Solutions By Salm

Solutions by Salm

When one is bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, there is no going back. The opportunity to chart your own course and deliver new and different solutions to customers – all while realizing your vision for the business you have invented – is often too compelling to ignore. For Jeff Salm, founder and owner of Palm Coast, Fl-based text marketing company Solutions By Salm, entrepreneurship felt like a calling. As he contemplated and then started his foray into entrepreneurialism four years ago, he turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) in Palm Coast for the support he needed.

Solutions By Salm works with business owners and non-profits to increase their customer bases and engagement. “I am in the text marketing business of marketing and advertising,” explains Jeff Salm, “helping business owners and general managers to stay connected with their audience through texting. We work directly and closely with you about your content and about how you communicate to your customers to drive more traffic and transactions. What we do is take your business from overlooked to overbooked via text messaging.”

Salm found the FSBDC through his sister who is a U.S. Small Business Administration executive in California, the SBA being the primary funding resource of the FSBDC. “I’ve always tried to do entrepreneurial-spirit type side businesses above and beyond what I normally did. My sister suggested the FSBDC, and I took her advice. I couldn’t be happier for that reference and actually being able to find a service that’s local and to work with an individual who knows my business and knew my demographics.”

As Florida’s principal provider of business assistance, as designated by the state of Florida, the Florida SBDC offers entrepreneurs and small business owners a range of valuable services, primary among them being expert business consulting; business training and education; and access to market data and research, all at little or no-cost. In the case of Solutions by Salm, through its Palm Coast-based FSBDC consultant Michael Oppenheim, the FSBDC aided with market research to identify sales prospects and consulting related to sales presentations and marketing promotions.

“At my first session with Michael, I was able to lay out my scope, my vision and we had an immediate connection,” Salm recalls. “And that connection goes through to today. He offered me a suite of services that were amazing to me that I didn’t even know were available. He easily shifted to fulfill my requirements, my needs, my scope and I was and am continually impressed with the number of products, services, the whole suite that goes along with the SBDC.”

Thanks to his entrepreneurial spirit, determination and business acumen, Salm’s business has achieved exponential growth since its launch. The FSBDC is proud to have assisted him in making his entrepreneurial dream come true.

For information about Solutions By Salm, please visit https://solutionsbysalm.com/ .

Flower shop, Palm Coast, Small Business

Blooming Flowers & Gifts

Success as an entrepreneur requires many personal qualities, none more important than perseverance. When combined with determination, resilience, and a strong work ethic, what might seem to be unremitting obstacles can be overcome. For Stephanie Caddy and her quest to buy a business in Palm Coast, there were times when a purchase seemed next to impossible. Fortunately, she turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) for guidance and achieved her dream of becoming a business owner.

Blooming Flowers & Gifts is a local florist that has been in business for 17 years at European Village, a one-stop-destination for all things dining, shopping, and entertainment, featuring seven eateries, multiple salons and boutique shops, six bars, and a few real estate offices. Blooming Flowers and Gifts offers a variety of flower arrangements, European dish gardens, gifts, and much more. Blooming Flowers was, in Stephanie’s opinion, a diamond in the rough with significant promise for growth, and the then owner was ready to entertain offers. Even so, Stephanie had a myriad of critical questions that needed to be addressed. What’s the market opportunity for a florist in Palm Coast and Flagler County? What’s the right price for the existing business? What kind of changes in marketing and operations would be required to realize the business’s full potential? And where could she find a bank loan to finance the acquisition? For those answers and more, Stephanie connected with the FSBDC at UCF.

“I sought out assistance from the FSBDC on the recommendation of a local banker,” as she recalls. “She told me that Palm Coast-based FSBDC consultant Michael Oppenheim was the one to contact and that he could give me guidance and help me through the process of purchasing the business.” With Oppenheim’s assistance and support, Stephanie set to work. “The services I received from the SBDC ranged from conducting a financial analysis and valuation of the current business, to developing a marketing approach, establishing myself within the community and receiving support in obtaining a loan,” Stephanie says today.

