Family First Firm

“Transformative.” When an entrepreneur uses that word to describe the assistance he has received from your organization, and then goes on to say participation in one of your programs was “truly a life and business changing experience,” you take note. Especially when that entrepreneur is a practicing lawyer leading a highly successful law firm.

Family First Firm

Family First Firm’s Geoff Hoatson

Geoff Hoatson, attorney, founder and owner of the Family First Firm, a leading elder law firm, used exactly those words to describe the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (Florida SBDC at UCF) and its award-winning Advisory Board Council (ABC) program.

The Family First Firm is unique in many ways. First, it prides itself in being “Your Elder Law Expert,” specializing in all aspects of legal services for seniors including guardianship, probate, estate planning, Medicaid and more. It also charges flat fees for its work. None of that hourly billing that is the legal community’s industry standard. “I don’t like giving anyone a blank check,” says Hoatson. “Why would I ask that of our clients? We’re here to help them.”

Hoatson came to the FSBDC after working with a business coach specializing in law firms. “I felt like I’d outgrown what they could do for me,” he recalls. “The issues I was running into were more corporate and not typical of a small law firm. I had always wanted to focus on the firm as a business, but I just didn’t have the tools necessary to do it. So, I applied to the FSBDC’s Advisory Board Council program by contacting its program manager Jill Kaufman.”

An Advisory Board Council is a customized, no-cost board of experts providing advice and counsel to help businesses grow.  The FSBDC acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses like the Family First Firm and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.

“My Advisory Board really helped me identify what I needed to be doing in order to take the next step in my business,” says Hoatson. “It was made up of experts from my industry, with experience in operations, marketing and communications, and finance. With their guidance, and help from my FSBDC consultant Pauline Davis, for the first time in the 10 years I’ve been in business, I’ve been able to look ahead and strategize about our growth and know how we want to get where we want to go.”

“My Advisory Board Council really changed the way I looked at my business. It allowed me to transform what we’ve been doing into what we’re becoming,” Hoatson continued. “And our business results tell the tale. Over the 18 months we worked with our ABC board, our revenues increased almost 190%; we more than doubled in size in terms of employees; and we have expanded beyond our original location to a second building and are now looking at a third.”

“I can’t think of a reason not to participate in the Advisory Board Council program,’ Hoatson concluded. “It’s all upside, no downside.”

For information about FAMILY FIRST FIRM, please visit www.familyfirstfirm.com.

KeyCom Technologies

KeyCom Technologies

Owning and running a small business isn’t easy. Certainly there are perks: you are your own boss, you reap the rewards of your work directly, you chart the course for your business and your future. But offsetting those benefits is the responsibility on your shoulders for your business, your customers, your employees and more. You have to make decisions, often with limited information and no one to advise you. It’s no wonder they say “it’s lonely at the top.”

Finding a solution to the feeling of isolation that can come with being a small business owner was the challenge that Phil Medina, President and owner of KeyCom Technologies, needed to pursue. It was within the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) and its CEO XChange program that he found the answers and support he had been seeking. CEO XChange is an executive roundtable program that offers a confidential setting for business leaders to discuss vital issues, opportunities and trends with a group of peers.

CEO XChange Program Manager Hal Thayer with KeyCom's Phil Medina

CEO XChange Program Manager Hal Thayer with KeyCom’s Phil Medina

KeyCom Technologies is a full-service design, installation, and support organization for a wide spectrum of technologies tied to carrier services, phone systems, access control, surveillance, data networks, Wi-Fi, and infrastructure utilizing fiber optics in the ground and data cables in the walls. They have been particularly strong outfitting assisted living facilities, schools, and auto dealerships, but have worked in almost all environments. At the helm of a 35 year old, fast-moving technology firm having served 5,000+ business customers, Medina has a lot on his plate.

“Originally we were a pure telecom company, doing old-fashioned phone systems,” recalls Medina. “Over the years we began casting a much wider technology net, but back in 2008-9 when the world was falling apart economically, there were different decisions to be made that required more than just tech innovation.”

“I tried other CEO groups, names you’d recognize, but they were expensive and didn’t have what I wanted,” continued Medina. “Then I discovered the FSBDC’s CEO XChange. It’s a group of business leaders who’ve been there, done that. They provide feedback loops and insight into all kinds of skin-your-knee experiences without you having to go through them yourself.”

