Greenville, SC, Entrepreneurs Turn Their Dreams Into Reality

Area entrepreneurs find a network of resources to get their businesses off the ground.

By Rebecca Deurlein on October 4, 2023

Wine & Design

Whether it is a new artistic endeavor or an innovative technology solution, Greenville, SC, residents are self-starters. But it’s one thing to have a dream and another to turn it into a reality. Thanks to programs like NEXT Greenville and the Minority Business Accelerator, entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need to get their businesses off the ground.

Wine & Design

Wine & Design

A mechanical engineer by trade and an artist by heart, Timothy Cunningham decided the heart was more important. A Greenville native, Cunningham was offered an engineering job in San Diego. This meant leaving behind a job teaching art classes, but like many, he felt he had to do the practical thing.

He still painted; in fact, he ran a business called San Diego Paint Parties for four years. Then one day, the owner of the Greenville studio where he got his start called with an offer to sell him the business. He agreed, even though the decision came with risk.

“My family was trippin’,” he says. “But I’m not a corporate guy – I’m too colorful. I want to touch the project, not sit in a cubicle. That work didn’t serve my soul.”

Cunningham worked on building his brand. That included creating an atmosphere where couples, families, and groups could gather to drink some wine and paint a scene, led by enthusiastic art teachers who would contribute to the fun wine-and-art vibe.

 “It’s a great alternative to a movie night or bowling,” he says. “People love that it’s something different, and they actually walk away with a self-made memory of the night.” 

When he returned to Greenville, Cunningham realized he needed support to add his own twist to an established business. He joined Minority Business Accelerator, which among other things, helped bring attention to his calendar of paint parties and the store’s special events.

The Greenville Chamber of Commerce remains a great resource for networking. And Ajay’s Social & Cocktail Lounge has provided another resource, rotating members to each other’s businesses and bringing in professionals, such as Greenville’s mayor, to speak.

“We love Greenville,” Cunningham says. “It’s everything my family needs, and we have new people coming in all the time. Plus, it’s an opportunity to work for myself.”

RAAMP

NEXT Moves

Sometimes to be truly successful – or move from good to great, as author James Collins would say – you have to rethink your strategy. Sometimes that’s tough to do from the inside looking out, and an objective outside vision is exactly what you need.

That’s exactly what Landrum Randolph got when he connected with NEXT Greenville, an organization that helps entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. When Randolph joined, he had been running a successful property management software business and targeting landlords as clients. But when NEXT prompted him to consider another model, he decided to focus on tenant users and franchisees as clients, and it led to exponential growth.

“NEXT encouraged me to rethink. It has been the embodiment of every great management book I’ve ever read,” Randolph says. “This year has been key to our growth, thanks to this program. We feel like we’ve found our place and our market. The speakers – all experts in the field and willing to help – have remained long-term contacts and mentors.”

“I’ll never live anywhere farther north than North Main,” says Randolph, who was born and raised in Greenville.

But even with all his years in this city, he was still surprised by what it offers entrepreneurs.

“I never realized how many resources NEXT offers, from monthly events to professional business development to networking opportunities,” he says. “If I need an accountant, I’ve got one. A lawyer is right there. We have speakers on company culture, sales, capital raising, intellectual property, software – basically everything you could ever want to know about opening and running a business.”

Now, Randolph concentrates on his mission – to protect the cash flow of tenants and landlords by giving them tools to understand their leases. His goal is to have 20,000 leases in the next three years, and with what he’s learned from NEXT, he’s confident he will.