Of all the hurdles, finding a bank and moving through the application process to a successful conclusion was the most challenging. But with Oppenheim and the FSBDC by her side, after 13 months and working with five different lenders, Stephanie finally received the loan she needed. “Navigating the loan process was arduous and complex,” she states, “given that most of the banks have different requirements and paperwork submissions to qualify for their loans. The FSBDC was very helpful in getting me to the point where I was able to succeed at obtaining my loan.”

“My experience working with the FSBDC and Mike Oppenheim was amazing,” Stephanie concludes. “I would recommend to anybody looking to purchase a business to work with the FSBDC, to help them get the reports, do the analysis, find ways to build the business, to guide them through the financing. I am grateful to the FSBDC because going through the loan process was very difficult and without their assistance, I would probably have given up.” Stephanie did not back down however, and, thanks to her own and the FSBDC’s perseverance, she became the business owner she aspired to be, and now looks forward to a successful future.

For information about Blooming Flowers & Gifts, please visit https://www.bloomingflowersandgifts.com/.

Becca's Sweet Tooth

Becca’s Sweet Tooth

No matter how much confidence you have in your work, an extra pair of eyes is always a good thing. Rebecca Johnson, founder and owner of Becca’s Sweet Tooth in Bunnell, FL, is a firm believer that two heads are better than one, and that’s why she turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) for assistance.

Becca’s Sweet Tooth is a bakery and café, offering cupcakes, cookies, pastries and biscotti, and featuring Caribou Coffee, a beloved and rare premium coffee brand. Their motto is “Making life a little sweeter, one cupcake at a time.” “Here at Becca’s Sweet Tooth, I make everything here in house, all made from scratch, and all made with love,” Johnson says proudly. “I feel like that really makes a big difference.”

“The reason I sought out help from the FSBDC was that, although I have a background in restaurant and retail management, I felt like I was missing a few things, maybe a few details” recalls Johnson. “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing any steps or forgetting to file any paperwork. It was great to have a second set of eyes looking over everything and reminding me of anything I might have forgotten.”

The services offered by the FSBDC to entrepreneurs and business owners include no-cost, expert consulting, business training and workshops, and access to extensive market research resources. In Johnson’s case, she turned to Michael Oppenheim, an FSBDC consultant located locally in Palm Coast, for assistance with turning her dream of owning and operating a retail bakery into a reality. Over the course of nine months in 2021, Oppenheim assisted with building code and permitting issues; build out, equipment and food expense planning; financial pro forma creation and forecasting; and marketing.

“It was really helpful to have consulting from Mike Oppenheim of the FSBDC,” states Johnson. “For instance, we used the pro forma process to make sure that all my numbers were in order, like was I going to be profitable, were my food costs and pricing in line. I didn’t want anything to be inaccurate and wanted to account for everything, all the expenses I needed to plan on. It was really helpful to have all of that.”

“Working with the SBDC was great because I had another person in my corner checking in and seeing how things were going,” Johnson continued. “Mike would reach out and say ‘What can I do? Where are we at?’ and that definitely kept things on target.”

“When I first started with the FSBDC, I just had a concept. I wasn’t sure it was even feasible,” Johnson concluded. “To go from a dream I have had for over a decade to putting together real numbers; to finding a store front and getting all the renovations and construction done; to sourcing my own supplies and equipment; to go from there to opening a business.”

“Now I’ve been open a month. Customers are actually coming in. I even have repeat customers. It’s just been a super experience.” And the FSBDC is proud to have assisted Becca in making her dream come true.

For information about Becca’s Sweet Tooth, please visit https://www.beccassweettooth.com/.

Clean Eats Kitchen with the Florida SBDC at UCF

Refined Food Company

Eating Healthy; everybody wants to do it but nobody does it enough. And preparing those healthy meals every day isn’t easy, not for families or for singles. Jodee Soltes faced both challenges. Her son had special dietary needs which she had to address. And managing a family while building a second career as a Palm Coast high school teacher made time of the essence. Jodee Soltes found an answer. And then she decided to share it.

