Summer Solutions, Inc.

Summer Solutions Inc.

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The entrepreneurial life has its challenges. They are only multiplied when you relocate yourself and your business from Pennsylvania to Lake Mary, FL. But that’s exactly what Keith Lorenz, founder and owner of Summer Solutions Inc., did in 2013.  While searching for local assistance and learning the local business landscape, he found the support and assistance he needed to make a success of his move at the Florida SBDC at Seminole State College (FSBDC at SSC), a sub-center of the FSBDC at UCF, through its Advisory Board Council (ABC) program.

Summer Solutions is in the business of solving the problems that swimmers have with chlorine: the hair discoloration, the dry skin conditions, the deterioration of their swim suits to name a few. Summer Solutions offers a full line of products – shampoos, soap, swimwear care products – specifically designed to address the deleterious effects of chlorinated swimming pool water.

Lorenz started the company in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and made it a small success. Now he was ready to devote his full time to making the company a big success and answer some big questions: is this a real business I can grow? How can I scale it up? Where can I find the people I need to help me succeed?

It was then that he did some research and found the Florida SBDC. “I looked at all the different services offered by the FSBDC and saw the Advisory Board Council as the program that could really help me,” Lorenz says. “‘Wow,’ I said. ‘This is exactly what I need. Right here in Seminole County.’” He contacted Amy Kirkland, a consultant and the manager of the FSBDC at SSC, to apply.

In the Advisory Board Council program, the FSBDC constructs a no-cost board of experts that meets over an 18 month period providing advice and council to help businesses grow. The FSBDC acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses and area professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of an advisory board, with the Board customized and the volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client.

“My Advisory Board was invaluable. I was working on my own and needed advisors to bounce ideas off, to discuss issues with,” says Lorenz. “I wanted the accountability that would come from putting my plans in front a group of experts. And that’s what I got, and more, from my Board. They provided a forum that helped me make better decisions that helped my company grow.”

“My board saved me from taking some unnecessary risks and convinced me to invest in my marketing and sales efforts. They helped me analyze and redefine my target markets. We reassessed my website and they assisted me in finding the resources to improve it dramatically. They persuaded me that a dedicated sales person would have much more success than me doing it myself,“ Lorenz continued. “And the results speak for themselves: we now have a better focus on our markets, and our sales are up nicely.

Alex Aviles; Pauline Davis; Dealer Service Alternative;

Dealer Service Alternative

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Dealer Service Alternative is a European car owner’s dream come true. It services, repairs and maintains all makes and models of vehicles but specializes in European cars, especially Mercedes, BMW and Audi. Owner Alex Aviles prides himself in offering his clients and their vehicles a dealership-level experience at fair prices. Aviles motto is “dealer quality service at friendly prices.”

When he founded and launched Dealer Service Alternative, Aviles’ had a lot of ideas about the direction he wanted to take his company. But before he started investing his money, he wanted to make sure he was on the right path. That’s when a friend suggested he visit the Florida SBDC at UCF for a no-cost consultation with one of their expert consultants.

“When I started my company, I knew I could be a top technician and manager. But there were a lot of business matters I was not trained in at the dealership where I came from. Issues like licensing, procurement and leases were all unfamiliar to me,” remarked Aviles.

It was at the FSBDC that Aviles met Pauline Davis, a consultant specializing in finance and business accounting. “I went in with the original idea that I would buy an existing business. But Pauline Davis showed me a different approach, one that wouldn’t require so much funding. So I purchased some equipment, got some leads and partnered with another company to share space in our building,” Aviles says.

“The FSBDC helped me to figure out all the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of business that I had no idea about,” continued Aviles. Working with Davis and other FSBDC consultants, Dealer Service Alternative moved to a better location, upgraded their website and implemented an internet marketing campaign that was tailored to Aviles’ needs and his budget.

“Between implementing my online marketing campaign in stages, my wife joining the company to manage the finances and the help I received from the FSBDC, we have pretty much doubled the size of our business in the past year,” Aviles noted. “Now we’ve outgrown our space and I’m looking forward to expanding into a new location with all the convenience and comfort of a dealership, only not so fancy or expensive for my customers. I want a showplace that is a reflection of how well we treat our clients’ babies, err, vehicles,” concluded Aviles with a smile.

“My experience with the FSBDC at UCF has been nothing but great,” Aviles says. “They’ve always had answers to my questions, and if they didn’t, they found the answer. It’s an amazing set of resources they have over there – all under one roof. They are like a business encyclopedia…the business Google. I say ‘Thank You’ for all you’ve done, Ms. Davis and FSBDC.”

