Business boom in Greenville, SC, the new Start-Up hub

Once the textile capital of the world, Greenville, South Carolina has been forced to innovate its way out of a dying industry. It is the city most people dream of: vibrant, small-town hype, shops and award-winning restaurants, strong support for business, and a well-rounded, diverse community of professionals, top universities, and corporations.

Greenville has devoted decades to creating a community that is appealing to college graduates and high-skilled workers, with access to technology and research talent from nearby Clemson University and state-of-the-art manufacturing plants turning out Michelin tires and BMWs.

With top players like GE Power, Fluor, Bausch & Lomb, Samsung Networks America, Eurokera, Kyocera Mita, Mitsubishi, Saint Gobain, Ahold, Magna, Bosch Rexroth, Pierburg, Nutra, and Michelin, Greenville’s culture of risk-taking and its network of investors ready to fund early-stage businesses create a robustly unique environment!

According to Bloomberg Business Week

Greenville’s leaders can rightly claim they have a success on their hands. In per capita terms, the city’s rate of new business creation approaches that of Boston, one of the country’s hotbeds of innovation.

The Greenville area’s corporational development and business recruitment efforts focus on key, target-industry segments. Offering an ideal balance of skilled workforce, essential infrastructure, pro-business atmosphere, optimal quality of life, and other corporate relocation advantages, Greenville, SC is uniquely positioned to respond to the needs of these target industries.

The dynamic, pro-business climate in Greenville, SC is supported by corporate tax incentives, workforce development programs, an entrepreneurial network of resources, and other features designed to give area businesses a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The Chamber of Commerce, as well as Greenville’s vast system of networking programs, offer a diverse lineup of events available to those seeking to grow and enhance their business within this city.

Many small business owners in the restaurant industry are opening second and third locations, due to initial successes and the demand of their customers. The city is growing faster than ever, bringing great economic support, as well as vast improvement to infrastructure to keep up with the demand.

A few of the many benefits of living and working or investing in Greenville, SC are:

Taxes, Incentives & Training

The area provides aggressive incentives to support projects in Greenville, SC – corporate tax incentives, cash reimbursements, accelerated depreciation, and many others. Learn More

The Jobs Tax Credit is a valuable incentive that rewards new and expanding business owners for creating jobs in South Carolina. These companies must create and maintain a certain number of net new jobs in a taxable year.

International Appeal

Greenville is a hub for international business, with more than 350 international companies located in the region and the highest foreign investment per capita in the country.

Fun Facts:

•   Approximately 230 different international firms from 27 countries have a major presence in Greenville County.
•     From 2010 to 2018, more than 76 companies opened new or expanded facilities or offices in Greenville County, totalling over $1.4 billion in capital investment.

Many newcomers and international workers that come for 3-5 year assignments find great community in the Upstate International (www.upstateinternational.org) organization, which offers many services to internationals designed to integrate cultures and help them get involved in the community.

• Language classes are offered in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, and English as a second language.
• Upstate International provides national contacts in the Greenville area for over 20 different countries around the globe.
• Their Ambassadors Program provides personal assistance to newcomers.

Many other international associations are located in the Greenville area, like:

• Greenville Chinese Cultural Association
• German-American Club of the Carolinas and German-American Chamber of Commerce
• Italian-American Club of Greater Greenville
• Japan America Association of SC
• Swiss American Society of the Piedmont
• India Association of Greater Greenville
• Friends of Internationals
• Greenville Sister Cities International
• Hispanic Alliance
• South Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Aside from the abundance of professional avenues for newcomers and natives to explore, Greenville is saturated by limitless possibilities. The natural surroundings – the mountains, golf courses, and parks – to the revolving events – food and cultural festivals, free family gatherings, weekly concerts, swim teams, and activities give the city an unsurpassed quality of life! Greenville has established itself as a cultural sensation with a wide variety of museums, theaters, symphonies, and performing arts centers making their home in the area.

Greenville has outdoor space for everyone! You can ride or walk the 15 mile Swamp Rabbit trail through downtown, and stop at Falls Park to admire the suspension bridge and natural waterfalls. Visit the Cancer Survivor park, dedicated to those who have survived or have had family members go through the turmoil of cancer.

There is a zoo downtown and within the neighboring Cleveland Park, there’s plenty of open space for your dog friends to enjoy at the dog park. For cycling enthusiasts, bike lanes are clearly marked throughout the downtown area, with more being added all the time. Right now, the Swamp Rabbit Trail is being expanded through the Cancer Survivor park, where you can view many monuments and art installations as well as historical stops. Want to take a hike? Beautiful Paris Mountain State Park is 20 minutes away, and it’s just a short drive to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Startups and Investors are equally getting the grip of what Greenville is now getting into: A hub for new business and top quality life!

