43-year Chamber of Commerce Veteran Discusses His Thriving Business and Benefits of Chamber Membership

Ralph Lupton started Lupton’s Buffet as an extension of Fat Man’s Barbeque back in 1969, the same year he became a member of the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce.

“My wife and I built this business from nothing. At this stage in our lives, our sons do all our hard work while Nancy and I play and work in the office,” said Lupton, who also owns a 200-acre Plant City ranch, which caters to private parties.

Lupton could remember when the city of Temple Terrace only had four police officers and a local newspaper called The Beacon. During that time, business owners used word-of-mouth to find out how to grow their business in this area.

“It was easy to keep up with the gossip in Temple Terrace back in those days, which is how I found out about the Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce,” said Lupton.

 Of the many reasons Lupton continues his membership with the chamber, he expressed that networking and knowing that he has paid his dues to the city of Temple Terrace are the perks he enjoys the most.

“For 43 years I have paid my dues. I have served on every chamber committee since becoming a member.  After all these years I think I enjoy that chamber members can do business with other chamber members the most,” said Lupton.

At the conclusion of our session, Lupton left some words of wisdom to those businesses in the area that have not joined the chamber as a member.

“My one piece of advice is that every business owner in this area needs to join the chamber to promote their business,” said Lupton.

By: Shaleria Faison, Temple Terrace Chamber Intern

More business for YOUR business

 

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One of the most important questions asked from small to medium sized business holders is how to get more business and earn more revenue. Some businesses find that the old-fashioned marketing tools; such as, mailers will reach new customers but will not do the best job at doing so while social media can be confusing and time consuming. The simplest answer are your current customers, who are the most likely source of cash flow. According to INC., your existing customers spend 67% more than the new customers your business may gain. By focusing more of your energy on the customers you already have, who are loyal to your business, and keeping them interested, revenue will continue to grow.

Here are 5 helpful tools:

1. Figure out and focus on the targeted audience of your business.

2. Use tools like Survey Monkey to create online surveys and get the opinions of the public to cater to the services and products your business offers.

3. Keep customers coming back to your business by offering complementary services and promotional events.

4. Add a personal touch to your business by keeping in touch with existing customers.

5. Utilize existing customers for referrals in exchange for incentives

By: Shaleria Faison, Temple Terrace Chamber Intern