August 19, 2019

Becky Hager

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By saraeknudsen

Becky Hager joined Pikes Peak SBDC as the Administrative and Program Assistant in October 2017. Becky comes to the SBDC with 20 years of customer service and seven years of admin experience. Prior to the SBDC, Becky worked for Discover Goodwill for five years. In the last four years with Goodwill, her position was the Community Liaison for Possibilities. Possibilities is a day program for disabled adults within Goodwill, it is the heart of Goodwill’s mission. As the Community Liaison, it was Becky’s job to listen to the dreams and aspirations of the participants. She would then work with community partners to help make those dreams a reality. Becky is excited to continue her passion for helping others achieve their dreams within the SBDC.

Jackie Gonzalez

Leave a Comment / Consultants (Team) / By saraeknudsen

Jackie is an SBA and Business Banker with American Bank of Commerce and has been in the financial services industry in Colorado Springs for over 30 years. At ABC Bank, she enjoys working with businesses to help them achieve their financial goals and has the experience to work within a variety of different business sectors.

She currently serves as an Ambassador for the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC, as a volunteer consultant for the Small Business Development Center, and is a Board Member for Preferred Lending Partners. She has previously served as a Board Member for the Loan Approval Committee for the City of Colorado Springs Housing and Urban Redevelopment division and as the Chair for the Ambassador Club for the Colorado Springs Chamber and EDC. She is an avid sports fan and enjoys spending her free time exploring the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

Venture Surplus

Leave a Comment / Success Stories (Stories) / By saraeknudsen

Jeffry Radspinner opened Venture Surplus on January 1, 2015. It is an online Army surplus store that provides government issue uniforms and mil-spec gear for soldiers, veterans, hobbyists, and preppers.

Venture Surplus is customer centric, a major differentiator from competitors. Venture Surplus offers a satisfaction guarantee and free returns on all products. Furthermore, while most surplus stores sell general military surplus, Venture Surplus specializes specifically in army surplus and carries one of the largest sections of hard to find army gear on the internet.

Creating positive impact for veterans and soldiers is incredibly important to Jeffry. “I want to help them anyway I can. Whether it’s getting them the gear they need for deployment, field training or turn-in, offering them employment or just contributing to veteran organizations and partnering with veteran owned businesses. Overall, I want to continue to work with the military community throughout the country.”

Prior to opening his first business, Jeffry at the age of the 18, realized that as an entrepreneur, he could do and start whatever business he wanted. Dreams became a reality after working on several business ideas and settling on his first eBay store, to get the experience of running a business without taking on a large loan. Additional experience, which would contribute to his future business success, included an internship at a local government contracting company where he learned how to research, collect and sort data effectively. After selling miscellaneous items for a few years on eBay and subsequently on Amazon, Jeffry became serious about business ownership and focused on developing a niche in army surplus.

With all business development, there are challenges. The largest challenge Jeffry was to overcome was how to build his own website, to develop his OWN brand. “To solve the website problem, I put together a team of web developers, marketers and graphic designers that already knew how to build and develop a website. Now we have a decent website that shows ups on Google!”

After a year in business, Jeffry discovered the SBDC and the resources that are offered to existing businesses including one-on-one consulting and Leading Edge for Entrepreneurs, an 8-week strategic planning course. “I don’t think I would have been able to take my business this far without the help that I received from the SBDC. Everyone there was so incredibly helpful and supportive. I still use some of the research tools I learned about in Leading Edge, refer to the business plan I wrote and have updated it as my company has grown. I would recommend that anyone that is looking to start a small business to take advantage of the resources and the help that the SBDC offers because it will help them get ahead.”

Jeffry is proud of building a good team that works well and efficiently providing customers with an exceptional experience. To Jeffry, the most valuable strategic growth initiative was the development of systems and processes for each job within the company. Having a defined process for each job made training new employees easier and efficient.

You can find out more about Venture Surplus at www.venturesuprlus.com or email Jeffry Radspinner at jeffry@venturesurplus.com

TWS Home Inventory

Leave a Comment / Success Stories (Stories) / By saraeknudsen

In 2012, the Pikes Peak Region fell victim to the Waldo Canyon Fire which burned over 340 homes and affected numerous businesses. Carrie Mitchell, experienced first-hand exposure to the wildfire and volunteered hours of her time to help homeowners that had suffered tragic loss. During that time, she became aware of the fact that they all lacked support in documentation of their personal property when trying to complete and file insurance claims. The result was that they were denied compensation due to the lack of documentation. It became evident that an inventory system and program was not available to assist individuals. Thus, a new business idea was born.

Carrie Mitchell is now the President and Founder of TWS Home Inventory & Asset Management Group, LLC which was started in July 2012, only a month after the Waldo Canyon Fire occurred in June of 2012.

