We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Timothy Profitt-Jacobs a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Timothy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?
The Dragonfly lounge opened on August 8, 2020, with one employee. The hours of operation when established were focused on meeting the needs of Gen Y clientele. As the owner- operator I quickly learned there was a need for me to open earlier and close later, creating a welcoming environment for all ages. I would open on the weekends using Eventbrite, I offered gaming with snacks for our Gen Z customers. The doors would open at noon close and re-open at 6:00 pm for our more mature customers to retreat and enjoy the amenities offered. Within six months of implementation business drastically increased I could no longer manage on my own. I would work from 12:00 pm in the afternoon to 2:00 am in the morning after a month of working what felt like around the clock, I knew it was time for me to hire. I used social media to alert the community of the employment opportunity available at the Dragonfly Lounge. The interview process included behavioral-based questions, focused on previous work experience in the related field, our training consisted of on-the-job real-time interaction with customers. If started today I would not change a thing I’m proud of the success of The Dragonfly lounge and looking forward to continued growth.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Timothy Profitt-Jacobs the founder of The Dragonfly Lounge is a 25yr old visionary. Upon graduating high school in 2015 and attending Kennesaw State University for two years I decided, the lifestyle I envisioned for myself could not be attained by working a traditional 9-5 job. I was your typical teenager with an imaginary mind, my middle-class family provided well for me and my brother. however, I always felt the need for more. My friends and I would get-together on the weekends to play video games and visit various restaurants, cafes, and lounges to partake of the food, beverages, and hookahs. It was then it hit me how cool would it be to have gaming and hookah in one spot, a place where gamers can come and meet other gamers while enjoying food and hookah. It’s a one-of-a-kind concept in the two-hundred-billion-dollar gaming industry. My customers love the concept, environment, Location, and the ambiance they actively share feedback on all social media platforms. TThe Dragonfly Lounge is a lounge that allows people to enjoy a night out at a social club-like environment, while having the option to play video and board games in the mist of it. This lounge will give two options of desired space: The Dragon Fly VIP Gaming Sector, and The Dragon Fly Lounge. The gaming sector provides a private section dedicated too gamers. This VIP section will include television screens amongst the wall that divides the lounge and VIP space. Ambient lighting will allude a 3D effect behind each screen for visual and convenient purposes. The lounge space will be dedicated to the audience who prefers to enjoy the basic aspect of night life: hookahs, themed drinks, and access to communicate and socialize with other parties. In this space there will be comfortable lounge chairs that can seat at least 4 people. The idea is to have areas that can uphold more than 8 but can also accommodate a part of just 4 or less. The lounge space will have a different mix of music playing compared to the VIP Gaming Sector. There will be dim but vibrant ambient lighting amongst the lounge space as well but will be below each table in every section.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I attribute my business accomplishment to the school of youtube, during my high school days I would use the application to help with my studies. I started using the app as a resource for financing, execution, and mentorship. My daily routine is to listen to Partick Bet-David, Graham Stephan, and Alux. I’ve also read Rich dad Poor dad, Freedom(The 40-day prayer Challenge for your business).
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Absorbing all that I could via youtube about business lines of credit I applied for American Express, Chase, and Bank of America. I was awarded in upwards of 80k which was used to open The Dragonfly Lounge.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thedragonflylounge.com/
- Instagram: https://thedragonflylounge.com/
- Facebook: https://twitter.com/loungedragonfly?lang=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/loungedragonfly?lang=en
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-dragonfly-lounge-kennesaw-6