Sometimes, what motivates someone to start their own business is an unplanned change in employment.
It happened to thousands of Americans during the recession that began in 2007.
It happened Jan. 12 to Lorrae Famiglietti and Gabby Staton.
They resigned from One Spark the day after it was announced that festival co-founder and CEO Elton Rivas was asked to resign.
Famiglietti was One Spark’s director of product management, Web and event operations. Staton was director of operations and experience.
On Jan. 13, “We went out for a beer and talked about what we wanted to do next,” said Staton.
While admittedly neither has started or operated a small business on their own, they decided to use the One Spark experience to their advantage.
While with One Spark, they met hundreds of entrepreneurs who either had started a business or wanted to start a business.
Most asked the same questions and had the same needs to build their ideas.
“It’s communication with customers that helps a business survive and grow,” Famiglietti said.
Within a few days, they established a consulting firm that specializes in “modernizing and updating the operations and customer experience strategies of new and existing small businesses to enhance customer engagement,” according to a news release.
Deciding what to call the new venture didn’t take very long, said Staton. After about 20 minutes at a white board throwing out nouns and adjectives, they settled on “The Refoundery.”
“We’re working with founders and ‘re’ references new direction,” said Famiglietti.
There’s a particular focus on how entrepreneurs can best use the Internet and social media.
“It’s a constantly changing environment,” said Staton.
One of the traits they noticed among One Spark exhibitors is it’s easy for a business owner to get too close to what they are doing and how they are doing it. It’s easy to lose objectivity.
“You can’t be a customer in your own store. In many cases, the business owner’s perception doesn’t match what the customer sees,” said Staton. “It can help to bring in another party.”
The Refoundery set up shop at CoWork Jax, Downtown above the Perdue office furnishings dealership at Forsyth and Main streets.
Famiglietti said she and Staton will work on an hourly fee basis or a longer-term retainer.
“We’ve only been in business for a few weeks, so we’ve been doing some pro bono work, helping some friends with their websites,” she said. “We’re looking for clients.”
To learn more about one of Jacksonville’s newest startups, visit refoundery.com.
(904) 356-2466