Sbam Shorts, Your Weekly Small Business Success Tip

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Rich Tegge is the owner of Wealth Strategy Group in Marquette. “Well, you know, being up here in the UP, at times you can feel like you're having a little bit of an island when it comes to what's happening in the state. And what I found is that my association with SBAM has really connected me well with the rest of the state.” Tegge is involved with SBAM as a member of the association’s board of directors. “From a business climate, from a business standpoint, but also on the political front, understanding more about the things that are affecting small business throughout the state, the network of business owners that I've been able to get introduced to and network with on a regular basis, through the board and through the Leadership Council has been phenomenal. It's helped me grow as a business owner. I get ideas every time I connect with these folks, always a lot of energy in the room. And I think

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Drew Veach is Vice President for Corporate Color Graphics in Grand Rapids, a custom signage and retail decor fabrication company that specializes in large format printing and creative signage and branding. He says the owner-to-owner connection he gets through SBAM is really important to him. “Big time, that is a big time value that I get out of it.” Veach is a part of SBAM’s Leadership Council. “Yeah, the biggest value I get out of this is really networking with other similar business owners and people [who are] managing businesses. It's kind of the old adage that we're all in the same boat together and it feels good to be able to network with those other people that are going through those similar business struggles. And I can connect with them, kind of get better ideas of how to how do I solve my business needs. Other people have gone through it, I'm not the only one dealing with that issue. So,

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “It makes me feel like I have a voice.” Jason Verlinde is President of RFT Search Group in Farmington Hills and a member of the SBAM Board of Directors. “You know, as, as business owners, we kind of a lot of times sit in our own little world and don't have other owners to talk to. So our owner-to-owner networking, our Leadership Council, gives us an opportunity for that involvement with other business owners. And then on the political side, you know, it helps us feel like we have a voice. We're a very small percentage of the overall population. And a lot of times, we feel like nobody's out there fighting for us, but SBAM is. So I really enjoy it.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “The biggest value is everybody in the room is a business owner so it's the perspective that you can't find it anywhere else.” Jim Foucher is Vice President of RBV Contracting in Detroit and a member of the SBAM Leadership Council. “We have all the same issues, we've all seen problems, we all bounce things off each other. No matter what industry, everyone kind of has the same few issues so it's great just to have that group to rely on, to be able to go to and [ask] how did you handle this? How did you handle that? So for us [that’s] the greatest thing with SBAM.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “I think SBAM represents small business. There’s not a lot of organizations in the state of Michigan and or, you know, certainly broader than that, that can make that statement.” SBAM board member Bill Kimble is the President and Infrastructure Group Leader for Lansing based architecture and engineering firm C2AE. They have nearly a hundred employees. “And even at 100 in staff we still consider ourselves, and the federal government still considers us, a small business. And so we need an advocate to speak for small businesses because our voices individually are not loud enough but our voices collectively are very loud. And that’s really what SBAM does is tie those organizations together and represents them in a lot of different ways. Not just in advocacy but also in sharing business-to-business ideas -- how each of them can improve their business. So that's what I've always appreciated about SBAM. T

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “The primary value that I get through being involved in SBAM are the relationships with other business owners.” SBAM board member Dan Cherrin is the owner of North Coast Strategies, an independent public relations-public affairs consultancy based in Royal Oak. “When I got involved a few years ago, my priority in joining SBAM was not to get health insurance or discounts for UPS, it was to meet people and to network throughout the entire state. And now I can go all the way to the tip of the UP, to the corner of Michigan and Indiana, and know a business owner that I can reach out to and learn from, and there's so many businesses that we have in the state. It's really the diversity. It’s incredible.” And, Cherrin puts a lot of value on SBAM’s nonpartisan public policy agenda. “We have tremendous opportunities to engage public policy leaders from both sides of the aisle and bring them together for conve

