By Rachel Schreiber

A successful garage sale is a good role model for a successful business. Mark Reynolds recognized this while he watched his mother conduct her garage sales. He says, “My mother was the best salesperson you’ve ever seen. She would buy low and sell high. She’d look at all her items for sale and say, ‘let’s market it up, if it doesn’t sell and let’s talk about it a little differently.’ ”
Growing up in a town, “with the best air and water,” on the west coast of New Jersey, Mark was a self-proclaimed corporate gypsy. “I had many stops before I came to Michigan 12 years ago for a job with Jiffy Mix in Chelsea. During my corporate professional life I launched companies, I oversaw mergers and supervised acquisitions,” Mark states. When he opened his own marketing firm later in his professional career, his mother’s garage sales proved Mark was a good study.

GrowBiz, his current company, begun three years ago, focuses on helping new and established small businesses in Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan grow. Mark says, “I care about the community and I get a big kick out of how small companies work. Growing small businesses is a like a puzzle for me. I love the whole process.””

“There are three parts to our services: business development, financial and operational development. My partners, Lanny White and Jerry Bricker, conceptualized the idea for GrowBiz. The idea is that a lot of new companies who start out don’t really know how to go though and navigate their way through the resources that are available to them,” Mark explains.

“Lanny has worked with the auto industry as an organizational developer. He also builds management teams and Jerry works with business’ operational needs. Mark has the marketing and sales experience.
Mark enjoys a challenge, he says, “The type of client we want is a CEO who knows what he doesn’t know. If they seem like they know everything, they’re not going to listen to us anyway. That’s not good for us. I want the ego to take on, but not so big they know everything.”

He is proud of being able to find the golden nugget of useful information in a sea of words, he says, “I’m a management book reading nut. I just found The 100 Best Business Books and the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Those are great books. I can read two to three pages and even with all the books I’ve read, I can always find something new.”

The economy in Michigan has affected the entrepreneurial business too. Mark reflects, “Some of the program’s funding been pulled back or reallocated to somewhere else. It’s really hurt the entrepreneurial merit. I feel the business owner has been overlooked.” He compares the state’s funding of small businesses to the state’s growing film initiative. “The film industry in Michigan has $300 million dedicated to it. Now, $50 million has been dedicated toward the entrepreneurial industry. Here’s money for people to fly in, stay at a hotel, eat at a restaurant and fly out. Versus the state’s $50 million for people to build a business, employ people that are connected to the community, that’s a good example of what the state is doing. They need to support the business owners. There’s a group I’m connected to, Michigan Defining Moments, Common Ground for Michigan’s Transformations. The whole idea is to get common voices, get an agenda and plug in to that agenda.”

GrowBiz collaborates with SPARK and New Enterprise Forum for leads and referrals. “Right now we’re working with companies doing web development and software. It’s a coincidence they are all IT. GrowBiz is looking for new employees to support our business. We are seeking people who have a good understanding of launching new businesses and developing a business from a sales point, and for someone with a financial background. GrowBiz is growing,” Mark says.

GrowBiz
Mark Reynolds
Phone: 734.945.1075
Email: mreynolds@grwbiz.org
Website: www.brwbiz.org