“Since we started with the CEO XChange almost 9 years ago, KeyCom is much healthier, much happier, and seeing consistent annual growth in the areas pursued,” Medina went on. “But that almost misses the point. Although we’ve seen solid top-line growth, the really big change is our business model. We’ve transitioned from a transactional sales model to a recurring revenue model. That required a full commitment to the long-game we feared undertaking, but we gained considerable courage by bouncing the plan off of my peer group at CEO XChange.”

“The CEO XChange is a safe environment with smart people who listen to your issues, offer you feedback, and leave you with action items you can execute,” concluded Medina. “It’s been a very, very good return on my investment in terms of time, money, and outcomes. Without the CEO XChange, it probably would have taken twice as long to implement this transition that has opened the door to a much brighter future for my company.”

For information about KeyCom Technologies, please visit www.keycom.net.

PurgARTory Makeup

PurgARTory

The intersection of creativity and commerce can be hard to find for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Transforming an idea into a business, then imbuing that idea with the passion and desire of an artist, takes energy and resilience and courage. Professional artist Lynne Schaffer had those qualities and more when she came to the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) for assistance with launching and building her art, makeup and fashion brand, the House of PurgARTory, beginning with PurgARTory Makeup by Lynne Schaffer.

Schaffer’s vision for her company and her brand is clear. “We celebrate edgy sophistication, confidence and individuality, glamour and affordable extravagance.  We’re about being vintage, classy, dark, and fun! It’s for strong, independent, creative, bad-ass dames!” says Schaffer. While fashion and art are in the future, Schaffer launched with PurgARTory cosmetics that she says “brings you back to basics with the Classics, the Essentials. We are the affordable luxury, high-quality, richly pigmented, versatile, universal, skin care infused makeup for all skin colors and types.”

Schaffer came to PurgARTory with a visual arts background and more than 15 years as a professional makeup artist representing luxury brands like Dior. “My experience was all on the creative side of the world, with some sales and marketing thrown in,” recalls Schaffer. “But I had some concerns about starting and running a business without guidance about the technical and regulatory issues, as well as wanting to learn everything I need to know about marketing, finance, accounting and the like. That’s why I came to the FSBDC.”

“At the outset, it all seemed too huge and overwhelming for me to take on by myself,” Schaffer continued. “I’d heard that the FSBDC offered courses and workshops, so I signed up to get a foundation of knowledge. From the start, working with the FSBDC has been a very good experience that far exceeded my expectations.”

“First and foremost, and by far the most important and beneficial assistance I received from FSBDC, is the one-on-one, confidential, no-cost consulting I have received from Chuck Wheeler, my FSBDC consultant,” says Schaffer. “The quality of his guidance and his professionalism is what struck me. He walked me through every step of the process. It was so reassuring to work with someone who has had personal experience with the challenges I was dealing with.”

From its start more than a year ago, PurgARTory Makeup by Lynne Schaffer has grown into a successful business. Schaffer is collaborating with others in the arts community, scheduling special makeup events at boutiques and hair salons, and was featured at a fashion show in a prominent local art gallery. She is producing “Pop Up” shops where she works directly with clients introducing the advantages of PurgARTory Makeup by Lynne Schaffer.

“It’s such a relief to know you’re not alone in running your business,” concluded Schaffer. “It can be scary. I don’t feel that way anymore, though, thanks to the FSBDC and Chuck. Their main goal is for us to succeed and that’s just what’s happening for me.”

For information about PurgARTory Makeup, please visit www.purgartory.com.

Kern Halls of Ingenious Culinary Concepts with FSBDC at UCF Consultant Jairo Batista

Ingenious Culinary Concepts

Hitting a bump in the road goes with the territory when you are a small business owner. The challenge for an entrepreneur is to know what to do when you hit that bump. When Kern Halls, founder and chief innovator of Ingenious Culinary Concepts, encountered a slowdown in the growth of his company, he decided his best bet was to seek assistance from the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF).

Ingenious Culinary Concepts (ICC) core business is helping Kindergarten through grade 12 school food service programs be successful, both in terms of satisfying their student customers and minimizing, if not eliminating, expenses for their school system. Saving children from hunger translates to them doing better academically. And, because school lunch programs rely heavily on federal funding, if they are underutilized and don’t make the most of the available federal dollars, then the excess costs fall on the local school district.

Enter Kern Halls and Ingenious Culinary Concepts. Using extensive food service experience and expertise, the company brings a process-oriented approach to building a marketing strategy focused on atmosphere, operations, menu and food quality. The goal is single minded: to persuade students to eat in the cafeteria. It’s why their tag line is “We Bring your Customers to the Table.”

