Drew Yarbrough
On February 22, Huntsville business owners took part in a panel discussion at Stovehouse Canteen, addressing members of the local entrepreneur community.
The panel included co-owner of Canadian Bakin Daniela Perallon, owner of The Goody Vault Emanuel Edwards, founder and CEO of Blue Summit Supplies Owen Franklin, and owner of Green Pea Press Rachel Lackey. The entrepreneurs discussed several topics regarding business development, taking risks and time management, particularly focusing on their personal experiences. After the discussions, a brief question-and-answer session was held for the audience to ask members of the panel their own questions.
Edwards of The Goody Vault spoke about his participation as a panelist, noting that he was interested in participating to help others make good decisions and learn from his personal experience with his business. He also said that sharing his experience is important to him because “it’s a way to give back and help others save time and money by avoiding preventable mistakes.” Edwards and his fellow panelists were especially transparent about mistakes they made and offered extensive advice to address some of these mistakes.
A University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) student, Tyler Berry, attended the event and mentioned several ways in which it was valuable to him as an entrepreneur himself. He said that the panelists shared instances when they were criticized for pursuing their business ambitions but were not deterred and instead let their passions guide them forward. “One of the biggest things that I took away was just when they said ‘don’t let someone else’s negativity toward your business stop you from moving forward’ … For me to be able to keep going I just have to keep the same hunger and same passion that I had when we started the business,” Berry said. Additionally, the panelists spoke about the importance of word-of-mouth marketing in addition to social media marketing, which helped Berry adapt his business’ marketing strategy but also assured him of the value of social media presence.
The Don’t Do This event was hosted by the UAH College of Business in partnership with the UAH Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce. The SBDC is an organization that helps entrepreneurs with every stage of business development including licensing, marketing, developing a business plan and more.
