BOOT CAMPS TARGETS ENTERPRENEURS

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Area businesspersons were immersed Tuesday in the ABCs of enterprise at the “Rural Entrepreneur Boot Camp,” held at the Delta Rivers Nature Center and hosted by Meritus Ventures and alt.Consulting.

Max Sprinkle, co-owner of Dime One clothing store on Main Street, said during a break that he was learning a lot, even after being in business for three years already. He said Dime One got a startup loan from a California bank with the help of the Southern Good Faith Fund and alt.Consulting, which provides business services to minority-owned, women-owned and rural-based small businesses.

“But we’re still looking for funding because we’re constantly trying to grow,” Sprinkle said. “We just opened a store in Little Rock about four months ago.”

Sprinkle said it is also important to stay on top of new programs, laws and other aspects of business because “it’s always changing.”

Topics discussed ranged from the legal aspects of starting and operating a business to identifying and working with investors.

Entrepreneurs also shared their startup experiences during a portion of the workshop, including Steve Ferren Jr., owner of Pine Bluff-based B-B-F Oil Co. Ferren said the company was founded in 1968 by his father, Bill Ferren, who had worked for others in the industry for many years before going it alone.

“All of his experience helped him when he finally got into business for himself,” Ferren said, as others in the room acknowledged that working for someone else first in order to learn the ropes is common.

The elder Ferren got his start with the help of a couple of investors, which were bought out in 1999, making B-B-F a completely family-owned business.

“In 40 years the company has changed a lot and all of those years have not been great years,” Ferren said. “It has its ups and downs. In the mid-90s, there was a time when I honestly didn’t know if we were going to make it through that year.

Ferren said, like most successful businesses, the company had to “change or die,” which included a shift from full-service stations to self-service convenience stores.

Also on hand were representatives from the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, Merchant & Farmers Bank of Dumas, the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth and others.

A major draw was the information presented by Ray Moncrief of Meritus Ventures, the only rural business investment company in the U.S. The $35 million venture capital fund was formed to generate returns for its investors while creating wealth and jobs in central and southern Appalachia and Arkansas.

Moncrief emphasized that, in order to be taken seriously by investors, entrepreneurs must know their businesses inside and out — and have a practical business plan to get it off the ground.

“Make sure that you are compatible with the people who are going to invest in your business,” Moncrief said.