Greetings, Thank you for subscribing to my page for the Examiner.com/Dallas. As I continue to create positive and informative articles for small business owners, I also want to spotlight small business owners. The Small Business of the Week is my opportunity to feature a small business owner locally and nationally. Please answer the questions below and include additional information regarding your business. All articles will be no more than 450 words so add what is important for the readers. Please include your name, official title, business name, email address, website, contact number and your motto or business tagline. You may also include a JPEG only image for your business or of yourself. Return the questions, your contact and business information, and your photo or company logo to ivyc@writtenbyinc.com. Please include in the subject line Small Business Spotlight of the Week. Please visit http://www.examiner.com/small-business-in-dallas/ivy-carter and read my other small business articles and leave any comments you may have. I look forward to your support as I support you in my Small Business Spotlight of the Week. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me immediately at ivyc@writtenbyinc.com. Thank you, Ivy N. Carter, MBA Professional Writer/Editor www.writtenbyinc.com
1. When and why did you start your business? The Butler Enterprises was
established as an official licensed business December 2009, I have a degree in
BusinessManagement and Marketing, I worked in corporate America and for a major media company, but after many years I reached the glass ceiling the recession also hit hard, causing domino effects in many work environments. Although my job was secure, others around me were losing theirs as the company scrambled to save money, the company I worked for were downsizing positions, but also adding additional work loads to remaining employeesand all of a sudden I found myself doing four jobs, but only receiving compensation for one, After three years on this overly demanding regiment that included many broken promises of raises and a lesser work load, I determined that this was the most opportune time for me to become a businessowner. With the Guidance of GOD,the financial and emotional support of my husband, my last day employed with corporate America was in December 2009. 2. What made you come up with the concept/name of your business? While watching an interview of Oprah Winfrey of Tyler Perry a few years ago, their was a focus on BRANDING. It was very important to me when we established The Butler Enterprises to have a professional business name, a name with room for growth of many businesses and a name that BRANDED my company, The Butler Enterprises encompassed all of those areas. 3. 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. 4. Where do you see your business in the next 2-5 years? Our business plan when
established was a 5 year business plan, we are in the 3 rd year of the original plan, and so far we are ahead of our goals. In the next 2 years The Butler Enterprises will be a recognized Property Management Firm with outright ownership with at least 5 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, and lastly our Governmental
Division will have produced multi-million dollar bids throughout Texas and The United States. 5. How are you meeting the needs of your clients in today’s economy? Leaving a Fortune 500 company voluntarily over 3 years ago while we were already in a downward economy was the best decision I could have ever made. Customers would spend money but were very cautious as to what they spent their money on, so therefore this made you have to be original, out of the box and surpass the “NEXT MAN” with ideas. Your customer was asking, “Why should I give you my money?” and you better have an answer. I achieved this by providing customers something new, affordable and because my events were marketed so far in advance (at least 3 months) I was able to offer payment plans for my clients. In other words they were able to place their event on layaway, and not only did this assist me in gathering new clients it also allowed me to sale-out almost every event for a solid 18 months. 6. Who are your clients and what does your business offer? The Butler Enterprises
clients are individuals, couples, families, business owners, entrepreneurs, & large size businesses. As mentioned 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, & Contract Services . We are certificated and licensed within several business trades. We also hold State & Federal Tax Identification Numbers, We are classified within the Federal Government as a H.U.B. (Historically Underutilized Business) and also registered on C.M.B.L. (Centralized Masters Bidders List), & we have over 20 years of professional career training in order to assist you with your need or service. 7. 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 them and allow for employment opportunities while also donating proceeds of events worked with those student back into the school district. Our goal is to have a major input in the new school stadium with our donated funds. 8. How can people get in contact with your business? We may be reached via our
website at www.CassButler.com, as well as via email at Cass@CassButler.com, Facebook: The Butler Enterprises, Twitter: TheButlerEnterp, SKYPE: Cass.Butler, and lastly via telephone (817) 925-0783
9. Are your services affordable and what type of quality do you offer? Having many avenues of business ventures one thing we can say for sure, until you have perfected one business you can rest assured that you will probably not do well adding another business into the plan. The Butler Enterprises has a great source of co-businesses to whom we sub-contract with, anytime your BUSINESS carries your name, you have no choice but to under-promise and over deliver. We stand behind our product, service and work. It is with this hard work that we have grown and added many dimensions to our company, less than three years ago The Butler Enterprises, was really only an Enterprise but we had a vision and a goal for growth, we knew one day that name would truly be what we were, and each and every day we continue to work even harder for that. 10. What advice do you have for other small business owners? My advice for small business owners would be, one, truly sit down and have a plan, two have working capital before you begin, when you start your company in debt you will stay in debt, three never lose focus on what your product or service is about, if you start to cater to all of the advice YOU will receive about your business you will forever be changing and lastly four, never be afraid of mistakes, your greatest lessons will come out of making mistakes.