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “There is no other organization out there that combines the advocacy, the government relations side of small business protecting us in Lansing and in DC now.” Milan Gandhi is Vice President of Med-Share, Inc., and 1st Vice Chair of the SBAM Board of Directors. “Combine that with influence over all levels of government relationships at all levels and government. I use this SBAM as my lobbying firm now when I want to get something done in Lansing.” Gandhi also values the member-to-member benefits of SBAM. “You know, chambers of commerce that I've been a part of forever, you end up meeting people from all parts of different organizations. In SBAM it's owner-to- owner and and I can't stress how important that is. When we go to Leadership Council events, SBAM board meetings, PAC board events, nobody trying to sell me anything. We are all in our own businesses and have our own busy lives. And we’re only

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “The greatest value for me is being immersed in a network of like minded people.” Rebecca Cox is president of the Savant Group of Midland and a member of SBAM’s board of directors. “I get great ideas, great energy from my involvement with SBAM. That’s allowed me to think outside the box and to see things that other people have done that are successful and learn from mistakes that they've done so I don't have to repeat them. And, you know, just that a more practical side as SBAM has a really great suite of of products and services that it offers small businesses. So, all the way around, it's just a really great concept for being able to offer small businesses a lot of assistance as they're navigating their way through.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “If you want to have a voice and you want to join other small business owners in having a voice in small business, there's no better organization.” Chad Paalman is SBAM’s 2018-19 Board Chair and CEO and co-founder of NuWave Technology Partners. “I had the chance first of all, just to just work alongside a number of people that are very, very talented business [people], some of the brightest and most talented business people because of SBAM. I've learned so much from from these individuals, they are running just really neat businesses. I've also had the opportunity to get involved in legislative issues, things that I would have never dreamt that I'd be involved in and have the opportunity to have a say in it. And now fast forward years later, I'm now the Board Chair of SBAM. And I tell individuals that are looking to get involved or have a say in what's happening in business issues, especially even

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “When you have the ability to to work with each other for common causes.” Denny Ware is an SBAM member and the owner of Mission Point Resorts on Mackinac Island. “When you can talk with other people who have related issues they've learned how to deal with when you can band together and be a voice with respect to being involved in in state and local government. It makes life so much more interesting and improves the quality of the business that you have in a small business. You can can't always afford to get all of the expertise you need on your staff. And so you need a place where you can go take advantage of the the synergy that you can develop with other people with similar problems. And since similar challenges that you're dealing with, and small business organizations are good for America. They're good for each of us.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association o

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “First one I would say is advocacy on behalf of the small businesses that don't have, you know, the time or resources to learn and communicate with legislators, regulators, do research into other topics.” Henry Morley is the founder and senior solution consultant for DPT Solutions in Grand Rapids and is a member of the Leadership Council for the Small Business Association of Michigan. “Second value is tied to that information source. I think SBAM provides great sources of information, not only of apprising what's happening in Lansing and maybe Washington that impacts small businesses, but back to my best practice and good practices of understanding what other small businesses are doing in certain areas. And that collaboration, both online and offline. And like you said, mentioned, the Leadership Council, having a group there to be able to interact with other owners and leaders. I would kind of pu

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Sassa Akervall is a member of the SBAM board of directors and CEO/majority owner of Saline-based Akervall Technologies. Her company was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies for the third year in a row, and she gives some credit to her SBAM involvement. “Surrounding yourself with a great advice or with people who are smarter than you [is] just generally is a good concept. Just to have a good network is very important. That's why I've enjoyed SBAM so much, because not only is it a fabulous learning tool, and I've learned so much since I joined because of all the fabulous programs that SBAM puts on, but also because of the people you meet, and the advice and the exchanges you have. It's been a great, great, great experience for me.” Sassa also appreciates the fact that SBAM helps give her a voice in helping to shape the success of the small business comm

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Adam Zuwerink is the owner of West Michigan Law in Muskegon and a member of the SBAM Leadership Council. “The Leadership Council, I love it because I go there and I’m just a small business owner, I’m just a guy who has to pay rent, I’m just a guy who writes the front of the paycheck. And I get so much back out of it just talking with other small business owners who are going through the same problems that I am -- you know, how do you find a new employee, what accounting software do you use, things like that. Which is why I’ve so enjoyed my time with the Leadership Council, just relaxing and chatting with other small business owners in the same spot that I am. Especially in the professional services setting a lot of times we forget we’re also small business owners.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. John Kolbasa is the founder of Value Engineering with locations in Lansing and Detroit. He’s a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council. “I think the Leadership Council has been very helpful for me, because I'm surrounded with other business leaders that are in the trenches of operating their businesses and doing a lot of the same things I'm doing.” John says he values the collaboration opportunities he gets from his involvement. “I found that the people on the Leadership Council are very generous with their time. I've always been able to sit down with folks that I felt would be a good fit, would be able to give input on what I'm doing and help me. They've always been willing to sit down and meet one on one. There's lots of opportunities in the different events that the Leadership Council plans, to get around and talk to other business leaders.” SBAM’s political muscle also means a lot to John. “I feel