As with many small businesses however, ICC’s growth had plateaued. “We hit a little bump in revenues so I went to the FSBDC,” Halls recalls. “I’d heard they had great consultants and great knowledge that could help companies like mine get over hurdles like I was facing. And, Boy, was I right.”

Halls took advantage of the FSBDC’s no-cost, expert business consulting; seminars and workshops; and market research resources. Working with FSBDC consultant Jairo Batista, who provided a website analysis and social media recommendations, Halls redesigned his marketing strategy and increased its effectiveness. Thanks to Batista, he also consulted with Steve South, Procurement Specialist and manager of the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the University of Central Florida (PTAC at UCF), who assisted him with pursuing government business certifications as well as identifying government contracting opportunities.

“Jairo and the FSBDC really have a command of marketing, with a real depth of understanding,” says Halls. “He made sure we got everything we needed to achieve growth for our company. And Steve opened our eyes to what’s out there. He showed us the systems available to us for finding government contracts, and he guided us through the certification process. Both have helped us win big contracts.”

“Since starting with the FSBDC, our revenues have doubled over last year,” Halls continued. “We wanted to spread our wings and diversify our revenues, and we have. We’ve grown fast and now are so busy we are hiring. Going forward, we’re looking for the FSBDC help us with a strategy to manage that growth, while staying lean but still adding clients and revenues.”

Kern Halls hit a bump in the road but he knew what to do; he got help in the form of assistance from the Florida SBDC and Florida PTAC at the University of Central Florida.

For information about Ingenious Culinary Concepts, please visit www.ingeniouscc.com .

Roger Greenwald, Dave Holt and Jill Kaufman

GPServ

“Expert Guidance. Trusted Results.” That’s the business mantra at GPServ, Inc., a leading purveyor of surveying, mapping and field instruments and supplies to professionals in the engineering, surveying, and construction industries. Think GPS, optical, laser, hydro and drone equipment; practically everything a land surveyor might need.

Founder and president Dave Holt puts a lot of stock in that mantra, applying it not only to what he promises his customers but to how he runs his business as well. It’s a philosophy that led him to the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) and its Advisory Board Council (ABC).

“GPServ had been in business 15 or so years and we were doing fine,” recalls Holt. “We always turned a profit, had expanded carefully, moved into a new building, added services. But we weren’t growing as fast as I thought we could. I had heard about the FSBDC’s Advisory Board Council through the National Entrepreneur Center and wanted to learn more.”

Dave Holt; GPServ,Inc.; Advisory Board Council Client

Dave Holt, GSPServ

Designed for established, second-stage companies, the Advisory Board Council is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and counsel to help businesses grow.  It acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses like Holt’s and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.

“I wasn’t confident that my approach to understanding and managing company finances was solid enough,” Holt remembers. “And I thought there was room for improvement in our general management and we can always be better at marketing.” It was towards addressing these issues that Jill Kaufman, the program manager of the ABC, built GPServ’s Advisory Board while FSBDC consultant Roger Greenwald assisted Holt with implementing its recommendations.

“My Advisory Board helped me understand we had a good business going, that we were making money but there were things we could do to grow,” Holt says today. “They helped us with our finances, our management, our marketing. Sometimes it’s really hard to focus because there is so much going on day to day. The Board really helps you narrow down the things you need to work on. For me, it was invaluable.”

The results speak for themselves. “When we started with the ABC, we had 5½ employees and revenues in the $3 million ballpark. Since that time, we’ve expanded to 12½ employees, our revenues have doubled and our profits have tripled,” Holt states. “I feel like the FSBDC and my Advisory Board were instrumental in helping us grow.”

“If I were to counsel another business owner who has the opportunity to take advantage of the Advisory Board Council, I would really encourage them to do so. You get a group of people who have a wide range of skills – none of which I had – who help you throughout the full width of your business. It was just so valuable for me and my business.”

“Expert Guidance. Trusted Results.” True for GPServ, Inc. and apparently for the FSBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council as well.

For information about GPServ, Inc., please visit www.gpserv.com.

Revology

Revology Cars

Smart entrepreneurs are the ones who know they don’t know everything. And who then go out to find the help they need, to fill the holes they may have to make their businesses successful.

Tom Scarpello is one of those smart entrepreneurs. He’s the founder and president of Revology Cars, LLC, a manufacturer and builder of totally cool, brand-new (and updated with modern technology and features), Ford-licensed reproduction classic 1960’s Ford Mustang and Shelby GT automobiles. Revology is the first company to ever be licensed by the Ford Motor Company to build reproductions of any of its vehicles in the company’s more than a century of existence. That’s how good Revology Cars is and how true to the original the vehicles it builds are.

