Success Stories, contd.
Belamari Tea Room Karade Gymnastics School, LLC Porta Print, Inc Ilo Infosystems
Belamari Tea Room
The idea for Belamari Tea Room was born in Paris on November, 2002 when three sisters, Lynne, Valerie and Karen Henderson raised their teacups in a toast to honor their recently deceased Mother at a tea salon across from the Louvre. The name "Belamari" is a combination of the names of the sisters' late Grandmother, Emma Bell and their Mother, Edna Marie; a wonderful way to celebrate their heritage and start a business in honor of their matriarchs.
The three sisters began their journey by learning as much as they could about the industry and their particular niche market. They trained with industry experts, attended seminars, read books and experienced tea in France, Germany, the U.K., and several states in the U.S. As a result, they have gained a wealth of information about tea, its service, preparation and etiquette. Although the sisters bring experience from diverse backgrounds (information technology, the fashion industry, and banking), their love for tea is the common denominator.
In August 2004 Valerie and Lynne attended the Business Plan Writing Workshop offered by the Rutgers-Newark SBDC. “The workshop helped us to fine-tune and focus our strategy, specifically in terms of our marketing activities” says Valerie.
After completing the workshop the sisters found it challenging to secure the financing recurred to start the business. Undeterred, the sisters were able to cover the start-up costs with their own funds and assistance from their family.
Belamari Tea Room opened its doors on December 2004 and was immediately well received by the community. The business which currently has six employees is located in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Belamari Tea Room provides a wonderful experience for its customers and also offers catering services, and a venue for special events.
When asked if they could provide advice for anyone interested in starting a business Valerie suggested “you must conduct thorough research to ensure that you start the business with the correct amount of capital, hire a good real estate attorney to negotiate the lease, and don’t underestimate the amount needed for marketing it is critical”.
We congratulate these Three Queens on their success.
Belamari Tea Room
198 Diamond Bridge Avenue in Hawthorne, NJ
www.belamari.com
(973)304-0188
Karade Gymnastics School, LLC
Ms. IyaSokoya Karade and Mr. Oloye Ifa Karade owned and managed a home-based family childcare program for a number of years. Over those years the childcare program as gained national recognition, serves as a resource for families in the community, and advocates for children on state and local issues.
But the couple still had bigger aspirations in mind. They wanted to create a program that offered children, and young adults, in urban cities an alternative to the usual sports and dance recreational activities. They envisioned a program that stressed development of self-esteem, disciple, creativity, and physical training. So out of this desire to serve was born Karade Gymnastics School, LLC. The school offers gymnastics instruction for children 18 months to 18 years of age. Ms. Karade was a competitive gymnast since high school and has been an instructor for USA Gymnastics, the governing organization of the national sport, since 2000. In order to turn their idea to reality the couple began conducting research and gathering information, they than prepared a business plan and finally approached the Rutgers-Newark Small Business Development Center (R-N SBDC) to discuss sources of financing and lending criteria. IyaSokoya and Oloye worked with the Center to fine-tune their business plan and identify a realistic funding source. The Center provided referrals to a number of lenders but the most positive feedback came from Jeff Bunin, a Loan Officer with Capital Lending Corporation. Jeff diligently worked with the Karade’s to craft a creative financing plan that satisfied their needs at reasonable terms.
According to IyaSokoya "it was a pleasure working with Jeff, he offered strategies for financing the business and kept me posted on the status of my application on a daily basis". With the assistance of the R-N SBDC and Capital Lending Corporation Karade Gymnastics School, LLC is currently completing renovations on its new location at 583 Scotland Road in Orange, New Jersey.
www.karadegymnastics.com
customerservice@karadegymnastics.com
Porta Print, Inc
Peter Larchmont is the founder and owner of Porta Print, Inc. a printing company that specializes in desktop publishing, color copies, offset printing, digital printing and binding services. The company began operating in 1995 on Halsey Street, in downtown Newark, with one employee. Today the company has grown to a staff of three and its client list includes such prestigious organizations as Rutgers University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, NAACP, and William Paterson University. The company also generates a sizeable amount of work from the small business community.
Mr. Larchmont had utilized the services of the Rutgers-Newark Small Business Development Center in the past to assist him with registering the company as a Small Business Enterprise (SBE), applying for certification as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), and with preparing a business plan.
Most recently Porta Print needed a small loan to cover cash flow. It normally takes the company 30 to 45 days to receive payment once the clients are invoiced. The RNSBDC assisted Mr. Larchmont with the preparation of a loan package and referred him to a loan officer from PNC Bank. Shortly afterward he was approved for a $20,000 line of credit. "It arrived right on time, I could not have done without the assistance of the Rutgers-Newark SBDC" said Mr. Larchmont.
Ilo Infosystems
"Cultivate Knowledge Through Technology" that is the motto at ILO INFOSYSTEMS, L.L.C. The Company is an international information technology consulting firm that was established in 2002. ILO INFOSYSTEMS provides IT consulting services that enable its clients to reduce risk and save time and money.
Mr. Eddie Johnson, Jr. is the founder and Managing Member of the Company. Mr. Johnson started the business out of his home in Newark, New Jersey with one partner (who is no longer with the Company). Today the firm as two commercial offices (Newark, NJ & New York, NY), as added two new partners and was recently approved for a business loan by Capital Lending Corp. (North Bergen, NJ).
Mr. Johnson first came through the Center by attending our Business Plan Writing Workshop. This workshop served as an eye opener to Mr. Johnson on the type of research, analysis and planning that is required to create a successful company. He also took advantage of the Center’s one-on-one counseling services and attended various workshops and seminars. The Center assisted Mr. Johnson with preparing his business plan and with obtaining Small Business Enterprise (SBE) registration and Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) certification. He also formed a relationship with the loan officer, from Capital Lending Corp., at a "Building & Financing Your Business" seminar sponsored by the R-N SBDC, SBA, and the City of Newark. "Its been a great experience working with the Rutgers-Newark SBDC, you guys were vital in helping me gain the knowledge and understanding of how to really get into business, the first workshop planted a seed for me…" says Mr. Johnson.
The future goals for ILO INFOSYSTEMS include positioning the company as a major competitor in the domestic market, cultivating established relationships in the Asian and South African markets, working on a project with the United Nations, and creating a non-profit arm for the Company that will promote technology education in an effort to decrease the technology divide. Mr. Johnson offers these words for any aspiring entrepreneurs "to be successful in business you must have the perseverance to keep going when things look their worst and the confidence in yourself and what you are doing to ignore all the nay-sayers".
