Semi-finalist Q&A: JMC Brands, LLC

JMC Brands is an umbrella company that houses four distinct brands geared towards small business development. JMC Marketing is a full service marketing agency. JMC Business Solutions is a business consulting firm that focuses on maximizing efficiency and cutting overhead. JMC Direct is a printing company, and finally, JMC Soft Source is an IT company that can help a small business from one computer to five thousand.

Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our semi-finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Also, don't forget to cast your vote! YOUR vote will determine which entrepreneurs most deserve to be amongst the finalists.

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

JMC Brands is actually a variation on a business that a friend and I started in 2004. That business was called JMC Marketing. The premise of marketing firms is to offer advertising solutions; however, anyone who has ever worked for a marketing firm knows that it is so much more than just advertising. With that in mind, I created JMC Brands to house several entities to grow businesses. Business Solutions, Marketing, Direct (printing), and Soft Source (which is now ETC Tech Solutions) are all geared towards being a one-stop-shop for any company who is looking at growth and development.

What do you love most about running your own business?

The aspect I enjoy most about running my own business is the ability to do something different every day. Since JMC Brands houses several entities, I get to work on different projects with different companies who are looking to achieve different results. It keeps everyday interesting and exciting!

What makes your business unique?

Unique is in the eye of the beholder. Some may say JMC Brands is just another business consulting firm, but we firmly believe that we offer a unique perspective on business consulting. First, we put trust, honor, and integrity in everything we do. Second, we train our clients on what we do so they are more educated on growing their businesses even when we are not there. And finally, we cover the gamut of services under one name, saving our clients from having to find the best price for each service. We can offer the best price for all services in one convenient location.

What are some of your top business-related accomplishments, or business lessons learned?

No one ever stops learning. That is true in business as well. We learn something new every day and I, personally, relish in learning. Some of the biggest things I have learned, through my undergraduate, graduate, and professional work, are ways to work together with other people/companies so that everyone can succeed. Especially in today’s economic environment, businesses are faced with challenges and if we work together we can accomplish more than we can alone!

Why should the Idea Cafe regulars vote for you?

Idea Café voters should vote for the company that deserves the grant. There are several wonderful companies listed with the semi-finalists and the voters should pick the one that will make the biggest impact with the grant. As we mentioned in our original application, JMC Brands seeks to help businesses achieve what they could not, or not easily, achieve on their own. This capital would be shared with the companies we grow. With this we hope to make a big splash and grow more companies than we could without the grant. We thank Idea Café and the voters for the opportunity to be present in this intense competition!