TWS is focused on providing detailed and documented inventory of the contents of a home or business. The documentation contains a physical description, photos, serial numbers and appraisals when requested.

Throughout the development of her business, Carrie continued to work with the SBDC, who provided suggestions and valuable direction with regards to all aspects of the business including valuable ideas, and assistance in dealing with numerous obstacles and growth issues. The SBDC held Carrie accountable to complete the action steps needed to grow her business and take it to the next level over the past two years.

Carrie attributes not only her success to the help from the SBDC but her experiences as a business woman for many years. Carrie’s education and working in business in a management capacity helped in bringing her vision and idea to reality.

With success there are always obstacles including software development, marketing, and operating capital. The SBDC assisted Carrie in identifying solutions to these obstacles.

With limited competition, TWS Inventory, had had high growth and is now expanding. TWS Inventory is considered a leader in the field. The detailed process that is incorporated into their service is far advanced to any other similar operation. The care and personal attention that is given to clients not only sells themselves but also their service.

Carrie’s goals are big but more within reach every day. She wants TWS Home Inventory to be the number one home inventory business in the world and wants home inventory to be required documentation for insurance. Additionally, TWS will be establishing a disaster relief fund program in various areas and will be donated a percentage of their revenue to these programs.

Carrie’s success is much to her own dedication, commitment, and business experience. But like any entrepreneur, help with direction from the SBDC proved to be invaluable. In Carrie’s words “I would highly recommend and encourage anyone in business to use the programs offered by the SBDC. They helped me with a simple growth of an idea to its current stage of being on the verge of stepping through the window of opportunity and going national”.

To get more information on TWS Home Inventory and Asset Management Management Group, LLC, visit www.twshomeinventory.com or call toll free 855-633-3897 and schedule an appointment for an overview and assessment of the service.

Ray’s of Colorado

Leave a Comment / Success Stories (Stories) / By saraeknudsen

When you think of bath and body products you may think of fancy commercials on television that show bountiful suds or perfumes that have sex appeal, normally promoted by movie stars or A-list models. Ray’s of Colorado hasn’t spent a dime on a spokesperson or buying ads to promote their product. Instead, their approach has been to promote their product to everyday people, like you and I, by promoting and selling within the avenues that makes sense. Not surprisingly, this approach has proven successful.

Chris Sniffen and brother Ray Sniffen Jr registered their business on October 10, 2010. A day they will never forget. Strategizing, conducting market research, and seeking assistance from the Colorado Springs SBDC were the first steps to ensure their idea was a viable one. The brothers knew that their father, Ray Sniffen Sr. (whom the business is named after) ingrained the right attitude in them – offer a service or product to customers that is better than what they are used to. Through the assistance of the SBDC, the Sniffen’s were able to sidestep many of the initial obstacles entrepreneurs endure by receiving advice on various subjects ranging from registering to funding their business. “Starting a business with our savings was scary. Having the support and education from the SBDC helped clear the path to fulfilling our dream. We were walked through the essential steps that we would have overlooked” said Chris as he reflected on his meeting with consultant Steve Imke.

Two young men creating bath and body products for both the male and female demographic isn’t the norm. However, with in depth research, talking with consumers, and knowing that staying clean is essential for all; Ray’s of Colorado has become a success. However, with all great things comes some sadness. In early 2012, Ray Jr. passed. Chris Sniffen, however, used this sadness to focus on his business and ensure that the dream he and his brother shared was fulfilled. In his own words Chris would like any entrepreneur with an idea to know “If you have an idea or dream, then go do it. It may not always be easy. You are the only one to make what you want happen. This is America and dreams do come true here. Owning a business has changed my life by making me mentally stronger to take on anything that comes my way”.

With hard work and selling at craft shows, farmers markets, on Ebay and Etsy, Chris has been able to grow his business three-fold over 2 years. Affordable products include, shaving soaps, lotion, chapstick, beer and wine soaps and yes, even Broncos titled soaps. Future growth starting in 2013 includes selling in local retail outlets and providing new products such as home soap kits. Additionally, Chris plans to continue and educate the consumer on the risks associated with chemically treated products versus using natural and organic materials, hold soap making classes, and give back to his community by providing soap to the homeless – a wish he and his brother both had.

When asked why Ray’s of Colorado is a success the answer seems simple to Chris. Be slow and steady when planning your business. Use resources that are available to you like the SBDC. Do your research and listen to your customers. “Constantly refining your business plan, respecting and listening to your customers, providing the best affordable product, and staying innovative is how to be successful…and not go broke while doing it. Additionally, seeing that your customer appreciates your work provides more happiness than money can buy.”

Workshops

Programs

Events

August 19, 2019