Local entrepreneur starts training, support group to help other women in business
By LOIS KINDLE
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Penny Smith, co-owner of H&R Block offices in Sun City Center and Apollo Beach, is starting a training and support group for women entrepreneurs who want to run successful businesses.
Many women go into business without a clue about the complexities involved in making it successful. There’s much more to operating a company, franchise, retail store, restaurant or even a home-based enterprise than passing out business cards and depending on word-of-mouth advertising.
That lack of knowledge, preparation and wing-and-a-prayer thinking is why so many businesses fail during their first two years, said Penny Smith, co-owner of H&R Block offices in Apollo Beach and Sun City Center. The successful businesswoman and entrepreneur of more than 30 years wants to help change those statistics.
On Jan. 24, Smith will host the inaugural meeting of Women Empowered in Business, a training and support group for women entrepreneurs sponsored by H& R Block, at 1 p.m. in the Jim Duffy Community Room at the SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin. Lunch is free, but seating is limited so an RSVP is required. Call 813-454-5406.
There are no membership fees or annual dues. And all programs and materials are provided at no cost.
“The focus of this group is to provide the skills women need to succeed in any business,” Smith said. “We’ll be talking about what you need to do to go into business; how to spur growth and keep it going; time management; marketing and promotion; budgeting; record-keeping; setting prices, virtually any aspect of business.”
Each member will be surveyed to determine her specific needs, and the group’s educational programs will be geared to fit them, Smith said.
While members will certainly do some networking, the group is not specifically for that purpose.
“I see a lot of women in small business going to networking groups that don’t provide specific skills to help them succeed,” Smith said. “That’s the void I hope to fill.
“We know that most women are better (than men) at nurturing and supporting each other,” she continued. “And they’re willing to share their experiences. This group will give them a forum to voice their concerns and challenges in a safe, nonthreatening environment.”
Smith said she will facilitate all meetings, and she will bring in experts to cover specific topics, as needed.
Smith is certainly qualified for the role.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Warner Southern College in Lake Wales in 2000 and a master’s degree in business communications two-year later from Jones International University in Denver. She’s been certified as a Notary since 2007.
Smith’s early business experience included jobs in event planning, legal bookkeeping and office management. She went to work for H&R Block in 1995 as a franchise tax professional and a year later became a franchise district manager. By 2003, she was a franchise regional director based in Seattle.
In that capacity, she taught Situational Leadership as a licensed instructor for a program developed by Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey, in which she supported and assisted Block franchisees to grow their businesses.
In 2006, she and her husband, John, purchased H&R Block franchises in Sun City Center and Ruskin. They moved the Ruskin branch to Apollo Beach in 2009 and are reopening an office in Ruskin at the new Southshore Village near Publix at 5042 U.S. 41 N., by the end of January.
In her current role, Smith handles bookkeeping; payroll; sales tax filing and tax planning; and returns for individuals, corporations, partnerships, LLCs; estates and trusts. She also assists in small business set-ups.
Smith has served on boards for the SouthShore Chamber of Commerce, Mary & Martha House, Critter Adoption and Rescue Effort and Firehouse Cultural Center and received the Excellence in Client Services Award from H&R Block in 2014.
She and John live in Ruskin.
For additional information on her business services, call 813-641-1040.
