Successfully navigating the dynamics of launching, and succeeding, in a family business is a topic of great interest to many people these days.  On May 12^th, the Don Ryan Center for Innovation will be offering a free Zoom webinar to provide strategies, tips – and more – for launching and growing a family business, led by family members of one of the region’s most successful family businesses – Heuser Ace Hardware. 

The free Zoom webinar, “They ‘Aced It’ and You Can Too: Strategies for a Successful Family Business” will take place on Wednesday, May 12^th from 8 a.m. - 9 a.m.  The webinar will be led by Bob, Renee and Bobby Heuser – owners of Heuser Ace Hardware, a family-run business that has grown to two locations in Bluffton and Hardeeville – who will offer their insight into what it takes to launch a family business today … and tips on how they have succeeded in making a family business thrive and grow.

The Heuser family opened Heuser Ace Hardware in March 2015 – coming together here in the Lowcountry after living half a country apart and enjoying different careers for many years (Bob was a Chemical Engineer managing a plant in Baltimore, Maryland, Renee was a 1^st grade teacher in Maryland and Bobby managed Consumer Strategy for a major bank in Minneapolis, Minnesota.)  In 2012, after kicking around the idea of a family business for years and coming to a crossroads in their lives and realizing that life is too short, and family is too important, to live half a country apart, they took the leap and decided to open a family hardware business in Bluffton, South Carolina.  The three family members then spent almost three years understanding the hardware industry, the local area and determining what Lowcountry residents wanted in a hardware store, then designing and building their building. Upon launching their first store in March 2015, the family worked closely together in operating, and growing, the business together each and every day – recently opening a second location of Heuser Ace Hardware in Hardeeville, continuing to work closely as a family in growing both thriving locations. 

The interactive webinar, which will draw from the Heuser family’s personal experiences in launching, operating and expanding a family business, will provide attendees with practical tips, strategies and insights into all stages of launching and running a family business, including:

• Identifying each person's strengths, playing to them -- and respecting them

• Why transparency is key – and how to ensure transparency in all aspects of the business

• Establishing a plan for structured communication

To register for the DRCI free Zoom webinars, or for more information, visit the DRCI website at www.donryancenter.com or the DRCI Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DonRyanCenter/.