneur, but not the self confidence to begin. Or, they have so many questions on where to start, but unsure how to find the answers. We have tremendous resources in our own region, and so let's begin by providing our listeners with some solid leads to those organizations. Chambers of Commerce are often the first resource for the community's business members. Katie Ellis is our first guest. She is the president and CEO of the Tri Village Chamber Partnership.
Brett Johnson [00:01:05]:
This is a unique organization representing businesses in 3 distinct suburbs of Columbus, the city of Grandview Heights, Village of Marble Cliff, and the city of Upper Arlington. Well, the Tri Village Chamber Partnership is a 700 plus member supported organization that promotes and supports an environment for the development, growth, and success of businesses in each of the 3 communities. Katie's previous experience includes working in the financial planning industry and with Global Touch Marketing. Katie is a graduate of Ohio Dominican University, and here is her tip.
Katie Ellis [00:01:37]:
Hi. This is Katie Ellis, president and CEO of the Tri Village Chamber Partnership. Starting a business can be both exhilarating and daunting, but the good news is is that there's a wealth of resources here to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. As an entrepreneur myself and now a chamber president and CEO, I can absolutely attest to the invaluable role that Chambers of of commerce play in fostering business success. Joining a chamber provides the opportunities for brand awareness through vendors and events, critical resources, as well as opportunities to network that really build some good and lasting relationships. Chambers also offer member exclusive benefits, like health insurance, professional development programs, insights into the local economic trends. And it's a great place and environment to test out your ideas, refine skills, and then gain the confidence that you really wanna feel when you're talking about your business. Most chambers allow you to attend an event or 2 without purchasing a membership.
Katie Ellis [00:02:39]:
So don't be shy to try a few different chambers and see which ones really resonate with you and feel best. There's also several businesses that are members of multiple chambers. In addition, there is an organization called Score, which is a nonprofit that's backed by the US Small Business Administration. They pair entrepreneurs with mentors who are seasoned in a specific field. So they will provide personalized guidance in areas like business planning, marketing, as well as helping you secure funding. For those that need maybe more of a specialized support, there is ECDI, the Economic and Community Development Institute. They offer business incubation programs, small business loans, and services that are tailored to food businesses, female entrepreneurs, as well as historically marginalized groups. Speaking on that topic for female entrepreneurs, there are also great organizations like NABO, the National WSBA, which is the Women's Small Business Accelerator.
Katie Ellis [00:03:48]:
They provide mentorship, networking, as well as resources that are really empowering to female business leaders.
Carol Ventresca [00:03:55]:
Brett, our next guest is going to talk to us about networking. You know, networking is really the key to success for so many of us, but many often need assistance to understand the nuances of putting yourself out there. Our next guest is Frank Agin, president of Am Spirit Business Connections, which empowers entrepreneurs, sales representatives, and professionals to get more referrals through networking. Frank shares information and insights on professional relationships, business networking, and best practices for generating referrals on his Networking Rx podcast and through various professional programs. Frank is the founder of the Networking Hub, a virtual program involving coaches, podcasters, authors, publishers, entrepreneurs, and providing opportunities to learn and benefit as well as educate and empower others. Frank is the author of several books, including one called Foundational Networking. He's an alum of Beloit College and also earned an MBA from the Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business as well as a Juris Doctorate from the Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. So let's hear Frank's tips.
Frank Agin [00:05:16]:
Welcome to your entrepreneurial journey. What I want you to understand from the onset is this, is that you do nothing alone. You've done nothing alone. You've achieved nothing alone. You will achieve nothing alone. So to be successful in business, you need to build a network. And what that means is that you need to create a relationship or you need to create relationships with people around you. And those relationships will help you become successful.
Frank Agin [00:05:43]:
If you look at any successful business person, you will see that they have built a relationship relationships, I should say, with lots of people. And those people have helped move them forward. And I can give you lots of examples. But for the sake of time, trust me on this, is that you need people in your life to make your business venture successful. So here are 3 really quick tips that can help you with respect to this. Number 1, find a mentor. Find somebody out there who is really well connected. Now I'm not suggesting you need to pay somebody to be your mentor.
Frank Agin [00:06:18]:
In fact, most really good people who are well networked would probably be happy to share with you a little bit of time every month, maybe a half hour, to kind of give you some insights and just, you know, help guide you along. So find a mentor who can help you every step of the way. And if you have questions, bounce those questions off them, email, so on and so forth. 2nd tip I'll give you is this, is reach out to your strategic partners, if you will. Strategic partners are people who run-in the same circles you do, but they sell something entirely different. For example, I used to be an attorney. And when I was practicing law and starting out practicing, I would meet with bankers. I would meet with accountants.
Frank Agin [00:06:59]:
And I would meet with payroll people, just to name a few. And those are people who were dealing with other small businesses, the types of clients that I wanted to have. And I would create a relationship with those people telling them, you know, listen, I'm gonna be running into small businesses and I'm gonna have referrals for you. I wanna tell you about me so you might have referrals for me. So the first one, find a mentor, build relationships with your strategic partners. 3rd one, 3rd one, very important, get involved in your community. Find something you're passionate about in your community. And you can define community however you want.
