Channel 6 (WATE) interview with Matt Tunstall, Founder & CEO of Stall Talk, Inc.
By HANA KIM
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) – With the bad economy, a growing number of small businesses are sprouting up and many are working for themselves.
Matt Tunstall, a recent University of Tennessee graduate who was facing the weak economy, says he had a revelation about two months ago.
The idea was to charge businesses to place ads in and around the porta potties like the ones on the UT campus.
“We are actually expanding into Chicago right now,” said Tunstall.
With companies not adding jobs many are employing themselves. “We are seeing a great deal of those people,” said Rob Karpick, with Tennessee Small Business Development Centers.
Karpick works to guide and train aspiring small business owners.
He says if you want to open a business, do what you know and do what you love. “You have to eat, sleep and drink the business. You have to wake up and think about the business. Wake up in the middle of the night and think about it,” he said.
With many failing small businesses, Karpick says be smart about your money in the beginning. “You have to be very careful and not put too much investment,” he said.
“Most small businesses do fail,” said Tunstall. The 27 year old knows what’s at stake, but so far Tunstall says his business is thriving.
With no overhead and you could say a captive audience in his business, Tunstall says it’s a recipe for success. “You have no choice but to be in there so what else are they going to do right?” he said. “Exactly so we give them something to read.”
According to the Tennessee Small Business Development Centers, there was a 27% increase in small business start ups last year. Most of them are in Knox, Anderson and Blount counties.
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