BedTop, FSBDC, UCF, Palm Coast, Flagler

Bedtops Mattress Clearance Center

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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.”

Eagle Equipment Service 1, Corp.

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Success costs money. Business owners learn quickly that they often need additional funds to finance their growth. Sometimes it can come from their cash flow. Or an investor. Or from a bank. One thing is almost certain: if a business is going to look externally for financing, they are going to need a business plan with reliable and defendable financial forecasts.

And that is where Javier Berrios, President of Eagle Equipment Service 1, Corp. found himself. Eagle Equipment Service 1 is in the business of maintaining and repairing waste and recycling equipment. From its workshop in Kissimmee, Florida, the company services trash compactors, balers and other waste management machinery, including providing welding repairs, hydraulic repairs and electrical troubleshooting to manufacturers, warehouses, apartment complexes and grocery stores across Central Florida.= and the Tampa Area.

Business has been booming for Eagle. So much so that the company has outgrown its current 3,000 square foot facility just servicing its existing customers.  And Berrios sees the opportunity for further growth by expansion into waste recycling. But in order to maintain its momentum and position itself for future expansion, Eagle Equipment Service 1 needs more space.

And so, after starting Eagle Equipment Service in 2009 and building it into a successful business, it was time to find a larger space. Berrios decided that his best option was to buy land and build his own building, and approached a local bank for a loan. They requested a business plan and referred Berrios to the local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for assistance with putting a plan together.

Fortunately, Javier Berrios is a serial entrepreneur, having started businesses in Pennsylvania with the assistance of the local SBDC. With their help, he was able to obtain a Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loan that funded the growth of his companies there. Having benefited from the SBDC up north, he was quick to turn to the Florida SBDC and eventually Rafael Martinez-Pratts, a consultant and the Area Manager for the Florida SBDC at UCF – Osceola County.

According to Berrios, Pratts provided significant assistance with his business plan, making sure that the financial forecasts were sound and that Berrios was able to answer any questions the bank might have. “Rafael and the SBDC have helped me out a lot,” says Berrios. “Not only with my business plan but also with valuable market research, identification of relevant local regulations and permits and introductions to local business and government leaders.”

“The Florida SBDC has a lot of knowledge and expertise that I don’t have,” he continued. “With their help though, I am able to make this business even more successful, including being approved for the loan I wanted: a $700,000 SBA-guaranteed loan for the purchase of land, construction of a new, 12,000 square foot facility and additional equipment. Thanks to the help of the SBDC, I’m now ready to build my building, hire more people and grow my business here in Osceola County.”

Mainstream; QwikProducts; Export, Florida SBDC; Success Story

Mainstream Engineering

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Mainstream Engineering’s president and founder Dr. Robert Scaringe has built a successful, diversified corporation offering research & development project work; military, commercial and retail products; professional engineering services, and lean manufacturing. Every corner of the company is working to realize its mission: providing “Solutions through Advanced Technology” by transitioning advanced technology into high-quality and cost effective products.

Based in Brevard County, Florida, Mainstream Engineering serves a broad range of customers including the government, private enterprise and individuals like you and me. And they are an American company through and through, headquartered in the U.S and proudly manufacturing all their products in the U.S.A.

One of their business lines, QwikProducts™, produces heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration repair products for the technicians who work on HVAC systems, refrigerators and walk-in coolers, among others. QwikProducts are sold through trade wholesalers across the U.S and have been extremely successful in this country. However air conditioning and refrigeration repair is a worldwide business and Scaringe wanted to take his solutions global, starting in Latin America.

To that end, he initiated an in-house market study of the markets in Central and South America. Soon enough, he and his team knew what they wanted to do and had some ideas about how to do it. But they didn’t have enough of the data necessary to make decisions and felt like they didn’t have all the expertise they needed either.

It was then that Mainstream Engineering’s QwikProducts turned for assistance to the Florida SBDC at UCF’s International Trade Services team led by international trade specialist Jill McLaughlin. Specifically, they asked McLaughlin to revise and improve Mainstream’s Export Marketing Plan.  Developing Export Marketing Plans is a service provided by the FSBDC in partnership with Enterprise Florida and the U.S. Commercial Services in which the FSBDC develops a comprehensive, data-driven, tailored export marketing strategy for qualified Florida small businesses. The Export Marketing Plan is a customized plan which includes extensive industry research and market analyses to identify recommended target markets; a review of overseas trade opportunities; and an action plan.

