COSE Small Business Conference @ I-X Center, 10/21/09

Did you just launch your own business? Maybe you created a catering business, a virtual concierge business, or recently joined a tool and die operation? Most companies begin small with a handful of employees. Starting a new business is a daunting challenge and a risky endeavor, the unknown factors are many.

This past week out at the I-X Center, COSE (the Council of Smaller Enterprises) hosted its fourth annual Small Business Conference educating business owners and employees about cost effective marketing strategies, employee benefit programs, customer relationship management, secure data, social media, and more. With over 1,400 registrants, 73 exhibitors, and two-day's worth of speakers and networking sessions, the COSE Small Business Conference is a worthwhile event helping small businesses thrive across Northeast Ohio.

John DiJulius, founder and owner of John Robert’s Salon and Spa, with five locations and over 150 employees, and founder and owner of the DiJulius Group, a customer experience consulting firm, was the first keynote speaker captivating his audience with his commitment to the customer. It is not just a haircut, he explained, but the customer has taken time out of their busy day, away from their job, to come to this appointment. So we create an experience, a superior customer service experience.

At the conference lunch break, Steve Millard, executive director of COSE, honored ten member companies (actually 11 this year) with ten or less employees for their passion, growth, creativity, and sustainable practices. A CoolCleveland Congratulations to the Knowledge College, FastSigns Downtown Cleveland, Spice of Life Catering, Seize this Day Coaching, Big Fun, Green Smart Gifts, Karen Skunta & Company, Birol Growth Consulting, Gray's Auctioneers LLC, The Fairmount Group LLC, and Maximum Value Partners LLC.

As the "bread and butter" and "nuts and bolts" of the Northeast Ohio economy, small business is where the action is. According to COSE research, small business represents 99.7 percent of all employers across the United States. Small business employs half of all private sector employees, and generates 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs annually.

A wide variety of businesses, not just one sector or industry, were represented at the COSE Small Business Conference. Eric Clemens, president of Acroment Technologies, LLC, said, "We have seven employees and a successful consulting practice. I wanted to come today to learn new ways to improve my business." Another fellow commented that he found the "Prioritizing Your Time" workshop helpful – Being reminded to prioritize, make lists, and stick to them. It reinforced that we are doing the right thing, he added. Andy Halko, Insivia Marketing and Web Design, gave a presentation about driving traffic to your web site. "We had an amazing turnout for this session, about 50 people," he said, "and we had people excited about search engine optimization." Networking is another benefit to the conference with lots of hand shaking and business card exchanges.

For more information, visit http://my.cose.org/sbc/index2.asp.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul, who says the act of writing is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge lies in getting the pieces to fit together and make sense.