• StartupBusiness
• Corporate Innovation
• Business Innovation Hub
• Networking

Pillars of Social Media as a Start-Up or Business Owner

Social Media nowadays have been the basis for many start-ups and small businesses. Sometimes could be low cost, accessible and at reach to our friends, family and acquaintances. Social Media benefits in many ways organizations, entrepreneurs , non-profits and individuals. As a business start, it becomes a “make it” or “break it” venue.

Facebook and Instagram are both essential advertising platforms in today’s world.

Together, Facebook and Instagram lead all mobile apps in time spent. In fact, they account for 1 in 5 US mobile minutes — that’s more time spent than the next 10 mobile platforms combined.1

Accessible means we have more freedom to market our business, to have it out there in different ways. We have many platforms to use such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In .. to name a few. But accessible doesn’t mean to be liberal about online presence.

Social Media can be “low cost”, because we are able to contribute to a reachable marketing strategy, while we are able to expand funds for a more extensive plan of action. Although social media can be low cost, it comes with hard work and time consuming, to accomplish business goals and have original content for your customers and leads.

Unfortunately, what many do not understand, is that social media takes time. Time to develop, to establish strategies that actually work and time to find out which channels are better; it all depends on the business model and goals. Therefore, that “Low Cost” requires a financial investment from business owners point of view. Let’s look at the pillars of Social Media:

CUSTOMERS : Business owners think they are able to reach customers by selling their product, and that is not always the case. The online clients are more about engagement. They are looking for companies that reach for their feelings, the excitement and news that clients might find interesting !

Social Media is humanizing the marketing of products and Companies, therefore business owners should get into LISTENING TO THE CUSTOMERS. The relationship develops since the start of the Business Page or posts. Once the client sees your online presence, they are able to tell, if it is worth their time. The fact of “liking” your page or subscribing to your marketing strategies, clients always look for something in return for them. It could be in the way of an article, a fun fact, a give away and promotions.

Trust showing and doing and not only telling

Trust should be a top priority as a start up. You develop this trust by your content, your engagement with the public and your reputation. Make the leads and clients trust your service, your relationship with them and the pro activity towards future transactions. We all love a business that is interested about us, because as Humans…. we love to be part of something. Develop trust by showing them how you do business, because is not only what you post, but what you also do!

Social Media is a two way conversation — Humanizing your business

In social media the main goal should be about having a conversation with the follower (prospective clients). It is a two way conversation, since now the market is driven by the customer needs and likes. The customers are the ones who manage and demand what in reality works for them. You have to establish a humanizing way to engage with them, thank them and ask questions to get them what they like.

That’s the way you keep your business growing. They would come back to you and will refer you more business. Who doesn’t like to talk or brag about a service or item they love? It could be a little thing, but the fact that clients feel ownership…. is what makes them talk about it. Always remember

• Adhere to Company’s values
• Have fun but always to keep in mind others

RESOURCES — Look at the business resources and plan for investing in your Marketing. Many business owners are not able to focus in their main goals due to joggling around with all that comes, with being a business owner. It is ok, that’s why relying on a Digital Media Marketing agency will help in many ways to take off that load from your shoulders.Being resourceful, allocating the correct funds for each item and prioritizing your customers, is something you should think about as a start up.

GOALS — In Social media, you should develop a plan or strategy in order to get results!

Social Media Plan

• Goal – Make goals in order to measure them and see the results.
• Strategic Considerations (business landscape)
• Measurable Objectives — Need readjustments? Not too easy, not too difficult

social media strategy,essentially the roadmap we’ll follow to reach our goal and objectives.

You can have more than one strategy, but don’t go all over the map.

BUDGET — Having a budget for your main purpose: increase business returns, is essential as a start-up or small business. Budget will let you define and measure what could be working or needs improvement in your Marketing strategy.

As with any marketing effort, it’s important to figure out what your financial and staff investment will be before you start. You’ll also want to allocate funds for the cost of designing graphics, buying ads, promoted posts, sponsorship, and video and audio production. It’s called a plan for a reason, and part of that is making sure you’re organized by assigning responsibilities and deadlines for each task. You’ll want to establish success metrics up front, how you’re going to determine whether or not your plan’s getting you where you want to go.

• Budget — Financial investment before you start
• Allocate funds for designs, sponsorship and Video and audio
• Timeline- Deadlines for posts, marketing strategies
• Metrics- You need a benchmark

About the Author: Diana Ariza is the founder of ASTA , a full-service Digital Marketing Agency working with start-ups and small business in Florida, USA and International companies that would like to improve their business strategies.

Many experts say “It takes 21 days to form a new habit” therefore, if we want to achieve our goals, let’s start slowly and be realistic.