Clean Eats KitchenTogether with her son Joe, a soon-to-be culinary arts graduate, she developed a business idea: a full service prep kitchen, sourcing local, fresh, whole foods, built on a passion for a healthy lifestyle and dedicated to using food as not only enjoyment, but as a type of medicine. Offering three different meal plans – Light, Traditional and Athlete – with a wide ranging menu appealing to all tastes, as well as a Grab ‘N Go option, Soltes believed she had a winning business proposition that would serve the Flagler County community she loves: Clean Eats Kitchen.

But a great business idea is one thing; how to start a business is a second. That’s when Jodee Soltes turned to the Florida Small Business Development Center at UCF (FSBDC at UCF). “I needed help,” she recalls. “I felt like I had no clue about what to do. But I did know there was help out there, at the FSBDC.”

Soltes turned to the local FSBDC in Flagler County and consultant Mike Oppenheim for its no-cost, expert consulting services and access to broad, in-depth market research resources. They started with the basics and then they used the FSBDC’s access to market information to research the opportunity.

“We needed to develop a financial plan to prove the concept,” says Oppenheim. “We needed to make sure her vision worked. We did the necessary market research. In my four years at the Florida SBDC, no client has done more or better preparation and market research before diving into the pool. It all laid the groundwork for a winning Clean Eats Kitchen business plan.”

Since starting their work with the FSBDC and consultant Oppenheim, the mother-son team of Jodee and Joe Soltes and Clean Eats Kitchen has had a whirlwind of success. With the help of the FSBDC, they found an excellent Palm Coast location; got the city permits and approvals they needed; obtained a loan from a local bank (never an easy thing for any start-up business); set up the store front and kitchen; and opened their doors in March 2019.

Clean East Kitchen: “The Easy Way to Eat Clean“ goes their slogan. And since opening, business has been good as the health conscious of Flagler County have found and started using this great, new source of eating well and eating smart.

“It was fantastic working with the FSBDC,” concluded Jodee Soltes. “I absolutely couldn’t have done it without them and without the support of Mike Oppenheim, Ray Peter and their administrative powerhouse Leanna Bourke. They are an invaluable resource to entrepreneurs and small business owners.”

For information about Clean Eats Kitchen, please visit www.cleaneatsflagler.com.

Kascel Therapy, Florida SBDC at UCF - Palm Coast

Kascel Therapy

Striking the balance between delivering quality health care while building a successful small business is no mean feat. You come into the undertaking with the training and experience necessary to help your clients but then often must add new and unfamiliar business management skills and knowledge. It is a challenge that can be met and mastered, if you get help.

And that’s what Jennifer Baker and husband Kevin did when they launched Kascel Therapy, LLC – they found help from Ray Peter, area manager and consultant at the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) in Palm Coast.

Kascel Therapy, LLC is a pediatric occupational therapy company providing outpatient clinic and early intervention services. They teach children how to improve the cognitive, self-care, sensory and play skills they need throughout the day.

The company mission is “Helping Children Reach Their Potential”.  With over 16 years’ experience as a certified pediatric occupational therapist, Jennifer Baker pursues that mission with each and every client while her husband Kevin manages the business operations.

The Bakers came to Florida 7 years ago and initially Jennifer operated as a sole practitioner and contractor working for a larger organization. But changes in direction and business structure at the larger company prompted the Bakers to decide to go their own way and start their own, independent business. “We had no idea what we were getting into,” says Jennifer Baker. “We just knew that something had to change if we were to continue serving our clients the way we wanted to. That’s why we turned to the FSBDC.”

“The FSBDC has been a guiding light through all of this,” Jennifer Baker recalls. “Ray took us by the hand and showed us the way. He led us through the whole business building process. Creating the business plan, the financial plan, from billing to insurance to marketing, he helped us with everything. The FSDBDC’s resources are amazing.”

“Running a business was uncharted territory for us,” says Kevin Baker. “Leasing, licensing, negotiating, financial management. It was all new. But primarily through the FSBDC’s consulting and guidance, we made progress. They helped Jennifer take what are exceptional skills and turn them into an exceptional business.”

