Let it never be said that Bakersfield is unwelcoming to fresh business opportunities. Last Thursday morning, more than 50 of the area’s most motivated entrepreneurs gathered at Bakersfield College’s downtown Weill Institute for a four-part seminar on successful small business tactics.
The conference was put on by the Small Business Development Center, with SBDC director Peter DeArmond at the helm. It was organized into hour-long moderated discussions, followed by lunch and energetic keynote speaker Garrison Wynn.
DeArmond addressed the audience for the first segment of the morning, appropriately titled “Planning Your Business.” DeArmond’s overall theme seemed to entail that failing to plan was planning to fail, and he outlined many important tactics one can take to provide solutions for any issue which might arise, whether obvious or not.
Following a 10-minute break were two paneled discussions moderated by local KGET 17 news anchor Gaylen Young. The first, titled “Financing Your Business,” was chaired by Keith Brice, Scott Begin, Dana Fabbri and Linda Miles. Although they shared many views and opinions on business finance and startup, they each had individual interpretations of various financial practices. This sharing of different viewpoints made it easier for the audience to fully understand their options and obligations when it comes to securing funding for their ventures.
The common consensus was summed up by Brice, who outlined a successful finance strategy with “the Four C’s; Capacity [for equity], Credit, Cashflow, and Character.” He also added that one should “get to know your banker before you need them.”
Miles added to that saying “get to know your insurance agent and your attorney as well.”
The next panel discussed “Marketing Your Business,” which entails everything that one does once they decide to start that business. Mary Beth Garrison, Marlene Heise, Lou Leto, and Cynthia Pollard were on the panel.
Their advice was well-aligned, as well as being rooted in common sense and made mentally accessible through their cooperative reasoning.
They made it a point to distinguish marketing from advertising and sales, which it is often confused.
Other key points of their discussion focused on implanting the image of one’s business in every potential consumer’s mind. To accomplish this, they assigned plans for identifying and targeting a demographic, as well as determining what a target demographic might be for certain businesses.
Heise strongly pushed for every potential business owner to outline a marketing strategy for their proposed business during the planning phase. All members agreed that a sincere belief and sense of enthusiasm about one’s business was crucial to making it believable and desirable to a customer.
The marketing discussion was lively, but seemed tame compared to what came next.
After a catered and steaming Italian lunch, Garrison Wynn stormed the room. Wynn is young business maverick and former stand-up comedian. His initial boyishness is offset by his impressive credentials, which include work with the Department of Defense, Shell Oil, Merril Lynch, as well as being a current small business owner himself.
His anecdotal style had the room enthusiastically taking notes on leadership styles and operating tactics, in between the bouts of laughter. Wynn emphasized the importance of the most elementary aspects of human communication, such as eye contact and body language, as essential tools for business success. He suggested that the audience “always ask themselves what color a person’s eyes are” in order to ensure comfortable levels of eye contact. This contact is important, in his opinion because “people choose what they are comfortable with, whether it’s the best or not.”
Making people, be they employees or customers, feel comfortable and needed were the central ideas of his motivational speech.
He made clear that “If you make people feel important, what you represent will become important to them.”
This feeling of importance is only applicable to those with measurable ability for contribution to one’s business, be they customer or employee. He also made it clear that sincerity is paramount in any dealing, noting that false put-ons will always eventually be seen through and rejected.
Wynn wrapped up his interactive monologue at 1:30 to a shower of applause and the room dispersed into more networking.