1. Book “Power of Habit”: 371-page book The Power of Habit does a wonderful job of simply explaining how to form habits, fast. No-brainer buy. — Sam, CEO of The Hustle Sam Parr
2. Make a poster or vision board: When you start having a vision board for your semester (can be done each quarter or semester), you will see the difference it makes in your life. It is proven that we are better off by seeing our goals, sticking to our routines and make things happen… if we have a visual ! I started doing it two years ago, which will reflect my vision for that whole semester.
3. Goal List: I learned to do a Goal list for the quarter — It helps with sticking to a 21-Day goal! Helps to plan and make achievements personally and professionally!
4. MyWeeklyBudget and Personal Capital: tracks weekly spending by manually entering purchases. Personal Capitalis for aggregating personal finances- per Sam, CEO of The Hustle Sam Parr
5. Use your planner/Agenda: I am the type who loves to write down in the agenda, my weekly goals, monthly goals and organize (the best possible) in order for me to have a to-do list, check them off when Im done, and helps me keep track of my “new form of HABIT”.

We have heard it all, but do we actually do it? Waking at 5am. Having a healthy breakfast. Run. Start your business day with the best organization possible. Lists. Tasks. Schedules. Agenda for the day, for the week.. Planner for the month etc…

Let me start by telling you that IT IS possible. The many articles written by influencers or top business performers in the biggest corporations or CEOs, tell you about it. They have mastered these skills by consistency. They actually perform better due to a set of HABITS that they have implemented in their daily lives.

If you are a business owner, student, parent or professional with just few minutes or even seconds to glance to an article like this…. you know it: we barely “have time” to really perform how we wish for. Let’s cut to the chase and try for yourself!

EMBRACE THE IDEA LESS IS MORE

• Less activities, less stress! this could be applied to personal and professional aspects. We tend to over-schedule or over-commit ourselves. Learn to say NO.
• Less things, less stress! we tend to buy what we think we want.. but do we actually used it all? not really. Have what you need and the rest: donate it, toss it or have a system to have it handy when needed.
• Less crowded spaces, more clarity! Have you heard of Feng Shui? The more clear the space, the clearer is our mind and life.

START VALUING MOMENTS NOT THINGS

Mindfulness is the observation without judgment, be where we are, pure and simply be

• Have you heard of Mindfulness? Many articles, and people practicing. When you start learning about it, you will understand why it could be the most simplest practice but the most difficult: because it requires consistency.
• Enjoy the moments with your work, meetings, your family, your mistakes and your achievements!

BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

When you begin planning for the end of things, you are able to go through all the scenarios possible:

1. You plan ahead.
2. You are able to know what you can do , and what you cannot.
3. You are able to reach out if necessary.
4. This way you simplify your life by seeing what’s worth your time or not.

ESTABLISH MORNING RITUALS

5am : ideal time- waking up early and getting out before the sun rises

Start by always putting your alarm clock at the same time (for me a 5am). Trust me, you can do it! I was a night owl that for years studied and had the typical schedule of late nights and very early mornings. I barely performed in all those years, I accomplished just what I could, not what I was capable!

• Establish a morning routine and stick to it.
• Sleep well- Is not the amount of hours but the quality.
• Start off by setting your alarm a little earlier each
• Keep curtains open at night: Let the natural light wake you up in the morning.
• Start Running or practicing an exercise. Running or any exercise can lower stress levels, it gives more energy.

I feel more prepared for the day, generally I feel more centered and organized to start my “day”. Able to check my agenda and appointments, get kids ready, and work ready before I actually have to walk out of the door.

• Start slow- walking the first days. Then walk for 5 mins and run the other 5 mins, then walk again. That’s the secret of marathon runners. I can testify to it — ran 3 5K runs in different cities and I was never the Runner type!
• Have your gear ready set out the night before
• Make a good playlist to run, find a good route or scenario.
• Use an app for performance (I use Nike+ app in which many walkers/runners share their runs and motivational coaches are constantly boosting your confidence.)

You will see the difference when you start changing your biological clock!

STRIVE TO SIMPLIFY

Calendar- Have an agenda or write down everything in your cellphone calendar. Every morning, check your schedule confirm your appointments/meetings via email and that way you know what to expect. Less stress and more accountability.

• Every week on a Sunday , for example, check your agenda and plan your week.You will see the difference.
• Every end-of-the-month, plan your next month. Events, Appointments and even routines. You are able to see what’s coming up, what you need to plan for and even do things ahead of time to maximize your daily life!

1. Simplify your daily efforts by taking into account your time and if you are able to actually do what you planned for. If you can’t it’s ok, just plan it for when you are actually able to!

UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE DIFFERENT AND THAT’S OK

By being different is what makes us unique and a contribution to society.

We have different skills and bring into the table different experiences. Make it a daily habit to embrace this and enjoy the fact that we are all different. We go at our own pace and making it a habit, will buy you many years of self-development!