History of BG&G Enterprises
An Entrepreneur's Journey - Turning Adversity Into Opportunity

BG&G Enterprises is a conglomeration of several small "business ventures" that I have developed throughout the years.  I followed a traditional career path in office administration, bookkeeping, and inside sales for 25+ years, but I was always drawn to entrepreneurship.  Although I worked for both large and small firms, I preferred working for small business owners.  I loved setting the pace & running the show.   Admittedly, the pay and benefits were not as good as with the larger firms, but there were other perks.  For instance, I worked directly with my employer's lawyers,  accountants, and marketing agents.  Therefore, I was able to learn first hand what to do or not to do to run a successful business --- without paying their high professional service fees.

The entrepreneur "bug" bit me early in life.  I negotiated my first freelance job - cleaning houses & ironing for people in my neighborhood - when I was 11 years old.  But my first "real" business venture was started in the early 1980's.  Part-time, I sold general merchandise via catalogs.  Eventually, I opened my own flea market store where I learned to manage inventory and set prices.  I also gained valuable insight into what my customers and other vendors were looking for.  They wanted quality, but free or low cost  products, services, and resources.   Since helping people has always been second nature for me, I had no problem doing the research to help them find what they wanted.

In fact, I have always been the "go-to" person when family, friends, and neighbors needed help.  From PC training to computer repair; from resume editing to scholarship searches; from setting up company books to preparing personal & business income taxes, I have done it all.  I have even acted as medical or legal advocate for some within my inner circle.  When these requests for help began to intrude on my personal time, instead of viewing it as a nuisance, I saw it as an business opportunity.

I had become bored with the routine & frustrated with the pay scale of my regular job, so in December of 1996, I went back to school after 20 years.  By working part-time (no insurance benefits) I obtained degrees in industrial electronics, occupational safety and health, and industrial management within four and a half years.  In May 2001, I was enthusiastically looking forward to starting my second career.  However, just one week after graduation, I shattered my right leg.  The damage was so severe, my doctor placed me on blood thinners and restricted me to the bed for three months because of the threat of blood clots. 

Since working a regular job or operating my catalog or flea market business would not be an option for a while, and with no source of income except savings, I was hard-pressed to find a way to pay my bills.   After a couple of months of bed restriction, the idea for creating an online presence was conceived.  Not only did I see it as a revenue source, but also as a way to continue to help people. 

Hobbling to my computer everyday, I began to teach myself the basics of HTML (hence the name "novice webmaster").  Originally, I began to sell general merchandise under the name of Aquarius Novelty Merchandise.  I knew that eventually I wanted to create a one-stop shopping site, and eventually my other ventures online, I began operating my online and offline freelance projects as BG&G Enterprises.  After signing up with a few affiliate programs, my website featured general gift shop items, discounted telecommunication products and services, and a cash-back mall.  After a few months, I added the education & career self-help centers.  Before long,  BGGE became a mega site (or monster site) with over 700 pages indexed weekly.    

Timeline:

• 2001 to 2002 - Development.  While teaching myself the basics of coding, the challenge was finding a hosting company with a website builder that simple enough to use and delivered professional results.  After several failed attempts, I found CityMax which had all the features and flexibility I needed.  I registered my domain name - bgge.com in 2002.     
• 2003 - Product research & partnership development.  I decided early on that I would design and market BGGE using the same free and low cost products, services, & resources that offered to my visitors.  To insure that they were also "high quality", I invested thousands of man-hours, much to the chagrin of my loved ones, researching the products that are offered on BGGE --- personally testing many of them.     
• 2004 to 2006 - One-stop shopping theme continued.  Online sales were good.  BGGE.com's Google search ranking was climbing.   But by the end of 2006, I noted that sales were not proportionate to the the increase in traffic I enjoying.  So I decided that I might need to revise my online marketing strategy to increase sales.
• 2007 - Shift to business related products & services.  After tax season in 2007, I decided to add a Tax FAQ channel after spending more & more time on the phone answering the same questions from business clients.  It soon became evident that many of them were beginning to feel the effects of a slow economy that I had noted in the previous year. 
• By 2008, with the mortgage crisis and the historical high food & oil prices, many of my clients were holding down two jobs and others were thinking about starting their own businesses.   In response,  launched BGGE Custom Web Design and started adding resources & products to help these "new" entrepreneurs work easier, learn quicker, & shop smarter, and still have a little fun at the end of the day.
• Expect more changes for BGGE in 2009.  By the end of the first quarter, BGGE Gift Shop & Redemption Center will offer corporate account partnerships for businesses that want to set up employee reward programs.  Low-cost bookkeeping and tax preparation services will be offered, too. 

 Entrepreneurship is my passion, but it has not been an easy road.  I am not a millionaire yet.  The road to my success continues to be paved with trial & error, but I find it rewarding ... and I love it. 

I learned early in life that "if a tree doesn't bend during a powerful storm, it will break".  Recognizing opportunities and incorporating changes when needed is how BGGE continues to evolve.  So keep checking back as I update the history of BG&G Enterprises.  

BJ Gray, The Novice Webmaster
Revised 12/10/08