Entrepreneurs offer start-up advice to small businesses

CHILLICOTHE – Building partnerships, finding the right resources and discovering the right niche are among the keys to starting your own business, five area business professionals who have found success said during a seminar on entrepreneurship Thursday at Ohio University Chillicothe.

The Chillicothe area is experiencing a fresh spirit of entrepreneurship, as evidenced by the push for downtown revitalization and Mayor Luke Feeney’s revelation during his State of the City address that more than 40 new businesses had opened in the city during 2016. Thursday’s roundtable discussion was one of three being held across southern Ohio hosted by the PORTSfuture project and TechGROWTH Ohio to offer those who may be toying with the idea of starting a business some tips to enhance their chances for success.

The panel featured Frankfort native Carvel Simmons, of Cincinnati-based Trio Trucking; Tom White, of Chillicothe’s Accurate Heating and Cooling and former owner of Triple Crown Sports; Curt McAllister, of the CP Management hospitality industry firm in Chillicothe; Megan Weber, of Sycamore Run Early Childhood Center in The Plains, Athens; and John Robertson, the innovator behind InfoSight. Throughout the two-hour discussion, the five echoed several common themes.

The first involved finding the right resources and people to make a successful launch. The panelists noted there are far more of those resources available now than when they got started, and representatives from several of those organizations were on hand Thursday, including TechGROWTH Ohio, the Southern Ohio Procurement Outreach Center and the OSU South Centers Small Business Development Center. Those, and others are available to entrepreneurs offering free or low-cost guidance, referrals and sometimes access to funds for specific purposes to help entrepreneurs get off the ground, and local chambers of commerce often can help direct people to the organizations that may be a good fit.

Finding partners and investors to launch a business goes hand-in-hand with finding the right resources. McAllister said — with the agreement of the other panelists — that even if a deal seems really good, it is important to make sure it is a deal the entrepreneur can live with.

“Partnerships are like a marriage, so be careful who you pick as a partner,” he said, noting the relationship can go well or very poorly in a hurry.

The session touched on several areas to consider when contemplating business ownership, including such things as finding a niche that people want to support, surrounding yourself with the right people, hiring people with strong work ethic and providing an environment that encourages them to grow their skills and career opportunities. In making what can be a frightening decision on whether to take the leap into business ownership, each said a look in the mirror and at the people around you is the ultimate test before all else.

“You have to believe it with everything in your body if you’re going to be a success,” Simmons said.

SOME RESOURCES TO GET STARTED