The improved Export Marketing Plan was just what QwikProducts was looking for. With access to data that would have otherwise been extremely costly for the company to obtain without FSBDC’s services, McLaughlin provided market size, competitive information and other international marketing metrics to identify where the economics were and what countries made sense, even adding some countries that Mainstream’s team hadn’t considered. “The Export Marketing Plan told us what we needed to know,” remarked Scaringe. “How big the markets are; which countries are growing, which countries aren’t; where it’s safe to do business and where it’s not.”

With the completed Export Marketing Plan in hand, superior products and a strategy of using the home country’s language in all sales materials, packaging, training, and on a dedicated website, QwikProducts foray into Latin America has been a major success for Mainstream. “We’re really, really happy with the way it’s going,” says Scaringe. “Our year-to-date revenue is more than twice last year’s and last year’s revenue was   several times larger than the year before.”

“It was a very good experience working with the FSBDC,” concluded Scaringe. “It was easy. Jill McLaughlin was very helpful and very professional. The quality of the Plan was excellent. Everyone had the same goal: to help us sell our product. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Elegance by EV, FSBDC at UCF

ELEGANCE by EV

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Entrepreneurs often don’t end up where they expected to.  Often the original plan evolves and the business they thought they were inventing transforms into something different. That was the case for Evie and Jack Valerio; what started as a hobby has evolved into a full-scale business, and they couldn’t be happier and more excited about their future.

Evie is an artist. She creates amazing polymer clay jewelry. She started crafting necklaces and other pieces in her home. And then she claimed the spare bedroom and an artist’s studio was born. While friends and relatives craved her work and eagerly purchased her creations, over time they grew in number and she began to consider how to make her jewelry available to a larger audience.

The original idea was to launch an online business. That evolved into a desire to “take the show on the road” and sell at craft fairs once a month. Then the idea of a retail store popped up. The evolution of the business from part-time, online venture to a full-blown retail store was moving very fast, in fact a little too fast for her husband Jack’s comfort.

Jack will be the first one to tell you he is a very cautious person. He makes sure to do as much research as he can before he moves ahead with something, especially something as massive as opening a retail store. In this case, he started out by asking around to see where he could get help. As a career school administrator, he felt out of his element in the world of business and wanted to find professionals who had been successful owning and running a retail store.

Initially, Jack turned to the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber of Commerce, his local chamber, where he found valuable resources. Perhaps most valuable, however, was their referral of Evie and Jack to the Florida SBDC at UCF office in Kissimmee.

At the FSBDC, they found business training and no-cost, confidential, expert, one-on-one consulting assistance. They learned the mechanics of starting a business, how to write a business plan, the basics of bookkeeping and more. Chuck Wheeler, an FSBDC consultant based in the Kissimmee office, worked with them, answered Jack’s questions and helped guide them through the steps to opening their business.

And open a business they did, just nine months after starting with the FSBDC. ELEGANCE by EV, a charming boutique featuring women’s fashions and accessories and, of course, Evie’s wonderful jewelry, launched at the beginning of 2016 in Historic Cocoa Village, one of Cocoa Beach’s most popular destinations. They are off to a good start and Evie is already planning the expansion of their business.

“My advice to other entrepreneurs is to use the FSBDC and all the consulting and training they offer,” says Evie. ”It’s invaluable. And do it first, before you jump into being in business.” “Don’t wait until you have problems,” continued Jack. “Do a pre-emptive strike and learn from the FSBDC before the challenges of running a business come at you.”

Harvey Cohen; Cohen Grossman; Jill Kaufman; ABC; Advisory Board Council; FSBDC; UCF

Cohen Grossman Attorneys At Law

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Law firms are more than a group of lawyers coming together to practice the law. In fact, they are businesses that face many of the same challenges as other kinds of businesses; how to manage growth, deal with human resources issues, improve financial performance, drive marketing effectiveness and much more.

Cohen Grossman Attorneys at Law is precisely that kind of law firm: a business entity comprised of a group of lawyers engaging in the practice of law. Led by founder and owner Harvey Cohen, the firm has practices across multiple legal specialties, including insurance claims, personal injury, criminal law, family law, wrongful death, renters’ rights and the list goes on.

Cohen Grossman is a successful firm and was becoming more successful every day.  And that success was demanding that more and more of Harvey Cohen’s time be spent managing the daily operations of the company. As he became more businessman than attorney, Cohen started to ask himself how he could make himself the best business owner possible.

