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Area small business owners still see opportunities
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Sunday, Oct 26, 2008
Steve Millard can sum up in one word what most small business owners are feeling these days:
''Anxiety.''
With the struggling economy dominating newspaper headlines, Internet blogs and television's 24-hour news cycle, it's not surprising that many entrepreneurs are nervous, said Millard, executive director of the Council of Small Enterprises (COSE.)
A recent COSE survey of Northeast Ohio businesses found that 47 percent of respondents have changed their mind about hiring more staff, 30 percent have postponed goals for opening a new market or expanding their product line, and 25 percent have delayed plans to buy new equipment or technology.
But Millard said when he talks to his organization's members on an individual basis, he often finds they are doing just fine, and he encourages them not to overreact.
''Perception becomes reality,'' Millard said.
''When people are sort of hedging, that does nothing more than accelerate the problem,'' he said. '' . . . Our entire financial system is run off confidence.''
Last week, more than 1,100 people attended the 2008 COSE Small Business Conference at the I-X Center in Cleveland.
Among routine workshops on increasing sales, training employees, budgeting and marketing were a few new seminars addressing economic concerns and issues in the presidential election.
During the lunch break, a couple of Summit County business owners shared views on the state of the economy, and their belief that when the going gets tough, the tough get growing.
David and Leslie Sutula, who operate a 4-year-old ad agency in downtown Akron called polkadotpeeps, said they designed their company to take advantage of lean times.
''Our business model took this kind of economy into account four years ago,'' David Sutula said.
So the company kept expenses low in order to offer services for less than their competition.
Now when local companies are tempted to cut back on marketing to save money, polkadotpeeps can
jump in with its own ''stimulus package,'' Leslie Sutula said.
The Sutulas employ three full-timers and two part-timers, and expect to hire three more people because of new clients.
They said they need a loan to expand, and expected banks to show them the door after hearing how difficult it is to get money these days.
Although ''the screws are tightened a little more,'' they said the reception from area banks has been very positive.
Mike Burzminski, who owns two BatteriesPlus franchises in Macedonia and Mayfield Heights, said he was also pleasantly surprised when he sat down with a loan officer recently to talk about opening a new store in Montrose.
''The bank is asking a few more questions, but the money is still there,'' he said. ''Banks still want to loan money because that's how they make money.''
If the economy slows down Burzminski's expansion, he said it will be because of the challenge of finding investors, who no doubt have watched their own stocks and retirement accounts plummet in recent weeks. And after using his own savings to open two stores in the past three years, Burzminski said he will need private investors for the Montrose location.
His business isn't exactly recession-proof, but Burzminski said his products grow in demand when people tighten their purse strings and don't upgrade their electronic gadgets as frequently.
His stores sell batteries of all kinds: AA, computer laptop, cell phone, even batteries used to operate hospital equipment and commercial machines.
Still, with higher gas prices, people don't want to drive long distances to get to a battery store, which is why he wants to bring a franchise closer to the Akron area.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Steve Millard can sum up in one word what most small business owners are feeling these days:
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 01:58 PM, 10/26/2008
Oh well hey, the 700 billion is going to go into the wrong hands on wall street instead of the right hands on main street anyways, so what is a few more little people starving.
