Small- and Minority-Owned Business

Small Business Learns How to Swim with the Sharks

On Thursday, May 26, nearly 30 representatives of greater Kansas City’s woman and minority small business community met at the offices of another small business—Ingram’s Magazine in Kansas City’s Freight House District for a spirited discussion on the future of small business.

Chairing the session was Sam Jones, Regional Director of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Also in attendance from the SBA was former State Treasurer Wendell Bailey, now Regional Advocate for the SBA, as well as two representatives from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Marianne Hudson and Michael Dayton. This assembly was part of Ingram’s ongoing effort to highlight business issues in Kansas City’s greater metro politan area.

This was the second time in the five-year history of the Industry Outlook that the light was shone on small businesses with a particular focus on two salient subsets, minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs) and women-owned business enterprises (WBEs). Participants found much commonality of purpose and challenge, despite the diverse businesses to which they have dedicated themselves.

Positioning Strategies

As an opening question, participants were asked whether they have identified a specific position for themselves in the marketplace and, if so, what that position is. For companies that are scrambling to stay competitive, it is critical that they stay ahead of the marketplace.

Mary Lou Jacoby of Warehouse One described the position of her company as “ongoing, fluid.” This adaptability of mission was a common theme. Don Gardner of Group One Architects defined his company’s position as “ever changing.” One new area that it has been exploring is healthcare construction.

JoAnne Mina of J.M. Neil & Associates described her company’s position as “evolving,” in her case from staffing to “outsourcing,” more specifically the management of whole projects. Jeanette Prenger of ECCO Select was guiding the evolution of her company from the provision of bi-lingual developers to agencies and corporations to the provision of multi-lingual ones.

As Marilyn Townsend observed, her company, Controlled Environ-mental Products, Inc., was in the process of repositioning itself. She was no longer satisfied to be the largest diverse supplier to the local acute care medical market. She planned for her company to be a respected competitor in the regional and national markets as well. By “diverse” in this context, Townsend meant female or minority. Rick Rangel of Rangel Distributing succinctly offered a similar strategy: “Local company, national reach.”

“We are constantly redefining ourselves,” acknowledged Diane Forte of Dean’s Trophies, this despite the fact that the firm is a well-established, multi-generational one. As to the firm’s essential position, Forte said, “We specialize in helping people recognize achievement.”

Joe Davis of Custom Engineering summed up his firm’s effort to move from a niche player to one with mass appeal in a colorful metaphor. “We’re like an R& B firm trying to make a pop record,” said Davis. For Andre Hinton of AH Inc. Consulting, his company positions itself as one that can help its clients make the kind of move that Joe Davis and others present envisioned for their companies.

Jan Christenson had helped oversee the transition of a 50-year-old family agency, Christenson Barclay & Shaw, from an undifferentiated marketing firm to one that specialized in Yellow Page placement for national clients.

Although each firm represented was open to change, some, like Christenson’s seem to have grown comfortable with specific positioning strategies. Diane Forgy, for instance, described Overland Limousine Service as being the “premier corporate service pro-vider in the market.”

“Want a Chevy, think Cable Dahmer,” said Carlos Ledezma, cutting through the clutter with a well-tested message. “Service sets us apart,” said Robbin Reynolds of Sound Products. Marna Courson of CCI PR & Marketing rejects the ad-driven model that defines most agencies and proposes instead to “target what the client needs to achieve.”

In a similar vein, Lisa Miller of The Contract Studio distinguishes her firm from other sellers of office furniture with the thoughtful understanding, “We don’t sell a commodity; we provide solutions.”

Nancy Zurbuchen has steered Motional Multimedia to a specialty in internal communication, helping clients with more than one location communicate via the Internet behind a firewall. The business of Neighbors Construction, as reports Nancy Neighbors, is just as specific, if a good deal more traditional: that is, building multi-family housing, which it has done successfully since 1951. Still, the company is continually “diversifying.”

It was Whitney Johnson of the W.A. Johnson Group, who perhaps best summarized the position of all small businesses in a highly competitive market. “I’m just a small guppy,” said Whitney, “swimming in a sea of sharks.”

(front row, left to right)
Diane Forte,
Dean's Trophies & Awards

Lisa Miller, The Contract Studio

Mary Lou Jacobi,
Warehouse One

Whitney Johnson,
W.A. Johnson Group

Marilyn Townsend, Controlled Environmental Products
Jeanette Prenger, ECCO Select
Marna Courson,
CCI PR & Marketing

Jan Christenson,
Christenson, Barclay & Shaw

(second row, left to right)

(back row, left to right)