Creative
Work
Posted 7/21/2005 06:00 AM
More West Virginians are finding rewards in building
their own businesses.
Story by Jeff Pullin
The
business landscape is changing in West Virginia.
Forty
years ago, the Mountain State was rich in heavy industry.
Coal and timber dominated north-central and southern West
Virginia. Steel was king in the Northern Panhandle. The
east was rich in agriculture, and the chemical industry
was active in the Kanawha and Ohio River valleys.
But
through the decades, many companies within these industries
left the state or folded, leaving thousands out of jobs.
During the past 20 years, West Virginia has seen a gradual
decline in population as residents migrated to find work.
And while the big employer names today are Toyota and Massey
Energy, some West Virginians are determined to remain in
the Mountain State and look for career stability on their
own.
Many
are the new entrepreneurs of today.
"Everything
is cyclical, and business is no different," said Mark
Burdette, an entrepreneur and general manager of the Entrepreneurial
League System, a coaching organization through Advantage
Valley. "We were once a state dominated by small businesses
then there was the industrial age. Now we are focusing on
small businesses again. With all the downsizing from large
companies, people are looking for ways to control their
own livelihoods."
Such
is the case of Teays Valley resident John Williams. In the
1990s, he feared his job at Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical)
in South Charleston would be downsized. Determined to not
join the frantic job search, he went to college on his own
time and earned a degree in finance. In 2001, he launched
his own financial advisory firm, Williams Financial Group
in Charleston.
"I
started my company after Enron and 9/11," he said.
"The market was horrendous. I thought, 'Well, this
is about as bad as it can get.' I took the high road, and
it was the hardest road. And I was glad I did it."
Williams
said he was fortunate. He had always dreamed to have his
own business.
A dream
is what led James Tiu to Wheeling to launch his restaurant
Honest to Goodness Salsa Cafe.
"My
father is from the Philippines," he said. "His
parents owned a business, and they put my father and his
siblings through school that way. I thought that was a respectable
and honorable way to raise a family."
Tiu
was an attorney at McKenna & Cuneo, a top law firm in
Washington, D.C. But he gave up his career in 1994 and bought
a burrito cart that he ran just two blocks from the White
House.
"I
put a business plan together, and looked around for a good
opportunity," he said. "I began networking with
other street vendors in the area and bought all the equipment
and went to work. I set up just a block from the law firm,
and my former co-workers were some of my best clients."
In 2003,
he moved to his hometown of Wheeling and opened his restaurant.
The highly educated lawyer is now an entrepreneur of a fledgling
restaurant, and he has never regretted a moment.
"It
takes a lot of patience," Tiu said.
"And
you have to have faith you are doing the right things for
the right reasons. If you think the mission is a sound one,
you have to remain focused and realize it takes a while
for efforts to turn into results."
This
week, The State Journal gave new entrepreneurs the opportunity
to tell their stories to aspiring new business owners. Issues
range from research and planning, community support, financing,
employment and when to expand or move on to another venture.
Reasons
for 'New Beginning'
Former
secondary English teacher Wendy Kedzierski said her decision
to leave the education system in Charles Town was easy.
She did it for her children.
"My
first child was born 10 years ago, and I wanted to stay
at home with her," she said. "I began looking
for something I could do and be at home with my daughter
every day."
Kedzierski
began freelancing as a writer for local newspapers in the
Eastern Panhandle. As she continued her journey through
motherhood, she noticed the region was lacking publications
dealing with raising a child.
"I
began thinking there needed to be resources for parents,"
she said. "I began researching other publications and
noticed there were publications in other parts of the country,
and I thought it would be good for this region."
Kedzierski
launched her magazine Child Guide in September 2001, and
today the publication reaches into counties in West Virginia,
Virginia and Maryland.
"I
like having my own business because it allows me to see
a project through the entire process from beginning to end,"
she said. "It is an affirmation of loves and talents."
Sisters
and former nurses Julie Mobayed and Natalie Tappe had not
planned to be business owners. But they were approached
by others to join a clinical research firm being launched
in Charleston in 2000.
"We
had a unique situation in that we were 'thrown into' being
entrepreneurs," Mobayed said. "We left our secure
jobs at the hospital to venture out with two businessmen
who we thought had the same vision as we did regarding clinical
research.
"After
one and a half years, they decided to leave the business
and left us with the choice of continuing on our own or
getting jobs," she said. "We decided we did not
want to go back to working in the hospital, and we could
be successful in doing what we love doing."
Together
the sisters launched Hyperion Clinical Research in 2001.
The company specializes in clinical trials and provides
pharmaceutical, biotech and research organizations a network
of local physicians to improve local access to pharmaceutical
drug development.
Burdette
said more potential entrepreneurs are looking for and seizing
opportunities. That is exactly what he did in 1995, when
he joined forces with co-founder Paul Helmick to launch
Charleston-based Citynet, one of the first 100 Internet
Service Providers in the nation.
"Citynet
came out of an existing company called Spectrum Tech Corp.,"
Burdette said. "Some of our clients were looking for
ways to communicate from office to office at a low cost.