Through networking and a friend, he was referred to the Florida SBDC at UCF and its Advisory Board Council (ABC) program. “My friend told me she’d really enjoyed her Advisory Board and that it had helped her business tremendously,” remarked Atty. Cohen. “I was intrigued and my friend put me in touch with Jill Kaufman, a consultant at the FSBDC as well as the program manager of the ABC program.

The Advisory Board Council is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and council to help businesses grow.  It acts as a matchmaker between established local businesses 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.

“Jill Kaufman put a great board together for me,” says Atty. Cohen, “and we had our first meeting in July of 2013. Since then, my Board has been an invaluable resource and gets some of the credit for our ongoing success. We’ve been growing rapidly: we have seen a 167% revenue increase from 2012 to 2015; our employee base has grown more than 160% over the period; and very recently we moved our firm into our own, 33,000 sq. ft. building.”

“For me, one of the best benefits of my ABC was that it forced me to focus time on my business. Anyone who manages a business knows how hard it is to take time away from dealing with day-to-day operations, away from working in the business,” said Atty. Cohen. “My ABC made me take the time, with their help, to evaluate myself and my performance while sharing exemplary ideas to help the firm’s business. The Board’s different perspectives and experiences contributed significantly to how I run the firm today and how I will run it even better in the future.”

“I would recommend the Advisory Board Council to everyone, and I have. It can only help you. I can’t imagine where we’d be without it,” concluded Atty. Cohen. “I think it is such a valuable resource for small businesses that I have even gone a step further and become an ABC volunteer advisor myself.”

Jones Brothers, FSBDC, SBDC, Lake County, Tavares

Jones Brothers & Co. Air and Seaplane

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Tavares, Florida is called “America’s Seaplane City,” and for good reason. The city has made a significant commitment to the seaplane businesses that call the waters of Lake Dora home, including opening the Tavares Pavilion on the Lake, a magnificent wedding and conference facility, and the Tavares Seaplane Base.

Rob Galloway, owner and operator of Jones Brothers & Co. Air and Seaplane Adventures, saw opportunity in Tavares’ expanded aviation presence. Since 2010, Jones Brothers has been offering seaplane sightseeing trips of Florida and environs. More recently, it has added to its services one-way and round-trip charters, including fly-in guided fishing and hunting expeditions to the Everglades and romantic getaways to the Bahamas, as well as seaplane flight instruction and training.

When he joined Jones Brothers, Rob was its day-to-day operations manager. In that role, he often felt like he was “flying blind” because the company did not have a bone fide business plan. From his prior successful career in publishing, Rob knew a business plan would offer him important advantages in terms of process management, financial planning and growth for Jones Brothers.

At the suggestion of John Drury, City Administrator for Tavares, Rob turned to the Florida SBDC at UCF’s Lake County satellite office. There he attended training in business plan writing and took advantage of the FSBDC’s no-cost, expert, one-on-one consulting by working with Stan Austin, an FSBDC consultant and the local area manager. Together, they crafted a business plan for Jones Brothers that was actionable, measurable and information rich – just the tool Rob needed.

Over the next few years, Rob continued to call upon Stan and the FSBDC when he needed assistance, whether it was about developing marketing and growth strategies, overcoming barriers and roadblocks or identifying new revenue opportunities. The company prospered as it added services, added a new location in Mt. Dora and positioned itself to compete for government contracts.

Most recently, Rob set about to purchase Jones Brothers and become the sole owner. The FSBDC helped him update and strengthen the company’s business plan in preparation for obtaining the financing needed for the purchase. He also relied on the FSBDC’s Stan Austin to guide him about financing alternatives, business purchase best practices and negotiating strategies and tactics. All the work resulted in a very successful outcome: Rob became the sole owner and operator of Jones Brothers & Co. Air and Seaplane Adventures in December 2015.

“I can’t describe how helpful Stan and the FSBDC have been for me. I would recommend them to any business owner,” remarked Rob. “Thanks to the FSBDC, I was able to focus on what was important and make wiser decisions. And the results speak for themselves: last year Jones Brothers & Co. Air and Seaplane Adventures’ revenues grew by close to 20%, achieved its first profitable year and, on the strength of that performance, I was able to secure the financing to buy the company. Win-win-win.”

Wilson Equipment, FSBDC, Valerie Wilson, Hunt Dawkins

Wilson Equipment

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Buying a business can be fraught with risks, even if you already work for the company. And that was the case for Valerie Wilson. She and a partner owned Wilson Equipment Etc., a company in the business of selling water filtration systems for food service equipment. The filters perform a crucial function by removing the taste and odor of chlorine from the water used by equipment like ice machines, steamers and soda systems while at the same time reducing or eliminating the amount of scale build-up inside the machines which reduces their efficiency. The partner wanted to sell her half of the company and Valerie was interested.