When he started Revology, Scarpello brought 26 years of corporate auto industry experience to his new company but believed he needed to know more. “While I have a good base of technical and functional skills in my areas of expertise, I had not been exposed to a lot of the elements of running my own business,” he recalls.

Tom Scarpello and Pauline Davis

Tom Scarpello and Pauline Davis

It was then that he turned to the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) for assistance, in the form of both business training and consulting. “You can improve anything,” says Scarpello. “The FSBDC’s seminars are extremely valuable for entrepreneurs who are experts in their subject matter, but may not have expertise in running a business. I had a good experience there. It’s unusual to have an essentially free resource like the FSBDC that’s actually valuable. It is almost too good to be true, but then turns out to in fact be true.”

Beyond its business training, Scarpello also took advantage of the FSBDC’s no-cost consulting. As his business grew, the need for capital to finance that growth became apparent. Scarpello connected with FSBDC consultant Pauline Davis, an expert in accessing capital, to help him prepare a presentation or “pitch” to potential investors. “I had never done an investor pitch before,” Scarpello recalls. “I’d read books and watched videos but never really gone through the process.”

“The FSBDC was an outstanding resource that helped us to be very prepared for our pitch. They put together a panel of mock investors that allowed us to practice and fine tune our presentation,” says Scarpello. “Ultimately we were successful and able to raise the $2 million in funding we needed.”

“The FSBDC was a great partner. They have people who are or have been entrepreneurs, who are or have been investors, who have the experience, who have been through this before and were able to give us excellent guidance,” Scarpello went on. “We raised our capital really quickly. It made us wonder if we could have gone for more or, more likely, if maybe we were just really well prepared as a result of going through this process with the FSBDC.”

“Today Revology Cars is growing really, really quickly,” concluded Scarpello. “Since we raised our funding, we’ve been able to hire new employees, buy new tooling and equipment and expand our existing facility. We’ve increased our production capacity. That’s all a result of successfully accessing new capital and that was, in part, a result of the work we did with the FSBDC.”

For information about Revology Cars, please visit www.revologycars.com.

Desiree Aviles, Owner of WaxMe

WaxMe

Have you ever wanted to be your own boss? Have your own company? Be the 100% beneficiary of your hard work? Desiree Aviles did and decided to start her own business. But, she asked, “where do I start?”

Although early in her career, Aviles was already a successful aesthetician with a loyal client following at a highly-regarded Orlando spa. All thanks to her expertise as a skilled and licensed body waxing technician. Like many first-time entrepreneurs, however, she was not an experienced business planner or manager.

“I had no idea how to start or run a business,” Aviles recalls. “Not a clue. And I don’t have friends who have their own businesses either. I felt like I could never have done what needed to be done on my own. So I decided to go to the FSBDC to see what I could learn from them.”

And that’s what Desiree Aviles did. She went to the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) and attended its “How to Start Your Business” training class. Then she followed that by meeting with FSBDC consultant Chuck Wheeler.

FSBDC at UCF Consultant Chuck Wheeler with WaxMe Owner Desiree Aviles

FSBDC at UCF Consultant Chuck Wheeler with WaxMe Owner Desiree Aviles

“It’s like I said, this was all new to me. I didn’t know about business entities, EIN numbers, breakeven analysis,” Aviles continued. “But then the FSBDC took me through everything I needed to get started.”

“Walking into that class, I felt a little intimidated because of my lack of knowledge. But I was made to feel very at ease right away. Then I sat down with my consultant and he helped me so much. He was always there for me as I moved ahead. Anytime I had a question or needed help, he was there.” As a result of Aviles’s hard work and the assistance of the FSBDC, her new business WaxMe – a studio offering full body waxing for men and women, “from the face all the way down to the toes,” using only organic hard wax – was started. She has now been in business a few months and is off to a great start. “Business has been booming,” she reports. “Between my loyal clients and some new ones I have found through marketing online, I am already making money. In fact, I hit breakeven within 5 days of opening my doors.”

“It has been great working with the FSBDC. If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t be here,” new business owner and successful entrepreneur Aviles says today. “They are exceptional. No one else will sit down with you and go into such detail on how to start a business. There’s so much involved that I didn’t know about but my consultant and the FSBDC did, and they guided me through.”

