COUNCIL OF SMALLER ENTERPRISES

M a r g a r e t B r i l l e r

Lorain County magazine editor Lou Acosta and Deborah and Darwin Rutledge of the Rutledge Group
have found Council of Small Enterprises membership helpful.

Your Business Plan

Networking offers advantages

 

The reality of networking with the right professionals who can offer assistance to help businesses grow brings many entrepreneurs to the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE).

With one couple, it was through COSE’s Business Plan Challenge. For another man, it was years after spending thousand of dollars in dues to local civic organizations with minimal results.

Deborah and Darwin Rutledge had separate careers before forming their own independent insurance agency, the Rutledge Group. Darwin had started as Rutledge Insurance Agency in 1995, a captive agency selling and servicing all lines of insurance for a major insurance company. In March 2000, he started his own independent insurance company, and Deborah joined him in the venture, leaving behind her professional career that had started as a special education teacher and ended with a 20-year career in retail management after running a $40 million store with 450 employees for a major retailer. In November 2008, the name their company was changed to the Rutledge Group.

“We had been familiar with COSE but had no involvement until 2002, when we decided to enter COSE’s Business Plan Challenge,” said Darwin. “Although we did not win in any category, our participation in the challenge introduced us to the various benefits and events associated with COSE membership. We then decided to take COSE’s tools and input from the 2002 Business Plan Challenge and entered the 2003 Business Plan Challenge. This time, we won first place in the growth and innovation category, with one of the prizes being a free COSE membership for one year.”

“The benefits of our relationship with COSE began in 2002, before we were active members, and it has continued with our active membership in the organization to date,” Deborah explained. “Through networking events, involvement in MindShare, a peer advisory group, and the annual Small Business Conference, we have received information, education and business contacts that have helped our company continue to grow.”

Darwin believes that the most valuable lesson he’s learned and tries to share with others is, “Make sure your clients know you care. It is not just a business transaction when the customer comes into your office, but it is a continuation of a relationship,” he said.

Deborah also stressed the importance of being able to break away from the daily tasks to work on strategy and plan for the future. “I share the input and insight I receive from participating in my monthly COSE MindShare group with Darwin,” she said. “Over the past two years, we have taken many of the group’s suggestions and observations into consideration as we have planned the direction of our business.”

“The person who wants to be an entrepreneur needs to know that the services of an accountant, attorney and, yes, an insurance professional, should be obtained and retained,” Deborah added. “A person may have a vision and a passion, but the realities of successfully running a business require professional services.”

Darwin added, “I truly believe that if you do these things, the financial rewards and personal satisfaction will come.”

Lou Acosta, editor of Lorain County magazine, had known about COSE for years, but instead of joining three years ago, he decided to stay with the local hambers of commerce and main street organizations. “I spent thousands of dollars in dues to various organizations, when all I had to do was to join COSE. I received more help from COSE than what I received from all the chambers put together,” Acosta said. “If I had joined COSE earlier in my business, I probably wouldn’t have gone through all the changes that I did, because they would have connected me to the right sources right away. But I hesitated. Now, as a member of COSE, I can network more throughout Northeast Ohio. If I need space to meet clients in the Akron-Canton area or the East Side of Cleveland, I can use a COSE office space.”

Lorain County magazine is distributed for free, so it’s income is generated through advertising, according to Acosta. “I had transitioned from a church-oriented paper called Blessings to a community paper and now to a minority bi-cultural paper. The accomplishment that I am most proud of is bouncing back from a loss of employment three years ago to head a few popular tabloid publications that I can now call my own: Lorain County magazine, Lorain County Business & Barter News, North Coast Latino, Spanish Pages and Hispanic Business News.”

Acosta offered his most valuable lesson to other minority entrepreneurs: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do something, especially if it has yet to be done.”

As COSE enters its 37th year, it is positioned more than ever to fight for the rights of all small business owners. It is the largest small business support organization that provides cost-effective group purchase programs, advocacy on legislative and regulatory issues and networking and educational resources to help Northeast Ohio’s small businesses grow. To learn more about COSE, visit www.cose.org.