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Business Strategy and Innovation: Introduction to BOBA

Business Strategy and Innovation: Introduction to BOBA Program Transcript

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MALE SPEAKER: Walden University alumnus Eric W. Barton is an entrepreneur and international business leader with more than a decade of experience in establishing and managing successful multimillion dollar companies throughout the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He currently owns and manages 28 world-reaching financially solvent entities and has employed more than 11,000 people over the past decade. In this case study, Eric will share with you the importance of establishing a well-structured strategy whenever building a new business and how he incorporated business strategies into his newest entrepreneurial venture. Business Owners Benefits Association, or BOBA.

ERIC W. BARTON: In 2007 and 2008, when the global economy was in crisis, my small business here in the United States felt the financial impact, as did many others in my community. I knew that I didn't just want to ensure the success of my own business. I also wanted to help other small businesses thrive since they are the heartbeat of the US economy.

I, along with my management team and staff, invested eight years of heavy research, spent countless hours talking to small business owners about their needs and what would help them flourish. And we pinpointed the areas in which we could truly make a positive social change impact and still profit from it. From this, Business Owners Benefits Association, or BOBA, was born.

BOBA is a national association committed to offering solutions to entrepreneurs and small business owners who are interested in controlling or reducing the costs associated with operating their business or organization. Essentially, through the power of membership, BOBA becomes a single-source provider for its members, delivering time and cost savings opportunities while eliminating the need to have multiple contracts for the many products and services required to operate a small business.

As an example, as a BOBA member, a flower shop owner can purchase fuel at a reduced cost rather than going to the pump and paying retail for each of his or her four delivery trucks. We can evaluate their insurance needs and provide them with options that may result in cost savings and risk reductions. We also monitor, at no cost, their partial deliveries from different suppliers and file claims for refunds for late shipments. In addition, we create HR policies and procedures to ensure compliance with state and local regulations.

Until BOBA, there has not been a single solution for small business owners to turn to for cost savings and risk management. In providing these solutions we are

© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. 1

Business Strategy and Innovation: Introduction to BOBA

able to bring to life the company's motto-- of the dream of one, the buying power of many.

What BOBA does for the small business owner is we provide a single source to, one, be a business advisor to come alongside the business owner. From the top down, we are business owners. We face a lot of the same challenges. And we have really worked hard to help our associate members understand their markets.

We look at things like insurance and risk reduction. The small business owner that's out there at a flower shop or in a restaurant, they may not have the time to really look at insurance. And for that matter, a lot of insurance producers and brokers really don't spend the time to truly analyze where the small business owner is and where there are gaps and what they need. And so what we do is we provide and we focus on being advisors first. We don't ask small businesses to spend money that they're not already spending in the marketplace.

So if you are using credit cards, if you have insurance requirements, if you're getting package delivery, you have HR and payroll services, you're buying fuel, those type of services are things that we want to come alongside you, evaluate your needs, and if nothing else, make sure you're fully understanding where your risks are, what your costs are today, and what the future cost could be.

For BOBA, we want to make sure that you are getting the best competitive price and that you are truly understanding where you could be if we all, again, come together as business owners and small business owners, in particular, and buy our goods and services wholesale. It's very similar to what large businesses do because, as a small business owner, you understand that if you make a mistake, it can be devastating to your business.

Time and time again, we come to a small business owner's place of business, we talk to he or she about what they're doing, what are the requirements, and we find out that, in a lot of cases, they don't have the proper insurance or they don't have the time to really look at the regulatory and compliance issues facing their industry.

And so those are the things we help out with by taking time and spending time with small business owners because we've been there. We are there today. Our ownership and our management understand what you need and what you're facing.

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© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. 2

Business Strategy and Innovation: Introduction to BOBA

Business Strategy and Innovation: Introduction to BOBA Additional Content Attribution

FOOTAGE: BenEricPromotion Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton.

Eric_in_Dubai Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbarton/4029137825/sizes/l/

EricPinningOnPromotion Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton.

100_0538 Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton.

IMG_1603 Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from www.govanquish.com

BOBA Logo_193 PMI_RGB_300.dpi Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from www.whyboba.com

100_0887 Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbarton/4029891860/

Eric at Vanquish office (2) Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from www.govanquish.com

Eric at Vanquish office Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from www.govanquish.com

DSC_0244 Photo used by permission of Dr. Eric Barton. Retrieved from www.whyboba.com

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