"We
thought it would be worth the financial investment to set
up a server in Charleston and give everyone an individual
email address," he said. "It became a recurring
strategy. Many people don't realize it, but West Virginia
was really at the forefront of this technology. We weren't
the first ISP to reach the area, but we were the ones everyone
knew about."
Research
and Planning
Williams
said he researched financial planning for a long time before
deciding to launch his firm. He said it took him two years
to make his decision. After all, he said, it took him nine
months just to select the right mobile phone.
"I
think I knew everything there was to know about starting
a business," he said. "The big risks are the leaps
you take when you don't know anything about it. Most new
businesses fail, and I had put my own money into this, and
come hell or high water, I was going to see it succeed."
When
Mobayed and Tappe began their venture into the clinical
trial business, they admit they had done very little research.
"Even
though our parents have owned their own businesses throughout
our lives, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves
into," Mobayed said.
"Our
biggest obstacle was and still is making people understand
exactly what we do."
To better
plan their business, the sibling entrepreneurs decided to
enroll in the ELS program offered through Advantage Valley.
The program allows entrepreneurs to meet with their peers
and be coached within a group and on a one-on-one basis.
With meetings and mentors, the duo was able to solidify
their focus in marketing their product.
"ELS
has helped us realize our goals," Tappe said.""The
other entrepreneurs in our group helped us create a plan,
and we learn from them. The information is invaluable."
Money
on the Line
More
people are choosing the entrepreneur route, and it is showing
in the number of people seeking small business loans.
"I
think we have been seeing a gradual increase of request
for loan guarantees," said Rick Haney, spokesman for
the U.S. Small Business Administration in West Virginia.
"In 2002, we guaranteed 137 loans. This year we have
well nearly 200 loans guaranteed, and it's only July."
The
number of small business startup companies has increased
as well. In 2002, the organization assisted 59 businesses
in launching their ventures. As of June 30, the SBA already
has assisted 71.
Kedzierski
said she put her own money into her magazine, which was
difficult to launch, because she didn't have a product.
Plus businesses didn't have much confidence in purchasing
advertising from a new business.
"There
had been a newspaper called The Paper that had promised
advertisers, and the publication never got off the ground,"
she said. "Many advertisers lost money in the process.
Here I was, going to these businesses and asking them to
buy advertising for a magazine that had never been published.
It was difficult.
"I
remember going to this local business, and the owner looked
at me and asked me, 'What makes you're better than The Paper?'"
she said. "I was selling air on the heels of this paper
that had burned so many people."
Kedzierski
launched her paper in September 2001, and it was received
well by the public. But the fanfare was short-lived.
"Well,
then 9/11 happened, and no one wanted to talk about advertising,"
she said. "You never know what will be thrown at you."
Eventually
advertisers made time for Kedzierski, and Child Guide has
since turned a profit consistently. She now lives in Berryville,
Va., but her company is still registered in West Virginia.
The paper distributes 21,000 magazines to 250 distribution
points on a bi-monthly basis.
A Values-Based
Career
Tiu
said The Honest to Goodness Salsa Cafe always would live
up to its name because, as entrepreneurs, he and his wife,
Patti, are able to enforce that standard.
"We
have learned business principles and how to deal with employees,
customers and suppliers," he said. "We feel if
everyone is treated fairly, it will translate into a successful
business."
On the
issue of hiring, Tiu said the number one priority is attitude.
"We
have learned to hire for attitude and train for skill,"
he said. "Everyone is aware of our expectations. We
really invest time in the training. It is our hope that
everyone who works here would be able to own and operate
a business after a year."
Burdette
said values have always played a key role in his career
moves. He and his business partner sold Citynet to City
National Bank in 2002. Since then he has organized and run
ELS for Advantage Valley and co-owns a media consulting
business called Two Fish with his wife, Krista.
"It
is so important to evaluate your priorities and deal with
them in that order," Burdette said. "My faith
is first, my family is second and my business is third.
Being in business for yourself is a highly emotional job,
and you have to have a belief system, whatever that may
be."
Advice
for New Entrepreneurs
Kedzierski
said even if an entrepreneur is the sole employee of a company,
he or she never has to be alone.
"One
of the most valuable things I did was to join a professional
association," she said.
"Not
only has Parenting Publications of America honored Child
Guide with gold medals for excellence in journalism three
years in a row -- lending positive credence to what the
magazine does -- but I've also had an opportunity to network
with experienced publishers and editors in my field."
Williams
said hard work and dedication is above all the biggest tool
in making a business successful.
"I
think to be very successful you must love what you do,"
he said. "You must have a strong desire to put your
client's interests ahead of your own and have a burning
desire to be the absolute very best at your profession."
Tiu
said learning from mistakes makes the process of growing
a business better.
"Not
all moves were perfect," he said. "At the very
least our decisions were done in good faith. Hopefully we
have learned from them. A mistake is not an error unless
it isn't corrected."
And
above all, Burdette said, the community must play a role
in the development.
West
Virginia needs to get away from the tactical aspects of
business and start removing the obstacles," he said.
"We need to be more of a business-friendly environment.
We need to deal with the cost of health care, look at the
tax structure and update business laws. The community needs
to embrace these businesses and support them in any way
they can."
Copyright
2006 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved.