Today Kascel Therapy, LLC is a small business success story. The Bakers have succeeded at providing quality client care while building and managing a growing business. What began as serving zero children grew to a trickle of 5 but now stands at almost 50 pediatric occupational therapy clients. They have moved to a new, larger facility. New processes and procedures are in place to manage the business.

“The guidance from the FSBDC has helped us grow, there is no doubt about it” concluded Jennifer Baker. “I can’t imagine us having had our success without their assistance.”

FSBDC, Ray Peter, Channel Side, Shane Bonner

Channel Side

Small business success stories sometimes go beyond the entrepreneur and the enterprise itself, and extend on to other local businesses and into the community. That’s the story for Shane Bonner, a founder and principal at Channel Side, the brand-new boutique venue on the water, set in the heart of Palm Coast, Florida’s 23 miles of saltwater canals.

Channel Side specializes in hosting weddings at a state-of-the-art facility in a strikingly beautiful, natural setting, but is also superb for Sweet 16 parties, anniversaries, and corporate meetings – any event that seeks to accommodate from 50 – 200 guests and chooses to be one to remember. What sets Channel Side apart is that its clients can create the atmosphere and the event of their dreams because they are able to bring in service providers of their choice –independent caterers, beverage providers, and other vendors of all kinds – and not locked into someone else’s food & beverage menu or event plan.

For Bonner, Channel Side was originally simply a real estate investment, and he believed a good one. “When we started out, I knew we had purchased a really great facility in a really great location but we weren’t certain how best to use it,” Bonner recalls. It was then that he turned to the Florida SBDC at UCF – Palm Coast (FSBDC at UCF) and its area manager Ray Peter for no-cost business consulting on how best to proceed.

“From what we were originally thinking to what we finally came to were two very different things, and the FSBDC was a huge contributor to us getting there,” Bonner says. “Ray Peter and the FSBDC were instrumental in re-framing our discussions and our persuading ourselves that leveraging the property’s legacy purpose – as a yacht club/country club – into an event space was our best course of action.”

“And then the FSBDC was there for us as put together our operational plans, and worked with the City of Palm Coast to get the permits and licenses we needed,” continued Bonner. “I couldn’t have done this without the FSBDC, in fact. There was so much that I didn’t know. Without their knowledge of how a business like this works and how to get things done locally, I don’t think we’d have gotten Channel Side off the ground.”

“But here we are! Less than a year in business, and we have hosted more than 100 events and have reservations for another hundred in the months ahead. We have surpassed our stretch goals by a huge margin,” Bonner remarked. “Originally we thought Channel Side would be a local concept, catering to Palm Coast and neighboring towns. Now we are getting calls from around the country. We’ve become a wedding destination!”

“Best of all, we have partnered with local businesses to serve our clients,” Bonner concluded. “Area florists, photographers, hotels, restaurants, caterers and others are all benefiting from spending by our local and out-of-town guests. Beyond the success of our business, we are so proud that Channel Side is having a positive economic impact here in Palm Coast. And I can’t imagine that happening without the assistance of the FSBDC.”

CrossFit Bearcat

CrossFit BearCat

Jody Prince and Cathy Mittelstadt have a mission: to “Unleash Your Potential”. It comes from a passion for physical fitness, skills and abilities that they strive to share with their Flagler County, FL community. And this isn’t even their day job; Prince works in disaster recovery for a large insurance company and Mittelstadt manages operations for a county school district.

But it’s their passion for fitness – theirs and yours — that prompted them to become co-owners and founders CrossFit BearCat five years ago, featuring the CrossFit fitness regimen. Built upon constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity designed to improve fitness and health, it’s not just for the top athletes who have embraced it worldwide; CrossFit works for the average individual looking to become healthier in a short time.

CrossFit BearCat built a loyal following early on. But Prince and Mittelstadt wanted more for their members and coaches. It drove them to look for ways to improve the CrossFit workout experience they offered. “We were looking to expand, to put us in the right space,” says Prince. “We called a local community bank for help with financing. While welcoming, their first question was: ‘Do you have a business plan? And three year financial projections?’ I didn’t have either and I was stumped.”

