About Small Business/Organizations in Cincinnati
A few things I’ve learned about running a business/organization in Cincinnati is that: 
    1) Cincinnati is a big, small town 
    2) Good news travels fast and so does bad news 
    3) Cincinnati values the input of young leaders


I believe if you’re a sincere entrepreneur with a viable business plan, then there’s no reason you will not succeed in Cincinnati. This applies to both for-profits and not-for-profits. Give Back Cincinnati is a great example. In 2000, a few friends recognized there were too few fun volunteer opportunities in Cincinnati.  We wanted to create a platform where young professionals could volunteer in a social, yet “guilt-free” environment. We understood that most young professionals were too mobile to commit to long-term volunteer obligations and so was born the foundation for Give Back Cincinnati:  “guilt-free, social volunteering.”


Seven years and 3,000+ members later, Give Back is one of Cincinnati’s most respected non-profit organizations.  Give Back’s volunteer events include dancing with senior citizens to painting the houses of the invisible poor. The organization is run completely by volunteers with no paid staff. Give Back also hasn’t had to hold a single membership drive which is further testament that good news travels fast throughout Cincinnati.  It also proves that young professionals, given the opportunity, can play in integral role in moving our community forward.


There are many examples of similar organizations throughout our region including the YP Sounding Sessions, Bacchanalian Society, Cincinnati Sports League, Legacy, and the Freedom Project. I believe the success of Give Back as well as these other organizations is a testament to the dedication of our young leaders and is something unique to Cincinnati.


About Running a Small Business
Owning a small business and working 80-100 hours each week makes it difficult to catalog every reward and challenge but I need to begin by stating there is nothing more rewarding, challenging, or stressful as running a small business. At the point of starting Infintech, I’m not sure I fully understood the stress of having employees would be.  Taking responsibility for your own success is one thing, but being responsible for providing successful opportunities to others, with families of their own, adds another level of complexity.


Two core foundations I believe each small business owner should possess include:
    - A supportive network backing them (family, friends, investors, etc)
    - Committed employees that have the best interest of the company in mind


Tom, Joff, and I are blessed to have such loving and supportive families who understand the long-term goals of Infintech. As an owner of a small business, it’s easy to look at the daily numbers and understand how our growth and foundation hits, or misses, individual targets. However, as a spouse of one of our employees, it’s not as easy to understand and therefore trust becomes an integral factor to all of our stakeholders who must believe that the countless hours we put into Infintech will someday payoff AND that we’ll continue to offer stable employment opportunities. This all contributes to our philosophy that it’s better to “get rich slowly.”


In terms of the vitality of a small business, there’s nothing more valuable than having employees who are committed and take ownership of their own success.  Looking back on my experiences at Fifth Third Bank and Procter & Gamble, I realize now that I knew very little about how my role fit into the bigger picture. I was tasked with performing a certain function and rewarded if I met and/or exceeded predefined expectations.  However, a small business will never survive if its employees operate under that mindset.


As a small business, Infintech is unable to pay wages on par with what one would find at larger companies. To compensate, we believe in creating a work environment that provides unique opportunities and experience as well as a strong work/life balance. Our model is based on successful all-volunteer non-profit organizations. Any non-profit will tell you that the key to retaining volunteers is to make them feel as if they have input into the direction of the company while creating opportunities that nurture their success. Without this, volunteers will stop showing up. The same is true of our employees. Consensus-based leadership is a great way to engage employees and make them feel like they have a voice in the direction of the company. At the end of the day, each employee has a vested interested in the overall success of the organization and knows that their ideas and input helped to move us all towards success.