Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / Big Help for Small Businesses with Dorian Zwierewicz

Transcript

Big Help for Small Businesses with Dorian Zwierewicz · The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson

• 0:36
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Have you ever felt overwhelmed in trying to grow your business?
• 0:39
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Maybe you've stayed up late Googling marketing strategies and struggling to secure funding.
• 0:44
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Today's guest has solutions that won't cost you a dime.
• 0:48
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Join me as we talk with Dorian Zwierewicz.
• 0:52
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: See, I knew I was going to mess up your name Zdavich, very good.
• 0:56
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Zdavich I was so close.
• 0:58
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I was so close Thank you for clarifying that and he is with the Small Business Development Center at FGCU and we're going to be talking about their free resources that could transform your business journey.
• 1:10
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Thank you so much for coming in.
• 1:11
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Of course.
• 1:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Thank you for having us.
• 1:12
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And what is your role there?
• 1:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So I'm the regional director here in Southwest Florida.
• 1:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Our Florida SBDC network consists of the whole state and I'm one of the nine regional directors that covers Charlotte County South.
• 1:25
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Fabulous and say your name again, because I'm sorry that I got it wrong.
• 1:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, dorian Zverevich.
• 1:30
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Zverevich.
• 1:32
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Oh.
• 1:32
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I got it right.
• 1:33
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Oh yes, and he says how he goes to conferences and things he's like.
• 1:36
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I just introduced myself as Dorian.
• 1:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That's right, Dorian.
• 1:40
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Dorian it is.
• 1:41
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Dorian it is.
• 1:42
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So for our listeners that may not know what the, I call it the acronym, as many people do the SBDC, the Small Business Development Center.
• 1:50
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: What does it do and how does it serve entrepreneurs?
• 1:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, absolutely so.
• 1:57
  Dorian Zwierewicz: The easiest our tagline is we help businesses start, grow and thrive, and I really love that tagline is we help?
• 2:03
  Dorian Zwierewicz: businesses start, grow and thrive.
• 2:05
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And I really love that tagline because it really covers the core of our mission.
• 2:08
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And before I get into what we do, it's important to find out the history of the SBDC network as a whole.
• 2:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So the SBDC was started in 1976.
• 2:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And basically the federal government saw a need where in our country small businesses are so important, where 50% of the jobs are created by small businesses, but small businesses don't necessarily have the financials to hire a consultant if they need help.
• 2:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So the federal government in 1976 decided, hey, let's create this program called the SBDC, the Small Business Development Center, and let's offer consulting services for those small businesses that need help and can't compete with the large corporations.
• 2:44
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: That's why why we're here.
• 2:46
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I guess I never knew the history of it.
• 2:47
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, and so apropos, especially in days and times like right now.
• 2:53
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So many businesses are struggling small businesses and people don't understand how small businesses are the backbone of this economy.
• 3:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Florida for this assistance for small businesses because we make it easy, and much more easier, for small business owners to grow and succeed and help be that lifeblood for America.
• 3:28
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right.
• 3:28
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So what services?
• 3:30
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: How does it serve the entrepreneur, how does it serve that small business owner?
• 3:35
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, so our key thing okay to start off with our core is going to be our consulting services.
• 3:41
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That's what we were originally started and we have a lot of ancillary services as well.
• 3:46
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But when I say consulting services, we really help any small business 500 or less employees from a variety of topics.
• 3:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So someone may come in and go hey, I have a business idea.
• 3:58
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Is this a good idea or not?
• 3:59
  Dorian Zwierewicz: In and go.
• 4:01
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Hey, I have a business idea, is this a good idea or not?
• 4:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And our consultant will be able to guide them and go.
• 4:03
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You know, based on my professional opinion, I don't think it's feasible.
• 4:05
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Or?
• 4:05
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I think it is feasible.
• 4:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Conversely, if someone comes in and says you know, I'm 62 years old, I have a key employee that I want to sell my business to.
• 4:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: My kids don't want my business, I plan on retiring at 67.
• 4:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Can you help train this employee up and then work on our financials so that in a couple of years, when I'm ready to retire, we can make the selling process and that transition as smooth as possible?
• 4:30
  Dorian Zwierewicz: On top of that, our consulting services we help with marketing, if someone needs help analyzing their marketing, of course, cash flow, financial analysis if you need a loan from the bank.
• 4:40
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then another big service for us is going to be government contracting.
• 4:44
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So, yeah, I got to give a shout out to Lee County School District, for example.
• 4:49
  Dorian Zwierewicz: People don't know this, but it's in the top 30 of the largest school districts in our nation.
• 4:54
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Wow.
• 4:54
  Dorian Zwierewicz: If it were a company, it'd be a $2 billion company and there are government contracts available, you know, not just with the school district but any local government state government, federal government, and these are just opportunities that most small business owners you know if they don't know about.
• 5:09
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Or if they do know about it, they don't know how to do it.
• 5:11
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: But most of them probably don't even know about the opportunities.
• 5:14
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So we help consult with that.
• 5:15
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You know, when you say government contract, there's two things that people, in my opinion as a small business owner, look at.
• 5:23
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And number one is fear.
• 5:24
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Oh, I don't want to do anything with the government.
• 5:26
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: No, no, no, so they shut it down.
• 5:29
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Or number two I don't even have a clue how to, number one, figure out what government contracts are out there, and then how do I actually apply for it?
• 5:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yes, absolutely.
• 5:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And the fear even gets amplified once they see all of the paperwork for the process, of course.
• 5:45
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Right and we make that easy.
• 5:47
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we have a government contract specialist and we actually have another program called Apex Accelerators that works well with the SBDC and that's strictly government contracting and it's helping guide through that process on okay, tell us what you do as a business, what do you like to do, what's your core?
• 6:05
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And now we'll be able to connect and go.
• 6:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Okay, based on this information, here's a list of different government opportunities that are there for you.
• 6:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And if there aren't any now, we have this way of regularly emailing you any updates.
• 6:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That way, if you're not ready now or if you just missed the deadline, there's always going to be a government contract in the future.
• 6:26
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So you also mentioned something about financing.
• 6:28
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You have people on staff that could help walk a small business owner through getting finance, whether it's through SBA or through other financing options.
• 6:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yes.
• 6:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So a misconception about the SBDC is that we have money to give like grants or anything, because they think of you like the SBA when they hear that Exactly so.
• 6:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're funded by the SBA, but we don't give out any funds to the businesses.
• 6:52
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So what we do is we help with that process of getting the financing and if you have cash flow issues, we help with that too, analyzing your financial statements and going, hey, let's look at your operations, but with getting money if this comes from creating a pitch deck for an investor, or if it's going to the bank a benefit with the SBDC is whether you're starting off or you're already a business owner and you have a restaurant and you're ready to expand it into Naples, for example.
• 7:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We do two things.
• 7:21
  Dorian Zwierewicz: One, you come into us after you make the decision to get the loan or to get financing and we will be able to help analyze where you are, what your goal is, so that whenever you go to that investor or you go to that bank, your projections are as realistic as possible.
• 7:36
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You're not saying, oh yeah, we're going to have a billion dollars in sales and then the bank will turn you away.
• 7:41
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then the second thing is we have such a strong connection with our lending community and the partnership aspect of the SBDC that if your bank says, no, I'm not interested, or if you called a couple banks and they're not interested.
• 7:56
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That's okay.
• 7:57
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We have so many banks in our pipeline, in our, I guess, rolodex, where we can connect you with the right lender.
• 8:05
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: People out there are going.
• 8:05
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: What is a Rolodex?
• 8:06
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, I know, If you're young, don't worry about it.
• 8:09
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And I'm a millennial.
• 8:10
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I don't even know why you brought it up.
• 8:12
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You're talking about, you're going.
• 8:14
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: How would you know what it is?
• 8:15
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I?
• 8:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: guess I'm an old soul, I don't know.
• 8:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So yeah, but that really is one of the benefits of us, because what people also don't know is your typical lending institution.
• 8:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They also have their own portfolio of industries that they're interested in.
• 8:30
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So when I was consulting at the SBDC up in the Panhandle it was always difficult for us to get financing for our hotel clients, for example.
• 8:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Then I move here and our banks have a little bit more appetite for that.
• 8:42
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So the benefit of us is we have so many connections with these lenders that it's okay if three banks say no to you.
• 8:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We'll still connect you and try to introduce you to the right bank.
• 8:51
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right Now, you mentioned of the services that are offered.
• 8:54
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You mentioned marketing finance, government contracts.
• 8:58
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: What about HR?
• 9:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: finance government contracts.
• 9:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: What about HR?
• 9:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Great question.
• 9:08
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I don't have a specialist on my staff in my region, but we do also consult with HR I would probably say more so with our startup clients.
• 9:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: When you're hiring your first employee and you want us to help you craft a job description or something like this, then we can assist with this.
• 9:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And a benefit of our network is, if we don't have that specialty in our region, we have the whole state of Florida where we could still connect you with a consultant you know from Tallahassee virtually, or something like this Was there another bucket that I missed?
• 9:34
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Those are the ones that I.
• 9:35
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So I will actually mention one specialized service that I didn't mention yet.
• 9:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We also, going back on the state of Florida being very pro-business, they have this great program where they're trying to expand exporting for our state.
• 9:51
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So if our state alone was a country, we would probably be, I think, the 19th, but definitely the top 20th largest economy in the world.
• 10:00
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Wow.
• 10:01
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, it's incredible.
• 10:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I mean, really, florida is the place to be and we get so much investment in people moving from California and New York, but our state's focus on exporting.
• 10:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That creates really good jobs and it helps increase our GDP.
• 10:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we have this specialized program.
• 10:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So most of our services are at no cost or very, very low cost.
• 10:23
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So consulting is free if you ever need to meet with us, but this special service so we do charge $500 for this and the product is called an export marketing plan.
• 10:32
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So if you're a Florida exporter or manufacturer and you want to export overseas, we actually will interview you and go, okay, tell us about your product, about your target market, what types of clients you have, and then we will do take that research and then go, okay, let's look at the 186 plus countries in the world and let's compare them against other factors.
• 10:58
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Is their economy growing?
• 10:59
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Is there any political risk, anything like this, and we will come up with a list of 10 countries that we recommend that you consider investing in or exporting to, and on top of that we will also introduce you to the US Commercial Service so they have specialists that are actually stationed in those countries and you can go on a trade mission to go meet real business owner, real businesses in that country and help expand on that.
• 11:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So that's a really specialized service that we have.
• 11:30
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's $500 and that is a discount that is nothing.
• 11:35
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It really is nothing.
• 11:36
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Because how long would that take you to figure that?
• 11:38
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I mean just the general, I say the regular lay person, the small business owner.
• 11:42
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I mean, I wouldn't even know where to find that.
• 11:45
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, and it's very intensive even on our end.
• 11:52
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I think a typical consultant will dedicate 100 hours plus just for that report.
• 11:54
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And, like you mentioned, I mean I remember we had a client in the panhandle that had a product and it was really interesting because you know the business owner you're thinking about.
• 12:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Here's my product, here's my customer base you don't even know or think about.
• 12:06
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Is there political risk?
• 12:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Is there inflation risk in this other currency risk in these other countries.
• 12:11
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I mean, it's just not something that pops in your mind.
• 12:15
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Not to mention the cultural differences that you're going to have to wade through, because there will be that.
• 14:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and it's a great specialized service that we have Export Marketing Plan.
• 14:54
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So I want you to walk me through.
• 14:56
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: If I were a client, a potential client, and I came to you and said, oh my gosh, I really need help with my business.
• 15:04
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: What does that journey look like?
• 15:06
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, okay, very simple process.
• 15:08
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So, first and foremost, know we're funded by the SBA, so there is a process.
• 15:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You have to go on our website, which is sbdcfgcuedu, and in the top right corner there's a button that says request for consulting.
• 15:23
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It'll ask you a whole bunch of questions and just demographic information we have to you know what, what business?
• 15:28
  Dorian Zwierewicz: what's your industry?
• 15:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then it'll ask you hey, what specific assistance do you need?
• 15:33
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You know, if it's, do you just need to talk to someone?
• 15:35
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Or you know, are you looking to get a loan?
• 15:37
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Something like this.
• 15:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And completing that form is probably the most important thing, because we can't talk to people until they create that form.
• 15:44
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And that form also leads to one of the benefits of working with the SBDC that form binds us and our consultants to a confidentiality agreement so this is where you come to us.
