You’d better “get in line” if you’d like to jump into a monthly conversation with other business leaders in the CSRA.
The Small Business Roundtable is held on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Unlike more formal events such as Women in Business and Good Morning North Augusta, the roundtable is an informal conversation among attendees. It is open to businesses in South Carolina and Georgia.
“They’re easier to get information from businesses,” chamber president Terra Carroll told ABD. “A lot of times, you have the big workshops where you’ve got 50 to 100 people. People aren’t willing to share in large crowds because they don’t know who they can trust. People don’t feel comfortable sharing private information about their business because it gets out to too many.”
In its early days, registration for the roundtable was requested, but not required. It was quite literally a few round tables set up in half of the conference room at the North Augusta Community Center. As few as a dozen business owners or employees attended.
That changed in August.
Nearly 30 people pre-registered. Banquet tables replaced round tables, and the session took over the entire conference room. The chamber had to end registrations.
Carroll said she never expected the response to grow as quickly or as large as it did from its early days in the SME CPA offices.
“Even the ones we did at SME, there might have been 12 people on a good day,” she explained. “You think of round tables as small, eight to 10 people. Then we started having to add a second table. Even when we closed it, we were getting registrations because we had a wait list, and I’m like, ‘good gosh.’”
SME CPA remains involved, including as the current quarterly sponsor for chamber events.
Marketing Coordinator Amber Edmonston understands the attraction of the low-key atmosphere for the roundtable.
“It’s the networking,” she began. “It is an open forum for anyone to bring any issues or any dilemmas that they might be having in their business successes. We celebrate as well, but it’s just a fabulous resource for anybody who really needs a place to have conversations.”
She added that the casual nature of the roundtable lends itself to building relationships and sharing experiences among the assortment of businesses represented.
“People bring ideas to the table that you wouldn’t even consider before. You’re sitting there talking about interns and recruiting, and people have tips and tricks that, unless you talk to them, you’re not going to know,” she said. “This event specifically turned into the foundation for many friendships beyond just business development in my workplace.”
While the purpose of the roundtables is to be casual, Carroll said there are some guidelines.
“It’s not a “sell your stuff” roundtable,” she said. “Don’t come in here to sell your business. We’re here to help each other’s business. Now, if part of what you’re struggling with is your sales, we can help you with that, and then that boosts you.”
Although it was created to help chamber members, non-members are invited to attend for a small fee.
Edmonston said the roundtable is tailor-made for businesses to learn about the benefits of chamber membership.
“I can’t recommend it enough,” she said. “I think that the Small Business Roundtable is a great place to get your foot in the door if you’re curious about the programs going on here. But the North Augusta Chamber, I think, is one of the best for relationship building. They have that down pat.”
Learn more about the Small Business Roundtable at www.northaugustachamber.org.
