1/17/12
Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises - Dallas Small Business | Examiner.com
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Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises Ivy Carter, Dallas Christian Small Business Examiner January 16, 2012 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.
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The Small Business of the Week is an Examiner.com exclusive feature that spotlights businesses in and around the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. This feature spotlights the accomplishments of businesses and business owners who are impacting their community and making a difference in their specific industries. Cass Butler of The Butler Enterprises shares her story on why she decided to take a leap of faith and start her company despite the security of a corporate job and the downturning economy. When and why did you start your business? The Butler Enterprises was established as an officially licensed business in December 2009. I started The Butler Enterprises after the major media company I was working for downsized because of the recession. I found myself working four jobs but only getting paid for one. I endured three long years of working in an overly demanding regiment that included many broken promises of raises and a decrease in my workload. Finally, I decided put my business management and marketing degrees to work for myself as a business owner. I stepped out on faith, as well as financial and emotional support from my husband, and left my secure job in December 2009. Advertisement
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1/17/12
Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises - Dallas Small Business | Examiner.com
What made you come up with the concept/name of your business? I came up with the concept of The Butler Enterprises after watching an interview of the Oprah Winfrey Show. On this particular episode Tyler Perry was a guest and the focus of their conversation was branding. I was impressed and knew about branding from my degree studies but never thought to apply it. I quickly realized that branding was the key to success for my company and when I established The Butler Enterprises I knew I had to have a professional business name. The Butler Enterprises was the perfect name because it had room for growth of multiple business opportunities and it officially branded my company. How is your business different from others in your industry? The Butler Enterprises is the parent company to many businesses. We believe at The Butler Enterprises that one must have multiple streams of income in order to be successful. Too many times businesses focus on one area only and are lost when something happens in that industry or the market changes. With that being said, we are different because we offer our customers, clients and business partners many different avenues for conducting business with us. Where do you see your business in the next 2-5 years? Our business plan was created with a five year plan in mind. We are in our third year of operations and so far we are ahead of our goals. In the next two years The Butler Enterprises will be a recognized Property Management Firm with outright ownership of at least five properties and multi-family dwellings. We will have college graduates within our own immediate family so we will also be mentoring our legacy within our company to prepare them for advancement. Lastly, our governmental division will have produced multi-million dollar bids throughout Texas and the United States. How are you meeting the needs of your clients in todayʼs economy? In todayʼs economy business owners must understand that customers are asking “Why should I give you my money?” and you better have the right answer. The Butler Enterprises achieved an out of the box solution to business
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1/17/12
Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises - Dallas Small Business | Examiner.com
by providing our customers something new and affordable. Our key strategy is to market events at least three months in advance which allows us to offer payment plans for our clients. In other words they were able to place their event on layaway, and not only did this assist us in gathering new clients it also allowed us to sell out almost every event for a solid 18 months. Who are your clients and what does your business offer? The Butler Enterprises clients are individuals, couples, families, business owners, entrepreneurs and large businesses. The Butler Enterprises is the parent company for many subsidiaries which consist of event planning, project management, commercial beverage rentals and sales, construction, HVAC and plumbing, property management, administrative concierge services and contract services. We are certificated and licensed within several business trades. We are classified as a Historically Underutilized Business and also registered on Centralized Masters Bidders List and we have over 20 years of professional career training. Are you involved in any community outreach programs or does your business partner with any local or national charities? Yes, we are affiliated with LIFE Charter School District as a part of their mentoring program. We allow teenagers to work within our company for community service hours which they need for college applications. We also hire these students and donate proceeds from the events they worked back into their school districts. Our goal is to contribute to various buildings and opportunities for students. Are your services affordable and what type of quality do you offer? Our different business ventures have affordable pricing for everyoneʼs budget. We pride ourselves on being affordable and reliable because we know that when your business carries your name, you have no choice but to under promise and over deliver. One of our greatest qualities offered is that we stand behind our products, services and work. The Butler Enterprises has a great source of cobusinesses that we sub-contract with. Having many business ventures is hard work and we have quickly come to realize that until you have perfected one business, you can rest assured that you will probably not do well adding another business into the plan. What advice do you have for other small business owners? My advice for small business owners would be first and foremost, truly sit down and have a plan. Secondly have working capital before you begin because when you start your company in debt you will stay in debt. The third thing is to never lose focus on what your product or service is about. I tell business owners that, ʻif you start to cater to all of the advice you will receive about your business, you will forever be changing.ʼ Lastly, never be afraid of mistakes, your greatest lessons will come out of making mistakes. Leaving a
www.examiner.com/small-business-in-dallas/small-business-of-the-week-the-butler-enterprises?fb_c…
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1/17/12
Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises - Dallas Small Business | Examiner.com
Fortune 500 company voluntarily over three years ago, during an economic downturn, was the best decision I could have ever made and not a mistake. How can people get in contact with your business? We may be reached via our website at www.cassbutler.com or via email at cass@cassbutler.com. We are also on Facebook at The Butler Enterprises and on Twitter @TheButlerEnterp.
The Butler Enterprises Credits: Cass Butler
Related Topics The Butler Enterprises Dallas based enterprise Cass Butler branding Historically Underutlized Business
By Ivy Carter
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Ivy N. Carter began writing and consulting small businesses in 1998. Carter developed her writing and consulting careers through assisting small...
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Small Business of the Week - The Butler Enterprises - Dallas Small Business | Examiner.com
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