Spotlight» Tampa Bay Business Owners If you’ve ever watched an episode of Shark Tank, you’ve been able to witness a few interesting elements of business occurring. An invention or idea was hatched by someone who could be your neighbor, who has spent the better part of the past few years building it into a business system the best way they know how. And at the moment they can’t handle the volume or get to a sticky point with capital, they enter the Shark Tank, hopeful one of the money players will see the same vision they see and open their wallet. These entrepreneurs obviously never encountered Tampa Bay Business Owners. If they had, they would have already discovered that an entire community of resources is at their disposal. Built on the principle of “business owners helping business owners,” the TBBO community is like no other association you’ll ever encounter. Sure, they have great networking (their connecting opportunities are consistently voted some of the most electric and productive in the area). Yes, they have phenomenal education (Internet Marketing education, Writers Summits, tours of local business and Keynote presentations by some of the area’s most prominent entrepreneurs add to members’ business knowledge). And of course they have impactful peer-to-peer mentoring groups (their Eg3 Peer-to-Peer Mentoring system gives members their own private peer advisory group to brainstorm on their companies and provide accountability for forward moving goals). But the Tampa Bay Business Owner community is so much more than any one of its parts. As one member put it, “This is the best business community I’ve ever been a part of. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.” What is it that makes TBBO so special? A passion to help. Chris Krimitsos, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Tampa Bay Business Owners, created a living, breathing community of entrepreneurs to fuel his own passion for helping people. “I knew if I could have a positive impact on one business owner’s life by connecting them to the resources they needed or give them the knowledge they were looking for to run their business more successfully, that would have a multiplying effect.” That raw passion is backed up by a system to scale the TBBO philosophy. “We’ve woven in intricate systems into our culture that ensure we know exactly what our member need so we can provide that service or connect them to that resource,” says Katie Krienitz, Managing Partner for Tampa Bay Business Owners. “And our members know the drill. They understand our culture of ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ and actively seek out opportunities to help one another.”
and honorary member of TBBO, with community recognition for his growing success in helping underprivileged athletes acquire collegiate athletic scholarships. Sailor, who has been responsible for acquiring more than $10 million in college athletic scholarships for his high school athletes has taken his passion and, through TBBO, is learning how to make a successful business out of it. “The Tampa Bay Business Owners is one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of in my life!” Ricky says. “I am full of energy and passion and desire and have what I believe is a great idea, but I have no business sense whatsoever. Not only am I a first generation college student, but I’m a first generation business owner. So, I don’t have a clue as to how you run business. What TBBO has done for me, is they’ve taken this clay and they’ve molded it. They’ve molded me into a business man. It’s amazing what the organization can do for somebody.” Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been running your company for decades, whether you’ve just made your first dollar or have multi-million dollar revenues, the Tampa Bay Business Owners is home for any entrepreneur who has a passion for their business and who believes in positively helping others. Members are small business owners from all around the Greater Tampa Bay area, reaching as far east as Melbourne and as far south as Venice. The major impact is not just in the individual business owner, but in the Tampa Bay business economy at large. “When each member is helping their fellow member grow, the economies of scale take over,” Krimitsos explains. “Soon, one member’s business is booming and they need to bring on more employees and hire on specialized knowledge – which is often provided by their TBBO peers. This, in turn, brings more business to other members, which helps their companies grow and leads to more people getting hired, and so on and so on.” Herein lies the true power of such a community. In taking care of its members and cultivating a “giver’s gain” atmosphere, the Tampa Bay Business Owners are positively contributing to the larger economy. Not so small a feat for someone who simply wanted to “help people” in his life. The Tampa Bay Business Owners community is growing quickly and so is their effect on their members’ businesses and the Tampa Bay economy at large. To find out more about this organization, contact their headquarters at 813-489-5585 or info@tbbo.org.
A great example of the power of this culture is member Rolo Dumagan, owner of Nolani Marketing. “Just recently, Chris introduced me to Ian Ippolito, CEO of VWorker.com. Because of this connection, I was able to place a bid for 3-D animation work which resulted as a win bid for $26k. This would never have taken place because I was not aware of VWorker.com prior to Chris’ introduction!” John Mickel, owner of Dynamic Carpet Care and long-time TBBO member, knows that TBBO is all about relationships. Averaging 10 referrals each month from fellow TBBO members, he sees a bottomline impact with his involvement. Two years ago, Drew Downs and Jay Galati met in one of the Eg3 Groups, each with their own business at the time. They became fast friends and soon, began dreaming up what is now QLD Marketing, a company that gets you quality online leads on demand. In just a few short months, Drew and Jay are having massive success in their new company. The larger community has also taken notice. Recently, Davin Joseph, Tampa Bay Buccaneers player and two-time NFL All Star, visited the Tampa Bay Business Owners. Joseph, who has his own foundation contributing to the athletic and artistic programs in local high schools, understands the necessity of business knowledge and a business community when building a successful program. On behalf of TBBO, Joseph presented Ricky Sailor, owner of Unsigned Preps FOCUS Magazine south tampa APRIL 2012
15