I had no idea there were so many small companies with ten or less employees in Orlando. Did you know that this size company makes up 90% of Orlando’s companies and contributes 40% of overall jobs? Six percent of all companies in Orlando are between the size of 11 and 50, and they make up 30% of all businesses. Small business is kicking butt!
I learned these stats in the last Leadership Orlando class I attended. We had the head of Orlando, Inc, speak about entrepreneurship in Orlando, the obstacles involved with promoting new business, and the upcoming B.I.G. Summit. Orlando, Inc has so many tools for people who want to start businesses, from smaller mom and pops to start-ups that need to utilize incubators to help figure out how their technologically-advanced product can be mass produced and marketed. The obstacles for everyone seem to be transportation, getting capital set up, and for those that need it, keeping the students/employees that can do the technologically advanced stuff here in Orlando.
We also traveled to the city of Tavares that day, where we learned about the changes the city took to pull them into this century and become “America’s Seaplane City.” The mayor who helped get them there was a guest speaker and the thought she shared about business has really stuck with me. She said, “A business is just a made up thing that helps you build relationships with other people. The better the relationships, the better the business.” I like this idea a lot. It’s very useful to think about in my line of work and in thinking of my clients’ lines of work. How can I help them build better relationships with their customers and in turn me build better relationships with them?
Patti is still learning 