Frank Agin [00:07:36]:
It could be your little block of wherever you're at. It could be a municipality. It could be a suburb. It could be a region. It could be the world. Whatever your community is, get involved in your community. Find a way that you can get out there and you can add value and you can serve. Because when you do that, you raise your level of exposure and you brand yourself as somebody who is committed to making the community better.
Frank Agin [00:08:01]:
And that will help draw people towards you, people that are your strategic partners and certainly people who can be your clients, people who are going to sing your praises because you're helping others. So I wanna wish you the very best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey. Get out there and get networking.
Brett Johnson [00:08:19]:
Businesses are not always successful. Individuals need to understand the many aspects of creating a business to reach and maintain success, including development of their own, quote, unquote, brand. Darlene Ziebelle is a seasoned business adviser, entrepreneur, and author with over 3 decades of experience in building and scaling successful businesses. With an MBA from Northwestern University, she founded and grown 4 companies to 7 plus figures, including 1 to 8 figures with 3 built from the ground up in an average of 2 years. Darlene has achieved 3 successful exits through a merger, a sale, and an employee stock ownership plan, commonly known as an ESOP. Having consulted for over 20% of the Fortune 1,000 as well as private industry and government sectors, Darlene's expertise spans strategic planning, marketing, operations, and business turnarounds. She now takes private clients through her boutique firm, offering tailored strategies to help business owners overcome challenges, scale their operations, and achieve significant growth. As an author and creator of workshops like the ABCs of Business, Darlene dedicates her time to empowering entrepreneurs and guiding them to top tier success.
Brett Johnson [00:09:31]:
And we are so glad to have her tips right here.
Darlene Ziebell [00:09:34]:
Hi. This is Darlene Ziebell. I wanna give you some tips on how to develop a brand, including social media and marketing in general. The first tip I'd like to give you is when you create an elevator message. That's a message that in, within 60 seconds, you get to explain to a perfect stranger what your unique value statement is for your business. Who do you sell to? Why do you sell to them and why do they buy from you? But the tip I have for you with an elevator message is the very last sentence or statement you make should include what is the value your potential customers receive by purchasing your product or service versus someone else. The second tip I'd like to share with you is do not even bother building a business or a brand unless you know what your differentiating message is. That is, a message that explains to a potential buyer how you are different from the competition.
Darlene Ziebell [00:10:44]:
Take a look at television commercials, ads that you see on social media, where one company will always compare themselves to somebody else. So that differentiating message could be a lifesaver in growing your business. Because my 3rd tip is don't spend any money on social media or marketing or even branding, unless you have the first two tips I shared with you figured out. Because you could be wasting wasting 100 of 1,000 of dollars. So I hope these help you, and have a great 2025.
Carol Ventresca [00:11:24]:
Brett, our last speaker is going to provide information on a very important decision that each entrepreneur must make in developing their business plan. They need to know their niche. Ken Lazar is the chief career officer for the Ability Professional Network, which was founded here in Columbus over 12 years ago, focusing on sales and technical recruiting. Ken's extensive background includes cofounding the Sales Connection, serving as managing director of Experis, and district manager of Kelly Services. Ken is a facilitator and professor at Muskingum University's graduate program in strategy systems and technology. Ken is also well known in Central Ohio as a networking authority. Not only did he create the Sales Connection, which is a professional association to promote education and training for sales professionals, but he also was critical to our local economy, helping individuals gain employment during the early 2000 in the recession. Ken's Scioto Ridge job networking group was a highly successful community service program providing job seekers with the information and connections needed to recharge their career path.
Carol Ventresca [00:12:44]:
Ken has a degree from Kettering University in industrial engineering and a master's in business administration from Purdue's Daniels School of Business. We are so lucky to have Ken join us today with these great tips.
Ken Lazar [00:12:58]:
I started an executive search agency about 10 years ago with my son, Matt. When we started our agency, a mentor told me that it was essential that we choose a niche or an industry on which to focus our business. That was some of the best business advice that I had ever received. We chose to recruit sales professionals. We focused all of our branding, our website, our LinkedIn profiles, and our messaging on that niche. Eventually, we became known as one of the go to agencies for companies who wanted to build their sales team. Couple of times in that process, we had an opportunity to recruit outside of our niche. I call this chasing a shiny object.
Ken Lazar [00:13:52]:
Don't do it. You'll waste time and resources and confuse your customer base. So we are a business to business company. We found that every candidate that we wanted to place, and every company that we wanted to do business with, was on LinkedIn. So we focused our efforts on being active on that specific social platform. Other media sites like Facebook and X did not produce good results. So my message is is with regard to social media sites, find 1 or 2 of those sites on which to promote your brand, and be active on a consistent basis on those sites. You'll in the long run, you'll be very successful.
Ken Lazar [00:14:41]:
Thanks for listening.
Brett Johnson [00:14:42]:
Many thanks to our expert guests for joining us today. We hope you've received some important tips in your own entrepreneurship journey. Listeners, thank you for joining us. You'll find the contact information and resources we've discussed in the podcast show notes and on our website at looking forward our way.com, and we are looking forward to hearing your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes.