The Viera Studio

The Viera Studio

The COVID epidemic threw a lot of curve balls at nearly every small business, and those involved in the arts and cultural activities were no exception. Reinvention and sometimes even a fight for survival were the order of the day. Monica Toro Lisciandro, founder of The Viera Studio for the Performing Arts and director of the Black Box Theatre Programme, recognized immediately that the pandemic was taking a toll on her organization and turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at Eastern Florida State College (FSBDC at EFSC), a subcenter of the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF).

At the Viera Studio for the Performing Arts, they pride themselves on building confidence, creativity, and fun! Professional entertainers hold events and workshops year-round for all ages, including cabarets, showcases, and special one-night engagements. They like to say, “When you’re here, the fun never ends.” Through their programs, students can explore various aspects of theater including acting, singing, dancing, stage design, and production. Experienced and highly trained instructors guide them through every step of the process, from auditions to rehearsals to final performances.

“The Viera Studio is a special place to be because of the magic that our families and our students bring,” Monica Lisciandro states proudly. “All of our students and our families are uplifted. When our kids come in, they feel like they are supported and they’re seen, they’re heard, and they’re valued. Because of that, they’re able to excel and feel like they can be confident and truly be themselves.”

“I sought out guidance from the FSBDC because, after COVID, we really needed to pivot for our business,” recalls Lisciandro. “We needed the guidance and the support of the FSBDC and their knowledge in order to be able to move forward and continue our business and continue to be successful in the times we were facing.”

Working with FSBDC at EFSC sub-center director and consultant Robin Braswell and others, Lisciandro took advantage of the full spectrum of the FSBDC’s services: no-cost, expert consulting; business training workshops, seminars and webinars; and access to deep and broad market research databases and resources. “My journey with the FSBDC has been excellent,” Lisciandro affirms. “I’ve been able to consult with Robin about my business. I’ve received data about our marketing, about our website. I’ve been able to access a plethora of trainings that have helped me be able to develop and take my business onward and upward.”

“The FSBDC has really helped our business grow,” concludes Lisciandro. “Our clientele –students from children to adults – has increased. We have reached out to schools in the community, and they are very interested in partnering with us to bring our programs into their school. We have a bigger reach and are able to offer the arts programs to not only the kids who come to our studio but also to the community. My personal experience working with the FSBDC has been excellent. For anyone that’s considering working with them, I would highly recommend it.”

For information about The Viera Studio for the Performing Arts, please visit https://thevierastudio.com/.

Baby Fairy Tale

Baby Fairy Tale

Doing anything for the first time can be challenging and, for a small business owner who has her or his company’s future on the line – navigating new possibilities for expansion is no exception. For Diana and Tim Willis, owners of Baby Fairy Tale – a unique mother-to-be ultrasound video studio that captures enchanting, magical pre-birth baby moments in 3D/4D/HDLive – there were growth opportunities in unfamiliar territory before them, so they called upon the Florida Small Business Development Center at Eastern Florida State College (FSBDC at EFSC), a sub-center of the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF).

Baby Fairy Tale is an ultrasound clinic specializing in recording magical moments for the expecting mother and her loved ones. Beyond being a wonderful and unique way to make memories, what makes Baby Fairy Tale exceptional is its offer of a spacious theatre setting in which the mother-to-be and her family and friends can experience a remarkable and special moment. “Everybody leaves Baby Fairy Tale happy,” says Diana Willis proudly.

Customers have been flocking to Baby Fairy Tale and the Willises saw opportunity in expanding to a second location. “But how do we do that?,” they asked themselves. Their search for assistance led them to the FSBDC. “I had heard of the FSBDC but wasn’t sure what they did,” recalls Tim Willis. “So, I looked them up and got in contact with Robin Braswell (EFSC sub-center Director and FSBDC consultant),” he went on. Braswell described the FSBDC’s services: no-cost, expert consulting; business training seminars and webinars; and access to expansive market research and databases. “She’d send me emails about the different programs and projects that the FSBDC was doing around here,” Tim says, and it piqued his interest.

“We got more involved with the FSBDC when we decided to purchase a piece of property for a second location,” Tim Willis continued. “I contacted Robin and she immediately started sending me resources and recommendations. She connected me with an SBDC consultant who is an expert in capital access and loans, Maggie Incandela. She helped me write a business plan for Baby Fairy Tale and that business plan helped us to acquire a loan to buy the property for our second location.”

“It’s been wonderful working the FSBDC,” Willis shared. “Whenever I have a question or thought or doubt, I would write Robin and she would either answer that question, direct me to the right person or resource, or give me ideas. The other thing that’s really cool about working with the SBDC is they have meetings, like a lender’s panel, and different seminars that are super informative and helpful to grow your knowledge as a business owner.”

“The FSBDC has been very helpful” Willis concludes. “Since we started working with them, we’ve done a lot of things; the big one is starting to open a second location — getting the loan, buying the property and working on it. We’ve hired a second employee and now we’ve started on getting a loan for a second ultrasound machine. I would recommend the FSBDC to any business. I mean, why not? To get some free help, that’s awesome.”

For information about Baby Fairytale, please visit https://babyfairytale.com/home .

IRI; Innovative Routines International

Innovative Routines International (IRI)

Successful business owners seize opportunities when they see them. Even more successful business owners anticipate those opportunities and take steps in advance to prepare their companies to maximize the growth that can be achieved from changing markets and customer requirements.

David Friedland, as a business leader at Innovative Routines International, Inc. (IRI, Inc.), has identified several emerging market opportunities for his company. He turned to the Florida SBDC at Eastern Florida State College (FSBDC at EFSC) for operational advice that would better support IRI’s expansion path.

IRI is a long-running software development company –often called an independent software vendor (ISV) –that specializes in technologies for fast data management and data-centric security for customers around the world, large and small, across multiple industries. Management of big data and the protection of sensitive information are fast-growing segments of the software industry. IRI has been working to capture some of that growth as those segments mature and further evolve.

“We saw the chance to grow more rapidly amid industry changes and the resulting opportunities we’ve encountered,” recalls Friedland. “We were moving beyond one or two core products to a broader data management platform and richer product line offering.  We saw the FSBDC and its strategic consulting as a source of new knowledge that would help us scale better and modernize more of our internal processes.”

Working with Florida SBDC at EFSC sub-center Director Martin Duffy, Friedland and IRI sales director Lisa Mangino set to work in the areas that IRI wanted help in, including sales forecasting, pipeline management, customer marketing, and the streamlining of internal customer handling and financial reporting procedures. They took advantage of the FSBDC’s training seminars, consulting services, and market research tools to leverage existing IRI capabilities in the enterprise software business while adding fresh perspectives and approaches.

“It has been very positive working with the FSBDC,” says Mangino. “It confirmed that some of the things we were doing were right on the money, and highlighted others needing change or enhancement.”

Various FSBDC service strategies worked to IRI’s advantage. The FSBDC’s team approach to seminars brought together partners from the Small Business Administration and local professionals that helped IRI connect with SEO and digital marketing experts. Monthly accountability meetings with FSBDC consultant Duffy served to keep the company on track and build momentum.

“The proof is in the pudding,’ Friedland continued. “Business is up significantly, nearing 30 percent over last year. It’s significant. We credit the FSBDC for not only fattening our pipeline but also helping us manage it more efficiently.  We are now able to pursue the opportunities we have in front of us with more vigor and intelligence.”

“There’s always room to improve and get better,” Friedland states. “If you’re not learning, you’re falling behind. I’d tell any business owner to see the FSBDC if you want to grow, regardless of your current size or track. Just keep an open mind.

For information about Innovative Routines International, please visit www.iri.com/.

Owners of Millefiori Medical Skin Rejuvenation Kyle and Irish Graham

Millefiori Medical Skin Rejuvenation

Millefiori Medical Skin Rejuvenation; FSBDC, ASBDC

Owners Kyle and Iris Graham, and FSBDC at EFSC Area Director Marty Duffy (L-R)

Having a great idea for a new business is only the beginning for an entrepreneur. After the market has been researched and the business plan is written and the funding has been arranged, the company opens its doors. And that’s when the fun starts; now the business needs to be managed.

Iris and Kyle Graham, founders and owners of Millefiori Medical Skin Rejuvenation, had just that experience. Millefiori MSR is a boutique medical spa offering aesthetic skin care services including facials, chemical peels and micro-needling for tattoo removal, as well as Botox, laser and injection treatments. They cater to a high-end clientele in Melbourne, FL where they are extremely active in the community.

When they opened in 2015, the Grahams were first-time business owners and were inventing their business as they went along. “We used to do everything on paper,” Iris Graham recalls. “We were ‘Old School’. I balanced my checkbook. We had a spreadsheet, and a ledger, and the checkbook. It was so redundant.”

“I network a lot in our community,” continued Kyle Graham. “I was telling people about the 30 – 35 hours a month we were spending on our financial system. And someone said that the FSBDC could help us systematize it and make it a lot quicker.”

The Grahams contacted Martin Duffy, the area manager and a consultant at the Florida SBDC at Eastern Florida State College, a sub-center of the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF). “Working with the FSBDC, we went through the problems and diagnosed them and came up with a plan. Now we do everything electronically. Today we only spend 2 hours a month on our financials and all the information is at our finger tips,” Kyle says.

Getting their financial management house in order was only the beginning. The Grahams were already reviewing all of their business activities and codifying them into a company manual. The FSBDC’s support complemented this effort.  “We call it the Millefiori Bible,” Iris Graham notes. “Everything is written down. We have a process or procedure for everything in our business. We can now give our employees great training, they can do a great job and our clients get great service. Knowing we have it all down helps us sleep at night.”

The FSBDC team has also helped Millefiori MSR hone its marketing plan with in depth marketing research. “With the FSBDC’s assistance, we have gotten much better at understanding our target audience, segmenting it and reaching out to the right clients,” says Kyle Graham. “Since starting with the FSBDC, we’ve seen our business increase by 40% consistently, until this year when we have seen a 50% increase in revenue. We have been slammed!”

“The FSBDC is an amazing resource,” concluded Iris Graham. “It’s a huge opportunity for us to get very professional consulting at a high level like this, all at no cost. We’ve been able to improve as business managers. Now we have a laser-like focus on what’s important to increase our business. We would highly recommend the FSBDC to anyone.”

Pond Science; EFSC; FSBDC; Success Story

Pond Science

Water is a big issue for Florida and its future growth. Population growth, agriculture and industry threaten the natural beauty and water quality of our springs, waterways and wetlands. Invasive foreign plant life infests our ponds and streams. In the face of these challenges, there are solutions to be had and business opportunities to be pursued.

Pond Science LLC of Brevard County, FL, led by founder and owner Laura Parkel, was started 10 years ago to improve the ecology and enhance the natural beauty of Central Florida’s ponds and shorelines. Building on a B.A. in Limnology (Freshwater Ecology), her experience as an Aquatic Biologist at Walt Disney World and a subsequent M.S. in Soil and Water Science with emphasis in wetlands and aquatic systems from the University of Florida, through Pond Science LLC Parkel has set about “to create healthy, beautiful ponds” in two ways:  by revitalizing earth-bottom retention ponds and by building, rebuilding and/or repairing water gardens and features, and maintaining both.

By strategically deploying aerators to re-oxygenate the water and removing exotic nuisance weeds, Pond Science is able to rid retention ponds of muck, make the water clearer and cleaner and create a healthy environment for water creatures, insects and native plants. As trained and certified aquascape contractors, Parkel and her team are able build beautiful new water gardens, or repair and rebuild those that were originally installed by untrained developers and landscapers.

As worthwhile as Pond Science’s mission is, it is still a business and Parkel wanted to make sure it was sustainable and growing. Based upon her experience at weVentures, the Florida Institute of Technology’s program for ‘womenpreneurs’, she turned to Martin Duffy, a consultant at and the Area Manager of the Florida SBDC at Eastern Florida State College, a satellite office of the FSBDC at UCF. With support from Duffy and his FSBDC team, Parkel has been successfully growing her business ever since.

The assistance from the FSBDC has come in a variety of areas. Parkel and her employees attended seminars to build their marketing and finance knowledge. The company leveraged the FSBDC’s market research databases to identify business opportunities. And she benefited from Duffy’s consulting in the form of improved budgeting, financial forecasting and online marketing.

“My business has grown tremendously since we started working with the FSBDC,” says Parkel. “We have doubled our revenues and been able to hire two new employees. I may be an expert in aquatic science but, on the business side, I didn’t know what I didn’t know before. Now, with the help of the FSBDC, I want to see what else I need to know to take the company to the next level.”

“Building a marketing plan; financial management training; digital marketing best practices: these are just some of the services our team at the FSBDC can provide,” remarked Duffy. “We have the people to do labor-intensive market research as well as tools and databases that small businesses don’t have access to. Bring the whole package together and we are able to make a big difference in the community.”