September 2020 Morning Meeting Highlights

Good day members. Thank you to all who attended our meeting. We had a wonderful round table discussion on multiple key points of interest. Here are the September 2020 morning meeting highlights.

The meeting was lightly attended as some people are still dealing with Hurricane Sally repercussions and others are still not attending gatherings due to Covid-19. However the meeting was highly productive where we covered topics pertinent to the merchants of Freeport.

An open forum discussion was conducted where the following questions were asked and the subsequent responses given by the merchant members.

1) What would you like to get from your membership in the FMA?

The most common responses were, in no specific order, as follows: Networking, Learn About The Community, Connection To Freeport and Leverage.

The members stated that they liked the networking aspect of the ability to connect with other merchants.

And, that learning about things going on in the community as well as the history of the area helped them to be more informed all around.

Finally, being a member of the FMA allows there to be one voice that can speak on behalf of the merchants and gives the individual merchant the leverage of an entire organization.

2) Is there anything in particular that you would like to learn about?

This question was posed to identify any topics that the members would like more info on. That is because the FMA would bring in subject matter experts to speak on the topic.

Most of the members stated that they had a pretty good handle on most general business topics (accounting, marketing, etc). But acknowledged that they appreciated the updates on current events and new laws/regulations being created or already formed.

3) How are you engaging the Freeport market?

One of the common ways, and is no surprise, is Facebook. Most of the merchants use Facebook to reach out to and communicate with the population to build rapport and relationships.

In addition, also no surprise, was using word of mouth. What was a surprise was that there was no specific plan for word of mouth engagement. They said that people just refer them without being prompted at all. And we think that is because Freeport is still growing. The community is still smaller and more tight knit so people are continuously asking for recommendations. But as the city grows, a solid plan will need to be put into place.

And finally, regular mail is used. Some use direct letters where others use the EDDM service of the post office.

Business Incubator

After the round table discussion was conducted, the idea of a business incubator was discussed.

This is where you formally create a program, many times in conjunction with the city government, that has an education component to teach and guide new business owners on how to form their business, get an EIN, open a bank account, get insurance, etc.

And after they are properly formed, to learn how to setup their accounting, engage in marketing and more.

It essentially takes a business from infancy and helps it to develop into a strong operational entity.

This will be discussed in greater detail at the next meeting. 

Conclusion

That concluded the September Morning Meeting. It was a great and lively meeting. We look forward to seeing you all at the October Evening Social and our next morning meeting.

If you are not a member and wish to join to gain the benefits of membership, feel free to visit our membership page to sign up.

FMA – Uniting The Businesses of Freeport