THE FACTS:

Business name: SOHO Office

Business age: in Rome since 2005

Owners: Thomas McNally, president

How long have you owned it? since April 2009

Location: 1426 Turner McCall Blvd., Riverbend Plaza

Telephone: 706-232-2292

Fax: 706-232-5525

Employees: two

Web site: www.rome.sohooffice.com

Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Thomas McNally, owner of SOHO Office, is answering the questions for today’s Small Business Snapshot.

What is the primary purpose of your business?

We are a locally owned and operated business support center, staffed with professionals and experienced assistants that can provide office support services for Small Office / Home Office individuals, professionals, and businesses. Our slogan: Create, Print, Ship, Achieve is exactly what our customers can do in a comfortable, office environment, where the staff has one goal: to make our clients the Hero to their customer!

What is your business background? Prior to launching TRKM Inc, and acquiring SOHO Office, I spent 12 years in operations management in various industries, honing my skills in organization development and continuous improvement in a variety of functional roles including manufacturing, supply chain, maintenance, as well as training and development

Why did you start this particular business? The concept of supporting the small business entrepreneur was appealing to me. With many years in the field of organizational development and training, it was a natural fit to marry up with the small training and development company I own, TrainingRx, which helps individuals and organizations achieve success through strategic planning and leadership development. In addition, it was an opportunity to work side by side with my daughter, Kristen.

What makes your business unique? Our focus on a targeted market segment: the SOHO professional. In addition, our business model is not only providing design, print and copy service, but providing our clients a creative edge. Whether business cards or brochures, signs or logo designs, we can assist them to market their business with our creative ability.

What do you enjoy most about your chosen profession? I really enjoy the diversity of our clients, or potential clients, who come into our center every day. Each is unique, but to some degree, on the same journey we are here at SOHO Office – realizing a dream of owning and managing our own business.

What has been the biggest or most interesting challenge to overcome as a small business owner? Learning to mange my time, and to stay focused on our business plan. In order to achieve our long term vision, it is important to stay focused on our mission and critical goals over the next 18 months. Entrepreneurship does represent freedom from many of the boundaries that are part of working in large companies, but necessitates laser focus on goals, objectives and my calendar.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? I would have to say thank you to the business community for their support. The assistance we have received from the Chamber of Commerce, as well as every local and state governmental agent we have dealt with has been exceptional. One of the reasons I elected to purchase a business in Rome was its reputation for supporting small business, and they have gained another champion through their efforts!