GGCC Hosts Entrepreneur Breakfast on Evolution

David Nguyen, Michelle Beiga,  Marilyn Balcombe, Rusty Davis,  and Tom Plant
PHOTO | Laura Rowles

The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce continued its Entrepreneur Breakfast Series on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at the  Montgomery College, Paul Peck Building in Germantown. The fourth in the series was entitled “Evolution is Essential for Entrepreneurs”.

“It was great to have so much expertise in one place. Our speakers were very generous with the time and expertise to help young entrepreneurs avoid some of the pitfalls of starting one’s own business.” –said Marilyn Balcombe, GGCC Executive Director.

The morning began with our Keynote Speaker David Nguyen, Founder/CEO of United Solutions, who spoke on “Evolution is Essential for Entrepreneurs – Are You Sure You’re Heading in the Right Direction?””. During his presentation, Nguyen quoted Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, stating “over 75% of startups fail”; but concluded his lecture saying “entrepreneurship is management and success is engineered”.

He was followed by a panel discussion of entrepreneurs that included: Michelle Beiga, Principal, Today’s HR, LLC; Rusty Davis, Principal, Davis & Associates, P.A. & Tom Plant, Managing Partner, Paul Davis Restoration & Remodeling. Each panelist shared their story, divulged how they evolved as an entrepreneur, and what helps them to continue in their journey as successful entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs, business owners, and Montgomery College students gathered to discover if evolution is necessarily essential in a business. The consensus between the keynote and panelists is yes, evolution is essential. Plant said “every industry is changing”. The takeaway from this seminar is simple; we need to evolve to become stronger and more adaptable to various environments. From the panelist Q&A, we discovered that we need diversification, we need to accept change, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses and we need to be able to delegate. By implementing necessary & efficient tactics into a business, one can evolve and produce much faster results in a business. Evolution is necessary for a business to succeed.

The event was sponsored by Montgomery College.

The GGCC is active in providing business-to-business networking opportunities throughout the year: a collective voice in local, regional, and state legislative affairs, professional development opportunities and other services that enhance the business environment.

The GGCC is located at 910 Clopper Road, Suite 205N, Gaithersburg, MD. To learn more about the GGCC visit us at www.ggchamber.org.

Find us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaithersburg-Germantown-Chamber-of-Commerce/64339954570. Or on Twitter at: @GGCCNEWS.

About Laura Rowles

Laura authors the blog Your Success is Our Business on MyMCMedia. Laura is the Director of Events & Marketing for the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce - a member-based organization of businesses that have joined together for the purpose of promoting the civic, commercial and industrial progress in our communities. The area's economic well-being is a result of the caliber of work that is done by the Chamber. The Chamber has a major impact on business, income and future growth of the area. My position at the Chamber - Director of Events & Marketing - affords me the opportunity to plan quality events for our Members and market the Chamber is a variety of avenues. At the GGCC, we typically have around 30 events each year including: breakfasts, lunches, after-five's, ribbon cuttings and special events. The consensus is we have high quality events with good energy. In 2012, we had over 2,040 people visit our events. Most our events are free to Members so securing sponsorships for all events. Additionally, I am responsible for planning networking, overseeing the budget and marketing of all events in order to make them successful. Lastly, I coordinate all marketing and communication efforts of the GGCC including weekly email blasts, its quarterly newsletter, all social media platforms, media relations and community outreach.

View all posts by Laura Rowles