by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Coming off a year in which businesses big and small struggled financially, the Women Business Owners of North Florida kicked off 2010 by looking to several past award winners for their business secrets for success.
Before a crowd of more than 80, three of the organization’s four 2009 Women in Business Awards winners — Entrepreneur of the Year Mary Tappouni of Breaking Ground Contracting; Pioneer of the Year Peggy Johnson of The Petunia Patch Boutique and Maternity; and Corporate Leader of the Year Carolyn Ward of AT&T Real Yellow Pages — shared their business advice and issues through a panel discussion moderated by WBO Program Manager Karen Brune Mathis, executive director of Dreams Come True.
The first question of the evening was both a sobering reminder of the economic time and poignant.
“You’re still here,” began Brune Mathis. “How’d you do it?”
Tappouni discussed her business being one of many in the hard-hit construction industry, but defined her success through her company’s passion and persistence in an increasingly crowded field.
“There is work out there,” she said, “but there’s much more competition.”
Ward discussed her role in successfully linking people with other people to help them achieve more success in their businesses. In this economy, she said, being aligned with the right people makes a difference.
Johnson survived, she said, through strengthening relationships of all kinds through her business. Unable to compete with big-box stores as a small business, it was a focus on customer service and relationship working with customers, vendors, the community and even the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce that’s helped her business succeed not just during the recession but since she began close to 40 years ago.
Regarding what business factors wake them up in the middle of the night, across the board there was a common theme.
“It’s not so much what wakes you up,” said Tappouni. “It’s what keeps you awake ... It changes every day as your business changes.”
Tappouni said she keeps a notepad by her bedside to write down ideas, concerns and the like, so she can wake up in the morning and begin the day focused. Ward said some of her insomniac business moments regard selling her group’s success, merits and hard work to her superiors, while Johnson agreed with Tappouni’s notion that the worries change daily. Still, she said, most of them revolve around finances.
As for their thoughts on the potential economic turnaround — or if it has already happened — the panel’s thoughts varied.
Tappouni said she would let the economists figure out the idea of a turnaround timeline, but that signs were encouraging in her industry and she was optimistic for 2010. Ward agreed to a degree, adding that the current time is one for creative minds and new innovations to lead the way much like they emerged with staying power after the Great Depression. Johnson ended by encouraging more investment and greater work ethics for business owners during down times.
“The question is, how hard are you willing to work?” asked Johnson. “I know I am (willing).”
The panel will have a different look next January, as four new Women in Business Awards winners will be named March 24 during a luncheon and ceremony at the Omni.
For more information on the WBO of North Florida, go to www.jaxwbo.org.
356-2466