• 15:56
  Dorian Zwierewicz: we cannot share anything and also because we're funded by taxpayer dollars, we legally have to act in the best interest of the business.
• 16:03
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So any recommendations that we have, we can never sell.
• 16:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: If you need a website, for example, we're not going to recommend you to our cousin's company or something like that.
• 16:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So first step is you go on our website and register, give it something like three to five business days and then a consultant will reach out and what that does is during those three to five business days, it gets into our queue, it gets assigned to our region and then we also review what we call that request for consulting or the RFC, and we review what the business owner puts in there.
• 16:35
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So okay, they said they needed cash flow assistance.
• 16:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're going to connect them with our consultant, who's the CPA on our team.
• 16:42
  Dorian Zwierewicz: If they need marketing help, we'll connect them to someone else and after that you'll have this initial meeting.
• 16:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So your consultant will reach out to you within three to five business days and schedule an initial meeting.
• 16:53
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You guys will cover your problems, challenges, goals, work out on a plan, and the benefit of the SBDC is you can use us as often or as little as you'd like.
• 17:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we've often had clients that say I just need help creating these financial projections for the bank.
• 17:09
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We help them with that.
• 17:10
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They get the loan.
• 17:11
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Need help creating these financial projections for the bank.
• 17:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We help them with that.
• 17:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They get the loan.
• 17:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then we don't hear from them for a year until they say oh, okay, I'm now ready to hire my first employee.
• 17:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Can you help?
• 17:18
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: me create a job description.
• 17:19
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: What do I do?
• 17:21
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then, conversely, we also have clients that come in and they literally have a standing monthly meeting with their consultant, and they've had this monthly meeting with their consultant for over three years.
• 17:33
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's just a long-term relationship and we're really flexible on that.
• 17:36
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Whatever meets the needs of the business owner.
• 17:38
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So could it be once a week?
• 17:39
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, it could be.
• 17:42
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We have a consultant, heidi Kramer.
• 17:43
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We actually had to go to lunch and I kind of had to go like, hey, can you wrap up this call, because we're all hungry.
• 17:49
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But she has a standing conference call with one of her clients each week.
• 17:52
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So yeah, that's common too.
• 17:54
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So you had mentioned at the top that 500 or less employees.
• 17:59
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I'm assuming that you vet that 500 or less is considered small business according to your terms or the SBA's terms.
• 18:06
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, the SBA's terms.
• 18:08
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And then you vet that when somebody goes online and fills it out, is that something that you ask?
• 18:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, so on that form, it does ask.
• 18:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's one of the questions of how many employees you have.
• 18:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Other than that, I mean it's really we trust your word on it.
• 18:22
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So we've never, and of course you know if someone was.
• 18:25
  Dorian Zwierewicz: McDonald's and they came in and they said oh yeah, we're a small business, we could look that up.
• 18:31
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Right exactly, but yeah, we do ask.
• 18:32
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I mean that RFC probably does take I'm not going to lie five to 10 minutes, and that's a long time when you're filling out a form.
• 18:39
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: But it is a very all-encompassing questionnaire that the federal government just requires us to ask and it gets you the information you need to properly send them to the correct consultant.
• 18:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, because we want to make sure that your connection with the consultants right the first time.
• 18:53
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So, outside of the consulting services that you do, you also put on workshops or training programs.
• 19:00
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I know there's a conference that I actually spoke at.
• 19:02
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So what things outside of just consulting do you do?
• 19:08
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, absolutely, and I will say that that probably makes the Florida SBDC among the top tier SBDC network.
• 19:15
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You guys just won an award.
• 19:16
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: We got to talk about this.
• 19:17
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, absolutely, I'll let you wrap that up.
• 19:20
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And then we got to talk about the award.
• 19:21
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Absolutely, don't want to forget.
• 19:24
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So with our training programs and, I guess, our ancillary services, so we do have normal workshops and webinars I usually say they're low cost, they're $50 or less and realistically I think we charge something like $5 or they're free.
• 19:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But these are going to be based on a variety of business topics how to start a business.
• 19:42
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We have banker panels.
• 19:44
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You know how to Is your bankable business?
• 19:50
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Thank you.
• 19:50
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, is your business bankable?
• 19:51
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Sorry, so we have different topics there, and then we also have marketing ones.
• 19:56
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we had one that you know how to advertise on Instagram or how to use Canva for your small business.
• 20:01
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So those topics, those training topics, are generally something like one to two hours and it's just if you have free time during lunch, you'll come in, you'll log on to the webinar and you'll just learn something and if you need to expand on that, you'll fill out the RFC.
• 20:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So those are going to be our typical trainings when we think of webinars and workshops.
• 20:23
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But our region also has two signature events here locally, and the first one is the one that you spoke at was.
• 20:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Women Excel.
• 20:28
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So this is a small business conference for women-owned businesses or future women entrepreneurs, and it's a one-day conference.
• 20:37
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's usually done in October and we probably get something like 150-ish small business owners attending.
• 20:45
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And the real mission of this conference in particular is let's connect women-owned businesses so that they get to expand their network locally, because connecting with local business owners is important, and especially like-minded individuals.
• 20:58
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Let's give them professional development so that they could learn how to grow their business and then we also connect them with the lending partners that are there, so it's a great way for them to just get some inspiration and networking for the day.
• 21:10
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And the second signature event we have is our Distinguished Entrepreneurs Award Ceremony.
• 21:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So this is just our annual awards dinner that we have, and it's really recognizing the small businesses in our community.
• 21:23
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And we also like to actually highlight our consultants as well during this one, because oftentimes the consultants win great awards and we have nowhere to share it, so we want to share it with the business owners that they're with and we try to celebrate our small business owners because they do so many.
• 21:41
  Dorian Zwierewicz: you know we mentioned it's the lifeblood of the economy.
• 21:43
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Our small business owners do so much in the local community that even they out of their humility don't necessarily share all the good work that they do.
• 21:51
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we created this event just specifically to celebrate the small businesses.
• 21:58
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, I've been to that event and it's wonderful.
• 22:00
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Oh, and one more thing I forgot.
• 22:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're going to actually release this, I think in January or February, but we're actually creating a CEO roundtable.
• 22:08
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Oh, wonderful.
• 22:09
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, and we're calling it CEO Exchange and we're picking something like 12 to 15 small businesses of different industries and I think the minimum required revenue is going to be a million dollars.
• 22:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But it's basically some businesses will start their business and they'll grow and then they get to this point where they kind of plateau out.
• 22:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So this program is specifically helping our businesses who they've already got their processes in line.
• 22:34
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They have their customers, their revenue, but they're ready to go.
• 22:36
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Okay, I want to jump from that $1 million company to be a $6 million company in a couple of years.
• 22:43
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we're excited to announce that hopefully in February.
• 22:46
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: That will be awesome.
• 22:47
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: That's wonderful.
• 22:49
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then, sorry, one more thing.
• 22:50
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, I'd love to hear all the stuff that you have coming down and then the award that we won so interestingly enough, the SBA.
• 22:58
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So when I think of an SBDC network, there's 63 different networks.
• 23:01
  Dorian Zwierewicz: There's an SBDC network in every state and US territory.
• 23:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: The SBA splits up the country into eight different regions.
• 23:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: In our region, actually, we didn't win the national award, but we were one of the eight finalists for SBDC Center of Excellence.
• 23:19
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It is a huge honor for an SBDC, I mean to be able to say, yeah, we were top 10 or top eight like definitely have bragging rights Right.
• 23:28
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we won that award and it's really due to the strength of our people, because we have wonderful people on our team, but also, as you see, the different training programs that go beyond your typical SBDC of we just consult with small businesses.
• 23:41
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right, we want to be ingrained in the community.
• 23:43
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right, because that is important, because you're in front of the people that I might not be an entrepreneur yet, but I've got something percolating and you want to be top of mind.
• 23:53
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Exactly, yeah.
• 23:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And we even have this with our outreach strategy of when we go to networking events.
• 23:59
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I tell my team, you may not necessarily get the client there, but you'll meet someone that will refer someone to you and we want to be there, you know, from cradle to grave.
• 24:08
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: theoretically, you know I always make it.
• 24:11
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: No, I.
• 24:12
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I always have this conversation with people and, like it's, you need to be open in situations.
• 24:17
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Whether you are dealing with something that is not perfect, there is a lesson to be learned in it, just like the people that you meet.