“I know there is more I have to learn and I will be using the FSBDC to help me,” concluded Aviles. “I plan to continue attending their seminars, and will be meeting regularly with my consultant for his counseling. Their assistance and service has been exceptional from beginning to end. And this isn’t the end for WaxMe; it’s only the beginning.”

Joe Brotzman, Jill Kaufman and Troy Hage (L-R)

Atlantic Stonework

Confidence. For owners of small- and medium-sized business, it can make all the difference. Faced with challenges of all sorts – from competition to staffing to cash flow – while constantly considering opportunities with new customers, new products and new business lines, leaders need to make decisions and make good ones if their companies are to thrive. And being confident in those decisions means faster action, stronger follow through and better results.

Troy Hage and Joe Brotzman, owners of Atlantic Stonework CFL, have been making good decisions from the start but thought they could do better. Atlantic Stonework is in the business of offering high quality, turn-key hardscape installations – pavers, coping, travertine, retaining walls – to residential and commercial customers. Hage came to the company after having multiple businesses over the years, but he came with a nagging doubt. “You never know if you’re making the right decision or the wrong decision, until after the fact,” he recalls. “You are always looking for someone to talk to, to ask questions, to help reassure you that you’re making the right choice.”

Hage had learned that advisory boards are a great source of guidance and a small business ‘best practice.’ “I was in the process of creating an advisory board on my own when I learned about the Florida SBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council program. It was award-winning. There was no cost. Past clients endorsed the program enthusiastically. It was just what I was looking for,” he says now.

An FSBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council (ABC) is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and counsel to help businesses grow.  The FSBDC acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses like Atlantic Stonework and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.

“Truly, our Advisory Board Council was a blessing,” says Hage. “Jill Kaufman, the ABC program manager, put together a great team for us. There was a banker, a CFO and a sales & marketing expert, both from the construction industry, and a human resources practitioner. I called them our “Dream Team” because they were that good. We learned so much.”

“The guidance and direction from our advisory board was invaluable,” Brotzman says. “Just bouncing ideas off them and getting their feedback helped us tremendously. We even did a successful start-up business while they were advising us. That’s a first for the ABC!”

“The number one thing that we got from our advisors was the understanding that a lot of the decisions we were making were the right decisions,” continued Hage. “It boosted our confidence in a big way. Now we’re coming into situations more assured, making better choices and being a lot more successful.”

“In fact, since starting with the FSBDC’s Advisory Board Council program, our revenues have increased 57%. At the same time we were able to reduce our sales territory and become more efficient, yet serve more customers,” concluded Hage. “More confidence is what we got from the FSBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council, and it’s been great for Atlantic Stonework.”

Common Sense Office Furniture

Common Sense Office Furniture

Craig Caswell and the company he founded and has built into a Central Florida success story – Common Sense Office Furniture — exemplify the best of what it means to be an entrepreneur and small business owner. And this is a special time for Caswell as he celebrates Common Sense’s 20th Anniversary in business.

Success as a small business like that deserves special recognition. And so it is that the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) has chosen Caswell and Common Sense Office Furniture as its SBDC Day Company of the Year.  Wednesday March 21, 2018 is the second annual SBDC Day, a national movement to help raise awareness about the service offerings and impact of America’s SBDCs –- the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) largest business assistance program.

Common Sense Office Furniture, Hospitality, Education, Office, Medical, Small business, FSBDC, Orlando, Orange County, Florida, CEO XChange

Owner of Common Sense Office Furniture Craig Caswell with FSBDC Consultant Hal Thayer (L-R)

“For entrepreneurs considering working with the Florida SBDC, I’d say ‘do it faster than I did,” Caswell remarked. “The sooner you can get in and learn the lessons that the FSBDC can teach you, from their services and programs, their consulting and in their classrooms, the sooner you’ll be on firm footing. Their assistance can make a huge difference.”

Like many small business founders, Caswell started his business on his own and grew it on the strength of his determination and skills. But as the business became larger, new, unfamiliar challenges arose. “Fifteen years ago, the business was growing but I was faced with a whole new set of business requirements and needs that I was unfamiliar with, issues like worker’s compensation, warehousing, delivery vehicle investments,” Caswell says. “Help from the FSBDC was the logical solution. They gave me the answers I needed.”

“Once I started working with the FSBDC, my eyes were opened and I understood that for me to continue to grow this business, I couldn’t do it alone, that there were lots of things to consider, to plan for, to prepare for. The Florida SBDC helped me with that, and with recognizing how important it is to share the glory with the people who helped you make it happen because you certainly didn’t do it alone” Caswell went on. “It’s why we have profit sharing and a 401(k) matching program for our employees, because they are the ones who make it happen every day.”

