Posts by Dan Fontaine
Small Biz Stories: Who and When to Hire
The hiring process, knowing who to hire and when to hire, is different for every business. Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing says that while experience has helped him get better at identifying who to hire, knowing when to hire someone is still one of the biggest challenges he faces. For some businesses, the question of…
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Small Biz Stories: Milestones of a Growing Business
As human beings, we have a tendency to look for milestones, progress points we can mark and celebrate when we reach them. Business is no different. Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing says that there are a lot of important milestones for entrepreneurs. Perhaps the first milestone is getting the first client or customer. “You realize,…
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Small Biz Stories: Learning What NOT to Do, with Simms Jenkins
Working for a series of startups during the dot-com era, Simms Jenkins learned a lot about what not to do, lessons that have helped him make BrightWave Marketing more successful. “I’m not a huge risk taker, but the dot-com experience helped firm up a lot of my business beliefs and compass,” he says. “The dot-com…
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Small Biz Stories: How to Find New Business
Finding new business is vitally necessary for every business. But as Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing points out, businesses don’t always have to use the same formulaic approaches to finding and measuring those new customers. “The best way of attracting clients since Day 1 has always been word of mouth and referrals,” he says. “That’s…
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Small Business Stories: Simms Jenkins, the Accidental Entrepreneur
Not every entrepreneur starts out expecting to be an entrepreneur. Simms Jenkins is the founder and CEO of BrightWave Marketing for 12 and a half years now, but says, “I’m one of the more accidental entrepreneurs.” Simms got his start as a young professional thriving in a job for Cox during the dot-com boom. But…
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Small Business Stories: Geoff Wilson on a Passion for Growth
If you ask people what you need to succeed in business, you’ll hear a lot of talk about passion. You need to be passionate about your business, you need to love what you do, and so something you love. But Geoff Wilson of 352 Inc. says that’s close, but not exactly right. “If you really…
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Geoff Wilson: Finding New Customers
A steady flow of new customers is vital for any business. Geoff Wilson of 352 Inc. calls them the “lifeblood” of any business. “You can’t be successful in business without having a mechanism for finding new customers,” he says. Getting new customers goes down two paths: you finding new customers and them finding you. Geoff…
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Geoff Wilson: Fast Failure in Business
Celebrating failure is becoming more and more accepted among entrepreneurs, but Geoff Wilson of 352 Inc. cautions entrepreneurs that the key is not to fail, but to fail fast. Don’t let failure just be a buzzword based on hype. “The key is to not overextend yourself so that if you fail, you don’t have room…
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Geoff Wilson: Managing Business Growth
Obviously, 352 Inc.’s Geoff Wilson was happy to have a growing business, but that brought an entirely new set of challenges along with it. “If you’re a sole practitioner… you have a background or passion for whatever service you’re offering,” he says. In Geoff’s case his passion and expertise at web design was what led…
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Geoff Wilson: Getting Started as a Young Entrepreneur
Geoff Wilson is the President and Founding Partner of 352 Inc., a digital product design firm. Geoff started 352 in college. “When you’re young it’s a fabulous time to start a business,” says Wilson. “My freshman year, I just had a lot of fun,” Geoff says with a smile. When he became a sophomore, though,…
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