• 24:25
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: There's something to learn from every person that you meet, and yeah, connection whatever that may be so for my personal life.
• 24:32
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I have a quote that says something you never know how someone will influence your life.
• 24:36
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So it's really interesting, especially when I go to networking events.
• 24:40
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You just never know how they'll affect you and I try to just keep that's like my mantra right before I go into the door.
• 24:46
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, it's a great way to prep yourself to walk into a room to network, for sure.
• 24:51
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So I would love it if you could share a couple of success stories with I mean, obviously, confidentiality, but just a couple of success stories with people that you all have worked with.
• 25:03
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So you know the first one that comes to mind.
• 25:07
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I got an email, maybe a week and a half ago, of someone saying hey, I'm a Mexican American immigrant.
• 25:16
  Dorian Zwierewicz: My parents immigrated to this country and we were migrant workers farm workers and the parents started a produce business in 2020.
• 25:24
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And this person ended up.
• 25:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: He's running the business now, and he emailed me complimenting the consultant he was working with.
• 25:33
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And he said you know, I had this relationship in 2020 and we went from $350,000 and this year we're going to be on track to be a $4 million company.
• 25:43
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Oh my gosh, that is like crazy.
• 25:46
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It was.
• 25:46
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's absolutely incredible and this is someone that we're going to we're working on right now doing a success story, because we want to publish that.
• 25:54
  Dorian Zwierewicz: This is a great client to deal with.
• 25:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then, of course, you know, during the hurricane Hurricane Ian and and all the other ones that followed, realistically, any small business that you think of probably we touch them in some way or form.
• 26:13
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But it's interesting because we would help them get this disaster loan.
• 26:18
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And then two years later they come back and they say hey, we're past that.
• 26:23
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We need your help now with this long term recovery.
• 26:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And when a business owner says we did not close because we were able to work with you guys, that really says a lot.
• 26:35
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You know, I mean, it really touches you in a special way.
• 26:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So I'd say those two are probably really good success stories that I would think of.
• 26:42
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, I mean, and that's just two of them, right, there's so many out there that probably don't even say anything.
• 26:49
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: We know how that is right.
• 26:51
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Yeah, absolutely.
• 26:52
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And one more.
• 26:53
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we actually now have another client that just started a mobile coffee company.
• 27:00
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Oh, cool, and interesting enough, they also just hired their first employee.
• 27:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So we helped them from the very, very get-go with just the idea.
• 27:09
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And they came to us with the idea they had a very specialized type of truck that they wanted to buy from a foreign country, but it looked cool right.
• 27:19
  Dorian Zwierewicz: It's like a classic type of vehicle and it was interesting because the research that our consultant was able to help not just with starting the business.
• 27:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But okay, how on earth do we even bring this over?
• 27:30
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And things like this.
• 27:32
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I know some people will go, well, it's just one job or one business created.
• 27:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But when you start adding this stuff, you really see the impact that our team does on the community.
• 27:43
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right, because it's not just.
• 27:44
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: They may start out with just one employee but they could have 50.
• 27:49
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I mean, look at the produce company.
• 27:50
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I'm sure they have a lot of employees.
• 27:52
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Exactly, and that's exactly why we're here, is we help you when you're small, but then we help you grow into that.
• 27:58
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You know big business.
• 27:59
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Right.
• 28:00
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Still under 500 employees but Right.
• 28:02
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: But you're affecting the life of that owner and that owner's family, but you're also affecting the lives of all the people that they're able to hire.
• 28:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Absolutely, and when we think of even, let's say, the local challenges for a region.
• 28:15
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Right, the cost of living is expensive infrastructure, a lot of people are moving in.
• 28:20
  Dorian Zwierewicz: This is why.
• 28:22
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Our, you know, hurricane season and hurricane season.
• 28:26
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So it really puts it into perspective where the small work that you do, like you mentioned, you help the business be successful and that business owner right.
• 28:34
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They're holding their own, but they're also supporting small businesses.
• 28:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We had a client who is a dry cleaner and they were telling us their story because they've been with us since they purchased the business and they said during COVID we didn't let anyone go, and that's the mentality of a small business owner right and it really does trickle down and touch and affect the lives of our entire community.
