We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Terri Ford a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Terri, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of revenue or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.

I started a nonprofit organization in the name of 478 Youth and Beyond, Inc. I currently donate a percentage of my small business income from TWF Business Solutions, Inc to further the mission of this organization. I have been working with youth entrepreneurs for years and decided that additional focus has to be placed on our youth to help curb youth violence, mental illness and help work on conflict resolution while creating sustainable wealth through entrepreneurship.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Terri Ford and I am a retiree of SunTrust Bank. While initially working at First National Bank (now Truist Bank) during the 1980’s thru 2014 (when I retired), I realized there were few resources and a lack of support for small minority-owned businesses to start a business and/or grow their business.

I focused on identifying and meeting client needs. Through working with individuals, businesses and youth, I was able to understand what was missing and how to work with these individuals to be on a somewhat level playing field as larger corporations. So, as a result, I decided upon retirement to open my current business, TWF Business Solutions, Incorporated. We currently provide services to help businesses understand the legal aspect of starting and maintaining a business as well as providing a platform to allow them to promote and sell their products and services. We also provide office space rentals by the hour, weekly, monthly and annually at an affordable price.

TWF Business Solutions, Incorporated offers an array of services for small business owners and start-up businesses as well. Our services include but are not limited to Bookkeeping, Payroll Services, Tax Preparation and Business Coaching.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been providing exceptional client service and marketing. I’ve found that providing exceptional client service and being trustworthy goes a long way with your clients. If you give each client the highest level of service regardless of the circumstances the customer always come back. It is exceeding the expectation of your customer. It’s about how you made them feel and they will tell others of their experience and they will refer you to others. I strive to give the same level of service that I expect when I patronize an establishment while looking for that value-added service that results in a “wow” moment. Word of mouth is everything and has aided in growing my business to where it is today.

Secondly, marketing is so key. Whether it’s getting exposure from magazines such as VoyageATL or other magazines that I advertise in, it’s important to keep my business name out there. I also utilize the various social media platforms daily to keep my services front and center at an affordable cost.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I had to unlearn was the realization that you can’t help everyone even though you would love too. Understanding who your targeted audience is and focus on that clientele. Once I deliberately understood my client base and focused on understanding and meeting their needs then and only then did I realize that I had found my niche. And in finding my niche, I was then able to provide that level of service for those clients and I was able to build relationships and increase my market share.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twfsolutions.org
• Instagram: @twford77
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twford77
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terriford

Image Credits
Terri Ford