Alex Fees: I'm Alex Fees on Small Business Television. We are coming to you from the 2008 COSE Small Business Conference. COSE, that’s C-O-S-E, the Council of Smaller Enterprises. And joining me here now is Matt Minarik. Matt, good to meet you!
Matt Minarik: Good to meet you Alex.
Alex Fees: I appreciate you being here. Matt’s last name is Minarik, it sounds like generic but he is very special he tells me and he’s going to tell me how here. Matt is the owner of Hi-Q Group.
Matt Minarik: That’s right.
Alex Fees: High-Q what is that Matt?
Matt Minarik: High-Q Group is a business development company that is highend very specialized niche business to business direct marketing. It’s very a lot of leads, very fast and follows through the sales process to grow a business.
Alex Fees: Okay. So, what industry? What are you talking about? What sets you apart here?
Matt Minarik: We’re business to business. I work at IBM for years and I was a direct marketing consultant for finances to the bank. We do a lot of manufacturing high-tech in finance institutions. We focus on very tightly; we generate a lot of leads for those businesses.
Alex Fees: Well Matt, what about the high-tech and financial institutions, what does this current economy mean for you?
Matt Minarik: Well, for me it personally means good business because they need my business. And what else it could mean is a lot of these companies, there's a lot of small regional banks that are doing very well because the large ones are failing. The smaller ones have money to lend. And so all of the businesses who had traditional loans with the larger banks are now going to the smaller ones. So now, it’s the job of these banks to market out to the local businesses there.
Hi-tech companies now can do very well. They have to make businesses more lean and more efficient. We help businesses through things like understanding the four principles of business which is how’s the local economy affect you, how do you fit to the global market, how does the internet affect you, and how do industry regulations and government regulations fit in your business? We do the gap analysis and all those and then go to market with that strategy.
Alex Fees: Matt, tell me about your involvement with COSE.
Matt Minarik: My involvement with COSE years ago was very strong. I was a member of COSE many years ago. We've been in business; this is our 11th year now. I actually did the direct marketing for COSE for their education programs then joined the IBM and left COSE at that time. As soon as I got back out of IBM, I immediately joined COSE, immediately they’ve put me in as speaker. I'm in their mind spring. I have already made contacts in future sales within matter of just months.
Alex Fees: So, you started out in organizations like COSE with small business then you went to corporate and now you’ve come back.
Matt Minarik: That’s correct, that’s a good job.
Alex Fees: Yeah. What about this conference this week, what are you hoping to leave here with?
Matt Minarik: I'm hoping to leave here with two things. One is knowledge of running the business better. It’s the first day and it’s early afternoon. I've been through just two sessions and both have been extremely valuable. The other is hooking up with old friends. I've seen ones that I haven’t seen since my old days of COSE, they're here as well. They welcome me back with open arms. And obviously every business tries to get business leads at these conferences too.
Alex Fees: Sure absolutely. Matt it is time for a shameless plug here. Where can people get more information about Hi-Q Group?
Matt Minarik: The best way is email me okay and it’s very simple. My name is Matthew Minarik, it’s three M’s at h-i-q-g for hiqgroup.com. And the phone number is 440-724-6363. And the shameless plug is if you need to grow the business, call me and I’ll dramatically increase it.
Alex Fees: Okay, email address again.
Matt Minarik: Three M’s, mmm@hiqg for hiqgroup.com
Alex Fees: All right good deal. Matt, thanks for being here. He is Matt Minarik, his company is Hi-Q Group. We’re at COSE 2008.
I'm Alex Fees on sbtv.com. Mind you COSE that is the Council on Smaller Enterprises, small in name only I might add.
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