Transcript:

OK, so I guess we will call this Episode Beta of the Mobile Alabama Business Podcast. My name is Marcus Neto and I’ll be hosting the Podcast. I own Blue Fish, a Digital Marketing and Web Design Company and in about a week Blue Fish will be based in Downtown Mobile on Dauphin Street. Anyway, I’d like to thank you for spending time with me today.

So you are listening to a podcast with no history. You may have no idea what the podcast is about or what will be discussed. Well, the name gives a bit away. This will be a podcast where we talk to local entrepreneurs and business owners about their businesses and how they got started. I’ll ask then questions like:

• What have they been focusing on in their business lately?
• What's the one thing that they've learned that has helped them in running their business?
• What books or resources have they read that have had an influence on how they run their business?

Then we get into some fun stuff like:

• What they like to do in their free time?
• Do they have any hobbies?
• What does their average day look like?

This is all in an effort to understand the mind of an entrepreneur, and to get to know them a little better.

You might ask… But why?

Well, I moved to Mobile over 10 years ago from the Washington DC area. One of the things I loved about this area is that there were so many small and medium sized businesses. You feel like you are supporting your neighbor, and many times you are. That is not something you really experience in a big city like DC where most of the businesses are large international brands that we all know. There is nothing wrong with that. But as an entrepreneur I like getting to know and understand like minded individuals.

So about a year ago I purchased the domain name mobileal.com. At first I thought I was going to use it as a tourism website but after some time I realized that we are not a tourism company. We help tourism companies but we are not set up to be one.

A series of events gave me the idea that you are now visiting. I was invited to be part of the 1702 CEO group here in Mobile. Those of you not familiar with 1702 it is a peer network of business leaders that gathers monthly to discuss topics pertinent to helping smaller business become bigger businesses. It is backed by the Mobile Chamber, the Mayor’s Office and has some really good names behind it.

Anyway, at one of our first meetings we were told to go around the table and talk about one of our “Aha!” moments. to my left was a guy that I have known for a couple of years. He recently launched a software company that is working on software for the EMS industry. His “Aha!” moment as a good one. It was that he was able to turn on the payroll option in his bookkeeping software. He had gotten to a point where he was able to write a check to himself. As anyone who has started a business will tell you, that is an amazing moment, and we celebrated with him for that accomplishment.

Then on my right was another local CEO that shared his “Aha!” moment. He said that he had recently gone through his first round of Venture Capital funding. He was excited because the round has allowed his management team to look at their business through a different lens and now they think they are on the verge of a much much larger enterprise than what they could have ever dreamed.

The thing that blows me away is that neither of these guys are household names here in the Mobile area. There is a good chance that both of them will be leading companies that generate over $100M in annual revenue and providing income to many many families here in Mobile.
Those of you that know me know that I am a cheerleader. I love nothing more than to see people succeed and it is even more fun if I get to help in some way. I worked many different jobs prior to starting Blue Fish in 2004 but as I look back, many of them had a similarity. They all had a component where I was acting as an encourager or cheerleader.

That is the purpose or role I want for this website. I would love nothing more than to see it become an integral part of our business community here in Mobile. I want this site to act as an amplifier of the good things that are going on in the business community.

So, in an effort to do that we have put together some components that we think will help the businesses here. We have a business directory where you can list your business and all of it’s contact information, including social media accounts, websites, email addresses, phone numbers, and more.

We will also have a News section that is fed by you, the business community. Have you accomplished something really cool this week? Did you get the big sale? Or are you expanding the business into a new area? If you have a couple of minutes to just write up a couple of sentences we’ll make it known. We’ll help you promote those accomplishments.

We’ll also have this podcast where we get to know local business owners and entrepreneurs better.

And finally, we’ll have an events calendar that you can post your events to. Are you hosting a seminar? Is your business having an event? Let the other business owners know so we can make plans to attend.

Anyway, I do hope that you find this a valuable resource. If there is anything you think we could improve feel free to email me.

Special Thanks: I would like to thank Jared Budlong for working with me on the podcast. He is the one responsible for recording all of the audio and editing it to eliminate all of the "ums" and "ahs". He has been super helpful and without his assistance this podcast might never have seen the light of day. So "Thanks Jared!"