The En Factor Podcast features conversations with entrepreneurs who have started, stumbled and succeeded.
This week’s episode of the En Factor features serial entrepreneur Mike Magee, who is currently the founder of LoCo Tampa Bay, which is a local office catering marketplace that works with local Tampa Bay restaurants to cater to office and workplace meetings while increasing restaurants’ catering revenues. Think of it like an Uber Eats or a DoorDash for office meetings, where Mike and LoCo promote different local catering options to local businesses, and then also deliver the food to the meeting for the restaurant. The key difference about LoCo Tampa Bay is that half of their profits are going straight back to the Tampa Bay community, including giving back to the restaurants they partner with, the referrals that help bring them business, and donating to the Florida Cancer Specialist Foundation Charity.
Tune into this episode with Mike and Dr. Rebecca White as Mike has extensive experience as a business owner and provides many valuable lessons on failure and what it means to be able to persevere through setbacks as an entrepreneur. This episode also explores topics including the importance of goal setting and sales experience as an entrepreneur, mentorship and building a team around you, and the value of being able to have empathy for and an understanding of every part of your business.
Key Words – Social Entrepreneurship, Resilience
Chapters
00:00 • Introduction: Welcome to the En Factor!
01:13 • Mentors and Role Models
01:48 • The Role of Failure in Entrepreneurship
03:05 • Introduction to Mike Magee and Loco Tampa Bay
07:29 • Mike’s Entrepreneurial Journey: From IT Sales and Consulting to Catering
10:03 • Overcoming Challenges: Learning Lessons from Setbacks
12:31 • The Impact of COVID-19 on Mike and His Business
14:53 • The Importance of Customer Service and Understanding Your Customers
17:13 • Balancing Technology and Humanity as a Business
19:35 • Building Teams and Creating Value
27:29 • Understanding the Delivery Driver Landscape
32:17 • The Importance of Empathy in Business
33:05 • Marketing Strategies and Niche Identification
39:23 • Resilience and Overcoming Failure
48:21 • Mike’s Final Piece of Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
50:05 • How to Connect with Mike and LoCo Tampa Bay
52:25 • Wrapping Up with Dr. White: Be as Persistent and Resilient as You Are Innovative
Episode takeaways
- LoCo Tampa Bay is an office catering marketplace and socially driven enterprise that gives back to the local Tampa Bay community.
- Hard work and setting high goals are essential for success at anything in life.
- Resilience is key in overcoming business challenges, especially with challenges that you don’t see coming.
- Customer service is a key differentiator in today’s market.
- Building sustainable and genuine relationships with customers and partners is crucial in entrepreneurship
- Building and maintaining a true understanding every aspect of your business helps in making informed and timely decisions.
- Marketing tactics and initiatives should heavily focus on community engagement and partnerships.
- Finding the right team members to build the right team is vital for business success.
- Adapting to change and pivoting is necessary for survival as well as learning and improving.
- Surrounding yourself with smart people can lead to better outcomes. You are who you surround yourself with.
The En Factor® Podcast
Conversations with Entrepreneurs
Hosted by Dr. Rebecca White
Our audience of aspiring and established entrepreneurs are inspired to persevere throughout their entrepreneurial journey. You will hear first-hand stories of success, resilience through failure, and how to become a master in your field.