DeTask: On Course for Success
AI-Powered HR Solutions Company Thrives with Florida SBDC at UCF Support
March 18, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or HThayer@ucf.edu
Sharon Smith, Consultant, FSBDC at UCF, 407.497.5933 or sharon.smith2@ucf.edu
Orlando, FL – For even the smartest and most motivated entrepreneurs, the breadth and depth of the daily challenges presented by a new business can undermine efforts to achieve the ultimate goal: profitable revenue growth. Working “in” the business, with little opportunity to work “on” it, and extinguishing those daily fires can distract a business owner from implementing proven processes, procedures, and methodologies that will contribute to building a successful company. Such was the case for Rodrigo Costa, CEO and founder of DeTask, an HR-focused information technology company dedicated to solving the universal problems of employee motivation and retention. Fortunately, Costa contacted the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) and took advantage of its no-cost, expert consulting to gain new insights, set goals, and achieve new growth.
DeTask utilizes AI and immutable data to motivate employees, reduce turnover, and deliver measurable results – ultimately leading to growth and improved ROI. “The problem we are solving here is that 46% of Americans are leaving their jobs or not being appreciated,” Costa explains. “We created a gamification that helps a company achieve goals on time and keeps their people working happy and delivering.”
“Gamification is a way for us to reward people when they deliver things on time,” Costa continued. “They accumulate points for good work and can exchange those in the company’s marketplace for what motivates them. We also include recognition for their achievement so they can show to others their hard work inside the organization. Our unique value proposition is to look for what the company needs to achieve and what the employees need to feel rewarded. We combine both in one simple solution that allows you, the owner, to understand what’s happening in your company.”
So, where does the FSBDC fit in with DeTask’s growth plans? “Well, since I’m creating a very complex product, I need specialists to help me,” recounts Costa. “That’s why I went to the SBDC and was lucky to find Sharon Smith (an FSBDC at UCF Consultant) to work with me. She helped me with my marketing plan, my financial plan, and my business plan, and to put all the pieces together and start to move the market. We were creating a road map for what I should do next. The beautiful thing about that is…it’s free and you are talking with very high-quality specialists that are helping you develop your next steps.”
“After understanding more about my marketing plan, I was able to define and create a strategy to go to market,” Costa concluded. “Things started to happen after SBDC helped me with that part. We were getting pretty much one customer a month and we were increasing our revenue almost double the numbers every month since then.”
Rodrigo Costa is grateful for the SBDC’s assistance in charting a growth course for his company. “Since I started working with the SBDC, to every entrepreneur I meet I say ‘you must go there!’ because it’s going to help you a lot to understand where you are and what you have to do next. I recommend the FSBDC to everyone that I can.”
information about DeTask, please visit https://detask.io/.
— FSBDC —
About the FSBDC at UCF
Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.
The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 9 service centers across Central Florida.
In 2023, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,800 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,100 jobs created, retained or saved; $743.5 million in sales growth; $59.2 million in capital formation; $122.5 million in government contract awards; and 164 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com .
About the Florida SBDC Network
For more than 45 years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy.
In 2023, the Florida SBDC Network delivered 111,720 hours of consulting to 14,808 small business clients – resulting in business owners securing $346 million in capital, $576 million in government contracting, impacting 19,263 jobs, increasing sales by over $3.9 billion, and creating 1,058 businesses.
With over 40 offices statewide, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