As she looked at purchasing the business from her partner, removing or at least minimizing the risks in buying were a top priority for Valerie.  Questions like “is it the right price?”, “are the cash flows adequate to cover a loan?”, “how do I obtain a loan?”, “am I prepared to run this business alone?” describe the risks she saw that needed answers. Fortunately, Valerie knew where to turn.

Based on her own previous experience, as well as that of her father from years ago, Valerie turned to the Florida SBDC at UCF. Initially she wanted help with producing a business plan, but then the opportunities offered by the FSBDC quickly turned her initial goal into much more. And Valerie couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

“My experience with FSBDC at UCF has been very positive on multiple fronts,” says Valerie. “My FSBDC consultant, Hunt Dawkins, was my cheerleader. He helped me determine a fair value for the company, see opportunities for growth, and find ways to make myself a better business owner. We developed strategies to make the business more profitable and put in place financial controls like budgets and forecasts that made the numbers make more sense for me.”

And the results have been extremely positive. Valerie was able to buy the company. Profits are up at Wilson Equipment Etc. and she has put the company on a consistent growth path. She has found new ways to leverage the fact that hers is a certified woman-owned business. By partnering with a much larger manufacturers rep company who could take advantage of her company’s woman-owned status and who could add her filters to a vast product list that will be put in front of customers that would probably not have found Wilson Equipment Etc otherwise, Valerie has found an important new sales channel for her products.

When asked what she would say to other entrepreneurs and business owners considering seeking assistance from the FSBDC, Valerie didn’t hold back. “The FSBDC is a great resource. Do it. Run to them,” she says. “I myself have referred people to the FSBDC and gotten nothing but great feedback. When I bought the company, my role changed from sales to business owner and it was the FSBDC gave me the business knowledge I needed and taught me how to run a successful business.”

Chill Pop Lounge, LaThesia Hardy, Chuck Wheeler,

Chill Pop Lounge

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LaThesia Hardy – everybody calls her “Te” – is one of the smart ones: she knows what she doesn’t know. She knows she has a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. But now she’s been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and she didn’t know which way to go or even how or where to start.

So “Te” decided to start at the beginning.  That’s when she found the Florida SBDC at UCF s office in Kissimmee/Osceola County. She attended the seminars and workshops offered by the FSBDC about starting a business and business fundamentals. As a result, she built her competence and confidence in her abilities related to the many facets of running her own business that she did not know.

Building from the base she gained in the seminars, she engaged with one of the FSBDC’s consultants and took advantage of their confidential, no-cost, expert counseling. Together with her consultant, she tackled putting together her ideas for the company she wanted to start and addressing the multiple questions about her start-up that would need to be answered.

“My experience with the FSBDC has been tremendous,” “Te” says. “It was great to go to the seminars and learn what I needed to learn and then have access to high quality consulting and mentorship outside of the seminars.”

As with all entrepreneurial endeavors, there were bumps in the road. “Te” was comfortable with writing her business plan because her vision for her company was clear and she knew she’d be able to articulate her goals and plans. But then there were the financial projections. They brought “Te” to a standstill. Without a background in finance, the prospect of doing sales and revenue and expense forecasts was daunting for her.

And so she turned again to her FSBDC consultant for assistance. “I was able to complete most of my business plan but I wouldn’t have been able to do the financials, “ “Te” acknowledged. “But with my FSBDC consultant Chuck Wheeler’s help, I was able to understand the financial end of my business, what I could afford and not afford and how to make reliable projections of my company’s financial performance.

All of “Te”s hard work and wise use of the FSBDC enabled her to launch her company, Chill Pop Lounge, in July of this year on N. Narcoossee Rd. in St. Cloud, FL. The Chill Pop Lounge specializes in gourmet frozen treats, with specialty ice cream choices this year and innovative – as well as gourmet and fabulous – ice popsicles starting in 2016. The business is off to a great start, and “Te” is looking forward to expanding and bringing new employees on board in the next few months. Her brother, Reginald Adams, who is retiring from the military, will co-manage the Chill Pop Lounge starting in January 2016.

“I would say to any would-be entrepreneur out there: use the FSBDC’s services!” concluded “Te”. “They have everything you need to start a business, write a business plan, and understand finances. If being an entrepreneur is not necessarily your forte, the FSBDC is the place to be.”