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Jason Miller is a VIP member of SBAM and CEO of BytLyft Cybersecurity, a managed security-as-a-service company with a focus on security incident and event management. “ I'm excited and a proud member of the Small Business Association. We heard about it and went to one of the events and started digging into the information that was available to us as a small business member. And so I signed up because I seen the membership not only valuable to us as a business, but also the ability to get in contact with the other businesses that are inside of SBAM.” Jason says he look forward to tapping into SBAM’s owner-to-owner community. “That's truly the the hope and the encouragement that I would not only expect, but also hopefully receive out of the Small Business Association, that we can continue to get together knowledge, share, help one another. Because as we're cyber security experts, we're going to need

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Andy Gutman is president of the Farbman Group in Southfield, a VIP member of SBAM. “We especially like participating with the Small Business Association, because many times, companies that are smaller, don't necessarily have the representation or feel they should have that until they grow to a certain size. And we think everybody is entitled to great representation.” In this election season, Andy says that he values the way that SBAM gives him exposure to political candidates. “The Small Business Association helps so many small businesses with their needs, and it's really a wonderfully friendly, talented community of businesses. And we're just so honored to be a part of it. We've really enjoyed our membership. We've we've got an active group that is started to attend more and more things and, and every event everything we're able to participate in the value that's brought to us even through segmen

Michael Rogers talks with Dr. Karen May, chiropractic sports physician and owner of Momentum Health Centers in Mason. Dr. May is a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council and talks about health, wellness and entrepreneurship.

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “Oh my gosh. So the biggest thing for me is that it was owner to owner.” Dr. Karen May is the owner of Momentum Health Centers in mid-Michigan and a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council. “I've been a part of other organizations and it could be employees sitting there and it was difficult because as owners, we have such a unique, unique set of circumstances and talking to an employee is very different than talking to an owner. So when I went to the Leadership Council meeting last fall, it was just a breath of fresh air to talk to other people who know what we're doing know the level of involvement that we're in and the ground level with our own businesses. But then it was great to see those leaders who have gone ahead and they have bigger businesses, growing businesses and everyone is accessible. If I reach out to somebody within a span because I think that they have a knowledge base that I need ever

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Kristine Kletke, owner of PMSI marketing and social media, puts a high value on member discounts. “Some of the discounts that they have. That's been amazing. So they're extremely helpful for business owners in the state.” Kristine is a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council and enjoys the networking opportunities it provides. “Having the expertise, being able to connect with with other businesses and other leaders who have expertise outside of what we do and bounce ideas off from them and work together to have some synergies and help us to grow. That’s been amazing. The Small Business Association of Michigan, whenever you have a question or need something for your business -- as we grow we've had some HR things and human resources needs and the ability to be able to work through a SBAM to connect with the right people to get the right advice to find the right services.” Leverage the value of your

There are many great reasons for entrepreneurs like you to belong to the Small Business Association of Michigan. “The first word that comes to mind is information. I feel as though I gained insight and information about the business climate in Michigan and the country that I wouldn't have had without that connection.” Mickey Swartzel is the co-founder and CFO of New Eagle in Ann Arbor. She's also a member of the Small Business Association of Michigan's Leadership Council. “There's so many things impacting my business that that are difficult for me to keep my hand, fingers in and understanding, and SBAM gives me sort of a one-stop-shop-place to to get information, to get resources. On top of that is networking and the corporate discounts and all those kinds of things, but like said the first word’s information.” Leverage the value of your involvement with the Small Business Association of Michigan. Learn more by calling today at 800-362-5461.