Green Group Studio

www.greengroupstudio.com

Clara Mateus, a graphic designer, arrived home from work in tears. Just a few months after she was named employee of the year, her boss at a Florida bank announced her department would be eliminated and told her she no longer had a job. Seeing his wife distraught, Allen Borza spent the evening giving her a pep talk.

But the next day, Borza, also a graphic designer, was laid off from his job at a landscape architecture firm.

Instead of completely flipping out, Borza said, ``I told Clara, this is opportunity knocking.''

With unemployment in the double digits in Florida, the two opted for entrepreneurship over job hunting. They formed their own firm and chose to tap the green movement by marketing themselves as eco-conscious graphic designers. Call them entrepreneurs by necessity, they represent a new wave of unemployed workers who find the optimal way to earn income is to form their own business. But the path becomes particularly risky when both household contributors pursue entrepreneurship at the same time.

But it was the push Borza and his wife needed. Otherwise, he said, ``I don't think we ever would have jumped out of our comfort zone to do this.''

The two originally formed the Green Group Studio a year ago as a way to earn side income to repay wedding debts. The project work offered them a creative outlet from their day jobs, they say.

Borza worked for a small urban planning and landscape architecture firm where he created websites and 3-D architectural renderings. Mateus had been doing illustration and print design for the bank. Today, the couple spend most waking hours in their guest room turned office trying to make Green Group Studio profitable. They have created a business plan with financial projections, learned that collecting fees can be challenging and landed clients that range from builders to nonprofits.

They also secured a small-business loan, a particularly difficult feat in a weak economy. Borza says he obtained the loan with the help of a close friend, a financial planner, who prepared their financial documentation at no charge.

"Without him, we would still be writing our business plan,'' Borza said.

Mateus and Borza believe they have found a niche with Green Group Studio. The firm encourages clients to use recycled papers, soy-based inks and opt for the Web over print.

"It's really rewarding when clients, who have not been particularly `green' in the past are receptive to eco-friendly choices,'' Borza said.

Now the two co-CEOs are trying to strike a balance between being as available as possible for clients and finding time to enjoy life as a couple.

"Upfront, it's been a lot of work,'' Borza said. ``We hope to grow, hire others, and delegate.''

 

 

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