Caswell will tell you that he “took advantage of virtually every service at the FSBDC I could,” starting with its Advisory Board Council program. The Advisory Board Council is a next-level, business support service, assisting established Central Florida businesses by matching them with experienced professionals with a diverse range of skills who work together on a “custom-fit” advisory board.

“My Advisory Board was invaluable,” Caswell states. “The volunteers on my Board were amazing. The FSBDC did a great job matching their background and skills with my company’s needs. Their assistance and insights changed my business.”

A second Florida SBDC service Caswell says has been beneficial is the FSBDC’s CEO XChange, an executive roundtable program that offers a confidential setting for top executives to discuss vital business issues, opportunities and trends with a group of peers. “The CEO XChange has been great,” Caswell claims. “You think you are out there alone, that your problems are uniquely yours. Then you sit down with other business owners at the CEO XChange who have had the same issues and you get ideas, solutions and support. It’s a confidence builder.”

When callers reach out to the company, the response is apt: “Thank you for using Common Sense. How can we help you?” And using common sense is what their clients have been doing. From being located in a modest warehouse, Common Sense Office Furniture has grown into a fabulous showroom downtown. From a handful of employees 20 years ago, the company has grown to more than 20. And from revenues in the thousands, Common Sense has become a multi-million dollar enterprise.

“It’s great knowing that the Florida SBDC at UCF is there to help. I’m pleased to be part of SBDC Day and to be the FSBDC at UCF’s SBDC Day Company of the Year. It’s too bad that the services of the FSBDC aren’t better known. Like me and my company, a lot of businesses could benefit from working with them” Caswell concluded.

Nutritious Lifestyles

Nutritious Lifestyles, Inc.

The transition from entrepreneur to manager isn’t always easy. Especially when you have a company that, after hitting some early potholes, has hit its stride and is now growing fast.

But that’s the challenge that Janet Mckee was facing. Her company, Nutritious Lifestyles, Inc., provides nutrition and food service consulting services to the healthcare community, including skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, rehabilitation facilities, hospitals, children’s medical services, behavioral facilities, assisted living facilities and more. Its combination of cost-effective solutions, superior customer service and positive patient outcomes has been winning new clients and fueling revenue growth in the past few years.

Nutritious Lifestyles; Jill Kaufman; Advisory Board Council, FSBDC at UCF;

Owner of Nutritious Lifestyles, Inc. (L) and FSBDC Advisory Board Council Program Manager Jill Kaufman

It wasn’t always that way, though. Early on, Mckee experienced major challenges. “I needed help,” she recalls today. “We were experiencing human resources problems. We had lost a lot of business. I’d gotten the company to a certain level but was uncertain about where to go next. I felt like I needed people who had more experience to help guide me.”

Fortunately, the Florida SBDC at UCF (FSBDC at UCF) had a program tailor made for established, second-stage companies like Nutritious Lifestyles and for CEO Mckee: the Advisory Board Council (ABC). The Advisory Board Council is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and counsel to help businesses grow.  It acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses like Mckee’s and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.

“As an entrepreneur and the founder of a woman-owned business, I’d learned the hard way that you can’t do everything yourself,” says Mckee. “The FSBDC and the ABC program manager Jill Kaufman put together a board of advisors that was a great fit for my business. They were knowledgeable and experienced. I could bounce ideas off of them. I got honest feedback that I may not have always liked hearing but always helped me. But they guided me in setting growth parameters, establishing an internal infrastructure and forming my management team.  From there, my board has helped me create plans to expand into new markets and facilitate further growth.”

With the assistance of the FSBDC and her Advisory Board Council, Mckee has embraced her role as a manager and taken Nutritious Lifestyles to its next level of success. The company has grown by 25% over the past two years. It is negotiating a contract with a new client worth almost $1 million. It is hiring and training new team members every day.

“When you are experiencing this kind of growth, you need to have people and systems in place to ensure the quality of the product and of your customer service, and that you are meeting or exceeding customer expectations,” says Mckee. “We’re accomplishing those goals today and I feel like the future of my company is very bright.”

“The FSBDC and my Advisory Board have been very helpful getting us to this point,” Mckee concluded. “They have been extremely flexible and a wealth of information and guidance, a huge resource. It’s been a total win-win for Nutritious Lifestyles and me.”