• 28:58
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're just one puzzle piece as the SBDC for small business, but it touches the employees and in an indirect way it touches more people?
• 29:06
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, it does, absolutely.
• 29:07
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: So what would you tell someone who may be hesitant to reach out to the SBDC?
• 29:14
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: They're scared because they I mean people go oh my gosh, their government, like there are some connotations that people I'm sure make up in their head, or if they've heard, or whatever.
• 29:24
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: How would you get them off the fence to just come and have a conversation?
• 29:28
  Dorian Zwierewicz: You know what?
• 29:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: That's a great question, because we do get that so, interestingly enough, I guess the boring aspect we actually don't share the consulting sessions with the SBA.
• 29:41
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're not allowed to so this is the SBA's own rule, just to be, impartial.
• 29:46
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So everything when I say confidential, it really is confidential, unless, of course, a judge forces us to do it, then legally we just have to.
• 29:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But other than that, if someone is hesitant I mean because we're funded by taxpayer dollars I always say we're here to act in your best interest.
• 30:03
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I have nothing to sell to you.
• 30:04
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I just don't, I can't sell anything to you.
• 30:06
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So you're literally paying taxes for me to give you my professional, honest opinion on your business.
• 30:12
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And other people are often more hesitant with you know they're worried about oh man, we got a lot of baggage.
• 30:21
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I will also say yes, that's so true.
• 30:24
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We've seen everything.
• 30:25
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We have seen crazier people than whatever your business.
• 30:29
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Whatever you think is crazy, we've probably seen crazy and you know this is probably is crazy.
• 30:32
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: We've probably seen crazy.
• 30:33
  Dorian Zwierewicz: And you know this is probably something for you know, a discussion over drinks or anything.
• 30:36
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But I could tell you so many war stories.
• 30:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: But yeah, we've literally seen everything and that's okay.
• 30:43
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We have the experience.
• 30:44
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Our team comes from various different backgrounds.
• 30:47
  Dorian Zwierewicz: They have different specialties.
• 30:48
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So if someone is hesitant, I would really just say don't be.
• 30:51
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Backgrounds, they have different specialties.
• 30:53
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So if someone is hesitant I would really just say don't be.
• 30:55
  Dorian Zwierewicz: I mean, even if it's you just scheduling a meeting with a consultant and saying, can you just tell me about yourself and can we just talk, that's completely fine too.
• 31:02
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Even if there's no goal in the meeting, you'll probably get to something where you're like, okay, I trust this person, I can actually share more information with them.
• 31:08
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Yeah, cause you know there's the.
• 31:09
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: They think that they're going to be judged right and you have a no judgment zone.
• 31:18
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And we have a no judgment zone and but that's, I am sure, like if it's you know, oh my gosh.
• 31:20
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: You know somebody may think, oh my gosh, my company's a mess financially or or process wise or whatever.
• 31:27
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: They're knocking on your, they're scared to knock on your door because of their fear of being judged.
• 31:32
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: But you have a no judgment zone and you work with professionals and there's a non-disclosure agreement.
• 31:38
  Dorian Zwierewicz: So no judgment zone.
• 31:39
  Dorian Zwierewicz: We're here to help you.
• 31:40
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Of course, we always encourage people reach out to us sooner rather than later, because if you have any inkling or any feeling that there's some kind of problem in your business now don't let that grow Come to us and let's put it in its place.
• 31:56
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Let's mitigate any potential risks in the future, because that's what we're here for.
• 32:01
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know what the SBDC does, and having you share that with our listeners is invaluable information to them.
• 32:09
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: If our listeners would like to get ahold of you or the SBDC, how do they do so?
• 32:14
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Well, with my last name it will probably we'll put it in the show notes.
• 32:19
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: There we go.
• 32:19
  Dorian Zwierewicz: The easiest will be SBDCFGCUEDU and we have an about us and all of our contact info is there.
• 32:27
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Perfect, that will be the easiest.
• 32:28
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Wonderful.
• 32:29
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Thank you so much, Dor.
• 32:30
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: That will be the easiest Wonderful.
• 32:31
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: Thank you so much, Dorian, for being here with us today.
• 32:33
  Dorian Zwierewicz: Of course, thanks for having me.
• 32:35
  Jennifer Ann Johnson: And thanks to my listeners.