Our guests in Midwest Entrepreneurs class on Tuesday 3 February 2015 were Alicia and Travis Pence. To our very pleasant surprise, we were treated to not one but TWO interesting tales of early-stage entrepreneurship. Alicia, a 2010 graduate of Monmouth College majoring in Psychology, spoke to the class about her experience starting up and running the Family Outreach Community Center in Stronghurst, IL. (see: http://www.familyoutreachcommunitycenter.org/).
Alicia was our first non-profit entrepreneur—and first social entrepreneur—speaking to the class in the over two years I have been teaching it.
Travis joined the all-in-the-family entrepreneurial affair by talking about a company he has recently started up; Lightning Designs. The company custom-produces a variety of signs and banners and car wraps for its clients (see: http://www.lightningdesigns.us/).
It was an inspirational experience to witness these two young entrepreneurs speaking about their passions. For far more details on the experience, I turn things over to today’s class blogger Andrew Shiakallis.
See you next week; no guest speaker this Thursday.
Regards,
Prof. Gabel
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Saving the world in today’s society seems to be a fictional goal. When I was seven, I was told saving the world is a big job and the best place to start is in your own back yard. So when I got home from school, I ran to my back yard looked around and said “yep all saved.” Obviously my six year old self did not understand the concept. Today I grasp the concept a little more. I recycle, volunteer, teach, and overall give back to my community. However, one person did more than anyone in her community. Alicia Pence founded her very own non-profit organization in her backyard.
Mrs. Pence is one of Monmouth College’s very own. Working her way through college with two on campus jobs and one off campus jobs, Mrs. Pence developed a very strong work ethic. Graduating in December of 2010 with a major in psychology, Alicia Pence decided that her community in Henderson County needed assistance. Alicia Pence founded the Family Outreach Community Center (FOCC) in Stronghurst, ILL during her senior year of College in 2010.
However, Alicia Pence did not know how to start a non-profit. Mrs. Pence put her college education to work, researching how to start a non-profit. Mrs. Pence started off on the internet learning the ins and outs of non-profits and the necessary steps to start one. But in order to gain research on starting a non-profit in Henderson County, Mrs. Pence met with other non-profits in her community learning the demographics, the poverty levels, and the troubles the community faced.
Alicia Pence decided to have a non-government funded organization that had a main focus on stopping and preventing poverty in her county. Mrs. Pence wanted a non-government funded organization for two major reasons. One, her organization does not have to deal with nearly as much government “red tape” or extra paperwork. Second, there are little to no limitations on funding for the FOCC. The FOCC receives most of their funding from state grants, local community members, and local churches or businesses.
The FOCC’s mission statement is “The family outreach community center exists to improve the quality of life for residents of Henderson County by providing assistance for low-income families, implementing programs targeted towards strengthening the community, and assisting other existing outreach programs in the county.” The mission statement is general but is specific enough to have a solid goal for its assistance programs. The FOCC also uses the slogan: “Where we feed the hungry and the spirit.” With this slogan and mission statement, the FOCC has assists roughly 80 families per month and serves approximately 10% of Henderson County residents each year.
The FOCC provides three major services to its clients: a nutrition program, a parenting and family assistance program, and an employment and career development program. Each program follows the FOCC’s mission statement in order to one day push Mrs. Pence out of a job. This is unusual to hear from someone running a business but, in her case, it means that her job is done if she achieves the goals of eliminating poverty in Henderson County and helping her clients get meaningful jobs.
Mrs. Pence took on founding the FOCC very similar to any other entrepreneur. However, Mrs. Pence considers herself to be a social entrepreneur or someone who starts a business not for profit but for solving societal problems. Mrs. Pence still fulfils a business plan and SWOT analysis every year in order to increase and progress her business. Mrs. Pence established a ten person board of directors comprised of amazing people who are from different backgrounds and who have different skills. Mrs. Pence is the only paid employee at FOCC. The rest of the employees are part of the Vista volunteer program. However, Mrs. Pence explains that the satisfaction of the people she helps is more than enough payment.
When Alicia had finished talking to the class about the FOCC, we learned that there are two entrepreneurs in the Pence family.
Mr. Travis Pence has recently started up a for-profit organization called Lighting Designs. The company is a logo and graphic design company also located in Henderson County (Biggsville, IL to be exact). The firms was founded in 2012 and was started in order to increase the lifestyle of the Pence family. The company started off with one small 24 inch printer and performed small jobs for local companies. As the company progressed a new printer was added in 2013 with more capabilities producing more business for Mr. Pence.
Mr. Pence understood early on that in order to stand out in such a large market the company must become highly service-oriented. The company focuses on service to complement the core goods products it produces for clients. The service provided involves installation, constant personal communication, and helpful insight into all projects. Mr. Pence wants to create a strong brand identity, a consistent brand image, and brand loyalty in order to truly stand out in the company. Mr. Pence wants to establish a good communication line with his customers. The company is slowly progressing. Mr. Pence declared that the company is a “nights and weekends” company and will be “an overnight success in 15 years.” The company is looking to expand into 3D printing but is trying to establish a strong brand before moving up in the market.
Toward the end of the class, we learned that there may not be as many differences between running a for-profit versus a non-profit entrepreneurial enterprise as one might first think. When asked about this, Mr. and Mrs. Pence said that the main difference between FOCC and Lighting Designs is “the employment factor.” This is due to the fact that Lightning Designs currently has but one employee—Travis—while Alicia must manage the activities of her several volunteers.
In closing, the entrepreneurial Pence family provided the class with three major pieces of advice. The first piece of advice is having a mentor. A mentor helps whenever needed and keeps the person motivated throughout all endeavors. The second piece of advice is to use social media to advertise and market the company’s brand. Social media is very inexpensive and can produce a huge amount of word or mouth to increase sales. The final word of advice to students is to “get out of the classroom.” The main goal is to establish connections and experience in the work place in order to prosper after graduation.
Andrew Shiakallis
