The entrepreneurial support organization 1 Million Cups launched its first Lake County chapter on Sept. 13 in Eustis. Two meetings in, Eustis resident and 1 Million Cups volunteer organizer Wendy Taylor, owner of Strategic Online Marketing, said there were a few dozen attendees each time, and she has high hopes it will grow as the word spreads.
“This is going to bring about the cohesiveness we need in Lake County,” she said. “This is a community-based group, for relationship building and not selling. The more people who are aware that this 1 Million Cups chapter exists, the larger a support group we will have for area business owners.”
In order to spread the word, Lake Economic Area Development Partnership (LEAD) Vice President Ray Villegas said his team has started posting on Linkedin and Facebook, with a minimal ad budget for the Meta and Linkedin digital advertising platforms. He expects most foot traffic to come organically, citing the Ocala chapter that swelled from 10-15 weekly participants up to 60-70 — “and that happened through word of mouth over five or six years.”
“We're going to get a presence on the 1 Million Cups website that's not set up quite yet from their end, plus a Facebook site specifically for 1 Million Cups Lake County,” he said.
LEAD, which has a focus on entrepreneurship, was designated to launch the nonprofit chapter and manage it until it becomes self-sustaining, he said.
Founded in 2012 by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 1 Million Cups has 120 chapters nationwide, all of which meet on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. in their time zones. Participants get together to drink coffee, share ideas and get advice, according to the organization’s website.
“In our first meeting, the presenter was Vijay Padmanabhan, the CEO and director of strategic client solutions and business innovation of DARTexon Inc.,” said Taylor. “He spoke about supply-chain digital solutions and the various industries that would use supply-chain software. He was a great person to present here since he’s part of the 1 Million Cups in Orlando. He guided us through the process from an experienced point of view.”
Additionally, Taylor said RoofMaxx owner Gerry Ramsey presented his product and asked the community for ideas on how he can get more out of his marketing — particularly on social media.
“These presentations aren't about selling your business to a room of people,” said Villegas. “It’s being vulnerable as an entrepreneur or saying, 'Here's my business. Here's my business plan. Here's my marketing plan. Here's where I'm having trouble.' ”
The highlight of each gathering is a pitch session, where typically, two entrepreneurs who have been vetted through an application process get six minutes each to present their business, followed by 15 minutes of feedback each from the rest of the attendees.
“We just had one presenter this week. We're still trying to get the word out so we can get presenters lined up, but the interaction and the response was so good,” said Mortgage Consultant Jim Green of Union Home Mortgage. “We just kept it going and let him run over on time, which we wouldn't do in a normal circumstance where we had two presenters."
The new chapter uses meeting space in Mega Workplace, the recently transformed building at 343 N. Bay St. that also will be home to a new UCF incubator in Eustis. Meeting information can be found on the LEAD Facebook page.
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