In order to be recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), you have to be doing something right. Since Sheryl Page, president, and CEO of Page One Consultants in Orlando, was named Woman-Owned Small Business Person of the Year by the State of Florida SBA in 2017, a lot of people have started to look at what she’s doing and how her company has become so successful. Page, who runs an engineering and construction consulting firm, started the business back in 1993, but sort of trudged along for many years with moderate success. There were plenty of times when Page could have thrown in the towel, but she kept pushing through. Starting out in an industry dominated by male-owned businesses wasn’t easy, nor was the prospect of finding enough money to support the quality services she had to provide clients. Page used as many as 15 credit cards to help the company stay in business in the early-to-mid 1990s. Then, she received a $250,000 7(a) SBA guaranteed loan in 2001 to keep the company afloat after nearly a decade in business. The gamble paid off, and she was eventually able to attract a healthy clientele and repay the loan. Since then, the company has tripled revenues, hired more than two-dozen new team members, acquired more than a dozen new company vehicles, and almost doubled its square footage. It’s a massive growth spike for a company that’s been around for nearly 25 years and speaks to the hard work and commitment of Page and her team. When asked what her biggest piece of advice to small business owners and entrepreneurs would be, Page says, “Keep your faith and be patient. Don’t give up…Don’t quit!” Those words have a tendency to sound cliché, but when they come from someone like Sheryl Page, who is living proof of the good that can come from being patient, they ring truer than ever. If you learn anything from her company’s success, it should be that growth is rarely immediate, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t coming.1 In 2019, Page One Consultants was purchased by construction consulting firm, NV5.

Although it seems obvious now, a decade ago, the massive health and beauty space that’s currently taking over the internet was just a blip on the radar. There was some momentum in the field, but trendy health companies weren’t yet popping up with the same ferocity as they are now. A pair of entrepreneurs, Alexia Brue and Melisse Gelula, who were journalists at the time, saw an opportunity to launch the health and wellness media platform Well+Good, which now attracts a monthly readership in excess of 5 million visitors. An online publication, Well+Good, which focuses on health, wellness, nutrition, exercise, beauty, travel, and related topics, currently generates eight-figure annual revenues and has grown to a more than 40-person staff. The thing that sets Well+Good apart from thousands of similar websites, blogs, and media platforms on the internet is their ability to deliver quality content to their audience while maintaining strong company culture. You can’t expect to grow a small business without getting everyone to rally around consistent ideals. As Brue puts it, “Uniting everyone around why we do what we do is the most important thing. I think that people want to make a difference, so all of us feeling like we're putting out information that's making a difference and that our company conducts itself in a way that is demonstrative of our core values is really important. That sets a lot of cultural tone.”.

Founded in 1996 by Mark Soberman, NetPicks is an online trading platform that supplies users with both the education and tools they need to be successful with day trading and swing trading forex, futures, stocks, options, and ETFs.4 While the company has been around for more than two decades, it’s really seen some significant growth in recent years. Netpicks is an example of a small business that has evolved with the times. When NetPicks first launched, there were no online trading rooms or real-time online communities. Today, they offer comprehensive online training, live webinars, and a variety of other services that didn’t exist in their early days. It’s also interesting to note that, of the many trading experts and professionals on the NetPicks staff, all of them are actively involved in what they’re doing. They aren’t just providing clients with advice on what trades to make or which strategies to implement—they’re actually using the same information in their own daily trades. This adds a layer of authenticity. Some entrepreneurs see an opportunity that is lucrative and jumps on it, even without any experience or relevant skill sets. As a result, they usually end up floundering sooner rather than later. Successful entrepreneurs wait until they find a lucrative opportunity that matches up with their interests, experiences, and skillset. Mark Soberman and NetPicks is a good example of the latter—and it shows in how he runs the business. “Having been exactly where our customers are now, we can relate in a special way to the challenges, obstacles, and successes of the trading lifestyle,” Soberman explains. “And, we continue to never rest on our laurels, always looking to improve our abilities, systems, and training.