Unique advertising agency model centers on small business, reaches new milestone in clients served as a result of down economy and business start-up.
When Jim Martin of Kansas City-based Griner and Schmitz, a 100 year-old supplier of surveying equipment, was looking for an advertising agency to launch his new GPS surveying network, it took a reference from, of all people, his UPS driver to find a firm that would take on his business.
When prominent local environmental lawyer William Session needed help to create a brand identity for his new business venture, TWS Construction, it took a reference from the University of Missouri’s Small Business Development Center to connect him with one of the few firms that would consider taking on a young enterprise.
Both Session and Martin found a perfect fit with the one advertising firm in Kansas City that embraces small, but growth-driven businesses, Entrepreneur Advertising Group (EAG).
In late September, EAG celebrated two milestones, its sixth year in business and successful service to nearly 150 companies and entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes.
“Six years ago we found what we thought was a real need in the market,” said Paul Weber, president of EAG. “There was a huge chasm between what small and mid-market companies needed from an advertising firm, and what most agencies would offer.” EAG and Weber have spent the last six years closing that gap with what he likes to call, big-brand services in small company doses.
They come by city bus and walk in off the street, having passed the EAG sign at its Crossroads location. Some come having heard Weber speak at local small business incubators, and some just wander in out of curiosity.
Even famed Kansas City entrepreneur Barnet Helzberg ventured in to the office one evening while attending a fundraising event in the Screenland building (EAG’s former offices). The word “entrepreneur” on the door led Helzberg to ask what this business was all about.
For Jim Martin of Griner and Schmitz, several calls to local advertising agencies resulted in few willing to help him launch his regional GPS network used by surveyors and engineers. Literally within minutes of venting his frustration to his UPS driver, a connection was made between Martin and Weber whose offices, coincidently, were less than a block apart.
William Session had run his successful law firm for over 15 years. But when it came time to help his staff develop deeper skills for building a new company, he reached out to the UMKC Small Business Development Center. It was through UMKC that Session was introduced to Weber, who serves as a subject matter resource for young companies.
Not only has EAG helped launch TWS Construction’s presence in municipal utility construction, but Session has also retained EAG to establish a brand initiative for his 15-year old environmental law firm.
According to Weber, the down economy has only fueled the need for our services and our model. In the case of Session and Martin, these were long-standing companies with new ventures. EAG’s client list includes 50-year old companies with sales over $50 million dollars.
“Most of our clients are established organizations, some second generation family businesses, that don’t have an internal marketing department,” said Weber. “We simply scale our services to create an external marketing department that fits their size of business.”
Weber is deeply ingrained in the small business community, and can often be found lecturing and mentoring at many of the small business incubators around Kansas City, including the UMKC Small Business Development Center. He is also a small business coach for the prestigious Kauffman Foundation’s Entrepreneurial FastTrac program, which educates new venture businesses throughout the United States.
“At the end of the day, we still do what other agencies do,” said Weber. “We create branded advertising messages, we build websites and we drive business though direct marketing. More importantly, we spend a lot of time educating our small business clients about marketing.”
Through the first half of 2009, EAG has worked with nearly 50 different companies in the capacity of what Weber describes as a retail ad shop. “We have a lot of clients who pop in and out every few months for a brochure, a direct mail campaign or website update. It works well because we know their business already, and we can focus on being very efficient with our few employees.”
Also unlike traditional advertising agencies, heavy media budgets are the exception, not the norm. So while gross billing numbers may be lower than most other agencies, efficiency has led to strong profitability growth and minimal impact from client turnover.
“We don’t worry if we don’t hear from a client for a few months,” said Weber. “They simply have other things on their plate. It’s the nature of small businesses to be intermittent in some aspects of marketing and advertising.”
Averaging over 50 percent growth per year through 2008, EAG has not been immune to the economic downturn. Although growth has slowed, Weber sees EAG’s future as limitless. “Small business has been, and will be, the backbone of our local and national economy,” said Weber. “We’re just going to be there to help along the way.”
Small Business Miracles is the EAG tag line that greets visitors to its Crossroads office. “We don’t create miracles,” says Weber. “We bear witness to the miracle of entrepreneurship each and every day.”