Orem SBDC Success Stories: March 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

Eagle Mountain's Hidden Florist

Emmie's Hidden Floral

Emily page

7787 Crestwood Cir.

Eagle Mountain, UT 84005

Emily Page was enthusiastic when she came to the Orem Start Smart Class. "I've always had the thought in the back of my brain to start my own business." Two months and a few SBDC appointments later, Emily was in business as "Emmie's Hidden Floral". She was thrilled to have some help with the business part of starting her own floral shop, because Emily already knew flowers. "I love being creative," she said. "I like to make something beautiful that makes everybodys day." After working in several florist shops over the years, Emily knew she had style, skill, customer service charisma, and good relationships with vendors. What she lacked was the knowledge of how to start. Though a few years had past since then, Emily had been looking forward to the time where she could start her own florist business.

The time was right in 2009. At her first SBDC appointment, Emily started the process to become a legal business entity. She had been looking for equipment and wanted to get things in place. Emily and her husband live in Eagle Mountain City, and she knew that a large community of families lived miles away from a floral shop. Lehi had the closest florist and Emily was convinced there was a market just waiting to be served. Her challenge was that she wanted to work from her home. After consulting the City Municipal Center, Emily was approved to run a flower shop from her home - actually from one section of her garage. After starting her business, Emily advertised in the local newspaper, and took an arrangement into the City Offices, talked to her neighbors and within 2 weeks, was booked to create custom arrangements for a fall wedding.

Since then, "Emmie's Hidden Floral" has become the Eagle Mountain City's florist of choice and has spread the word to local residences. Still enjoying creating beautiful floral pieces, Emily is also enjoying the business side of owning her own business. She has excellent relationships with her wholesaler and she continues to add to her portfolio of arrangements. She now comes in to the SBDC to brainstorm marketing ideas and research target markets. She has plans to create a website that people can order from and offer delivery to those in Eagle Mountain. Emily is glad to have the help of the Orem SBDC team to guide her. "You have been awesome to work with and have helped me out a ton!" Now, Emily is focused on increasing her sales. Her goal is to develop "Emmie's Hidden Floral" into Eagle Mountain residence's favorite florist.

SBDC In The Spotlight

The Orem Small Business Development Center, located just west of Utah Valley University, assists startup business owners and entrepreneurs to navigate the often treacherous waters of becoming self employed. Among the center's staff are (left to right) consultants Eddy Yujra, Marynika Miche , director Ken Fakler, consultant Camille Pendleton, and administrative assistant, Karen Wenn. Michael Rigert - NORTH COUNTY STAFF With the economic turmoil depleting personal finances, displacing employees and forcing some to seek new career paths, more and more Utah County residents are turning to self-employment to support themselves and their families. Floralyn Martinez, a master hair stylist for 17 years, researched the possibility of opening her own salon last summer. It was at that time that she came into contact with the Orem Small Business Development Center located just west of Utah Valley University. She didn't have a clue about the steps to starting her own business."I'm an artist behind the chair, but I'm computer illiterate," she said. "I was either going to start up my own place or go to another salon."A free resource provided to entrepreneurs, startup businesses and existing merchants, the Orem Small Business Development Center is one in a network of such centers across the state tasked with not only helping the self-employed get into business, but stay in business, said Ken Fakler, the Orem center's managing director.Funded through the Small Business Administration, the state of Utah and Utah Valley University, the Orem center assists clients in applying for SBA loans, putting together a business plan, doing market research and strategies, and learning the nuts and bolts of business ownership. It serves clients in both Utah and Wasatch counties.Martinez said Fakler and Orem center consultant Laurie Ann Thomas taught her how to write up a business proposal, where to find resources and apply for funding, and how to navigate the often treacherous waters of self employment.In October, Martinez and her husband, Marcos, opened Katumba's Day Spa and Salon, 1015 S. State St. in Orem, which offers a wide range of services from hair styling, massage therapy, skin care and aesthetics. Their salon employs a full staff of stylists and therapists, and business is slowly but steadily increasing, she said."Ken is absolutely incredible and knows what he's talking about," Martinez said. "It was a huge, huge help. I would say they are a major aspect of getting me started."With the housing slump and high gas and food prices hurting businesses and residents, Fakler said the center has seen a large influx of clients in recent months. From the newly unemployed to people looking to earn some income on the side, the center's clients come from all walks of life and range from college-age students to people in their 70s.The center supports clients who own businesses with dozens of employees to stay-at-home moms who want to take their eBay sales to the next level.The center works with about 35 to 40 new businesses a month, or nearly 500 per year. About 50 percent of the center's clients are women, Thomas said."It's really an entrepreneurial area," she said.Because approximately 80 percent of small businesses go under in the first five years, the center stresses the importance of formulating a strong business plan and funding options as well as forming a long-term relationship with owners to continue to provide advice as their companies grow. The center also offers free classes on a variety of related topics taught by professionals."We have very, very few businesses that go broke if they're doing the things we ask them to do," Fakler said.Just two weeks ago, Martinez said Fakler stopped by her salon to inquire about her business's progress and see if there was anything he could do to help. Without the assistance of resources like the Orem Small Business Development Center, she doubts if she would have taken the risk of living out her dream."I would have probably ended up going to another salon," she said. "I wouldn't have had the guts to try to go out on my own."