“Fortunately, that very same banker referred us to the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) in Palm Coast,” added Cathy Mittelstadt. “And that’s where we met with Michael Oppenheim, one of the FSBDC at UCF’s consultants,” continued Prince. “I was so energized by our first meeting. He showed me so much. How to start my business plan. How to approach my 3 year projections. He gave me templates and ideas and guidance. From then on, the FSBDC was there for us and making sure we got it right every step of the way.”

“Going into this venture, it all seemed so daunting,” remarked Mittelstadt. “We wondered if we would ever get to the finish line. Having the FSBDC there to help was incredibly powerful and made so much possible.”

With assistance and coaching from their FSBDC consultant, the CrossFit BearCat co-owners prepared their business plan and developed their financial projections. “Working with the FSBDC has been phenomenal,” Prince says. “Now we better understand our forecasts and our business model, and what we need to do to sustain and grow our business so we are here for our members and coaches for a long time.”

Not surprisingly, given their determination and hard work, and some help from the FSBDC at UCF – Palm Coast, Prince and Mittelstadt and CrossFit Bearcat applied for and got their loan. They have built an exciting new facility on East Moody Boulevard in Bunnell that will enable them to better serve their current members, as well as new ones. “We did it,” concluded Mittelstadt. “The FSBDC gave us a path and the confidence to proceed. Now we have what we need to help realize our dream for CrossFit Bearcat: to “Unleash Your Potential.”

BedTop, FSBDC, UCF, Palm Coast, Flagler

Bedtops Mattress Clearance Center

Imagine moving your home more than 1200 miles and starting a new business in a new and unfamiliar city… simultaneously.  Sounds like a steep climb, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly what Judy and Gary Lemay did. And they couldn’t be happier.

They have fallen in love with their new hometown of Palm Coast and its residents, “the nicest people in the world” according to the Lemays. At the same time, they have successfully launched and are now watching their new company, Bedtops Mattress Clearance Center, build a loyal customer base and grow into a profitable local business.

Bedtops Mattress Clearance Center sells brand new, name brand, direct-from-the-manufacturer mattresses which allows them to offer their customers the lowest possible prices. “Make us your last stop and best stop in mattress buying,” says Judy Lemay. Our company prides itself in making deliveries available using local people who are polite and caring. “We’re all family here” states Judy.

The Lemays will be the first to tell you they didn’t get the business up and running and growing alone. “We didn’t know the market. We didn’t know what location to pick. We didn’t know if we’d get a warehouse,” says Gary Lemay. “So, the first thing we did was go to the Palm Coast Business Assistance Center (BAC). That’s where we found the Florida SBDC at UCF-Palm Coast and FSBDC consultant Mike Oppenheim. Mike and the FSBDC have made all the difference.”

The Florida SBDC offers entrepreneurs and business owners expert, no-cost consulting, business training workshops and seminars and access to major market research database resources. Thanks to Oppenheim, the Lemays were able to benefit from many of these services.

“At the beginning, I’m not sure how fast we would have moved,” remarked Judy Lemay. “We were pretty sure we could be successful. But after we met with Mike Oppenheim, we said ‘We can do this. We can make this happen.’ And so we did.”

The FSBDC provided the Lemays with the outline for how to open their business in Palm Coast. Through Oppenheim, it provided tax information they needed, direction on signing up for a resale certificate, market data on local demographics and possible warehouse /sales office locations. All in the Lemay’s first meeting with him.

“As an entrepreneur, when you get excited about your business, sometimes you can be tempted to spend money too fast,” continued Gary Lemay. “You want to do this. You want to do that. You see opportunities everywhere. That’s where the FSBDC came in. We were fortunate to have Mike advising us because he would get our feet back on the ground and help us take things one step at a time.”

“To all the entrepreneurs out there, we say ‘Go use the resources of the FSBDC’ because there’s going to be something you didn’t think of or something you didn’t plan for. And when that happens, the folks at the FSBDC have your back. It’s the only way to go.”