A strong online presence is crucial to a business’s success, especially in our ever-increasing digital world reliant on technology. For many business owners, the skills needed to create and manage a professional website are daunting and ultimately a barrier to their business’s growth. To address the gap in digital skills, especially among minority business owners, the North Metro SBDC started a website program led by Diego Leyes, Bilingual Digital Marketing Specialist and Spanish Programs Outreach Consultant. The selected client for the first round of the website program was Jorge Torres, owner of JCS Cleaning Services.
Jorge has been in business for many years, but had never created a website and wanted to grow his business, which offers commercial and residential cleaning services throughout the Denver Metro region. Before having a web presence, Jorge had a hard time recruiting new clients and spreading the word about his services. Now, through the JCS website, Jorge can market to a wider audience, giving clients access to key information that sets JCS apart from other cleaning services in the area.
Through Jorge’s participation in the website program, he and Diego met every other week for three months to work through the various components of a website. In each session Diego taught Jorge the needed skills to build and manage the website so that once the program ended, Jorge would be able to continue to make updates and edits to his website.
In reflecting on his participation in the website program, Jorge expresses that he was not confident in his skills to be able to create a website on his own, which is why he was so happy to be selected for the first round of the website program. He also mentioned how he enjoyed coming to each meeting with Diego because he would learn something new every time they would meet.
Within just three months of completing the website program, Jorge reported that he has already increased his annual sales by $5,000. Additionally, he has been able to retain and add new jobs and make new investments. Jorge’s success since creating his website is a testament to the growth that is possible through the use of technology and digital tools.
Increasing digital access to minority owned small businesses cannot be overlooked. The North Metro SBDC partnered with The Alliance Business Assistance Center to offer the website program. You can see JCS Cleaning Service’s website here and watch a video testimonial about Jorge’s experience here.
