A short interview with Michelle Taylor, owner of Logo Warehouse, describing her transition from industry employee to small-business owner using $120,000 in home equity to start her company. She credits local resources (chamber of commerce, Small Business Development Center, SCORE) for guidance on certifications, permits, insurance, and funding, and emphasizes strong community engagement and veteran-focused outreach and mentorship.
Chapters
My name is Michelle Taylor. I'm the owner of Logo Warehouse. We do on site embroidery and screen printing. Anything you can imagine in the world that you can get your logo on, we can do it. I worked eight years prior to starting my business in the industry for two other companies and one day looked at my husband and said, I want to be able to do more for my community. Because working for somebody else, it's easier for them to tell you no. But working for yourself, if someone comes in and asks you, can you help, you can say yes. So I looked at him and said, how much equity is in the house and could I have it? He said, sure. So I took the $120,000 and away we went. So when I decided to make this big move into my own business, I knew that I would need resources. So I reached out to our local chamber who actually connected me with the Small Business Development center and score, which is retired businessmen and women that want to help other businesses that are starting out. So what they helped me do is comprise a list of items I needed to start my business with, what kind of certifications I needed, what kind of permits I needed, insurance, funding, any of those startup kind of things.
I think Michelle is a fantastic business owner. She has a huge, huge outreach into the community, which I think any business owner should have that opportunity to do to give back a little bit to your community. Again, that's a two fold. So you're reaching out and also they're reaching back. So you're getting business contacts, you're reaching out into the communities and giving back to the veterans.
I'm very passionate about veterans and helping veterans coming back from war. Right now we've got a lot of veterans that are dis. So I'm a peer to peer mentor in the Saratoga County Veterans Program and I sit on the Saratoga County Chamber of Veterans Business Council. I think veterans are suited to be entrepreneurs because of how we're trained in the military. You get stripped of everything from basic training and then they build you up to have this incredible amount of pride and responsibility. So I feel that inner strength that you pull out as a veteran helps you to really get your business going.
