TO WATCH (Lee-Collier): George Ghanem

ENTREPRENEURS TO WATCH: LEE/COLLIER

CREATIVE EVENTS AND RENTALS

George Ghanem

George Ghanem's party palace is almost ready.

By this summer, Ghanem's company will have moved into its new corporate headquarters in Fort Myers. The 60,000-square-foot, $8-million building will house the company's commercial laundry, a showroom and will have enough parking so that employees can load 10 delivery trucks at a time with tents, chairs and all the equipment for a party.

It's a dramatic shift for an entrepreneur whose company started renting tools and equipment such as small bulldozers and chain saws to the once-booming construction industry. Sensing increased competition from national tool-rental companies and the consequences of a construction downturn, Ghanem shifted to party planning and events in 2003.

It was a prescient move and shows how nimble and far-sighted entrepreneurs like Ghanem are able to seize opportunities when they arise. We all know what's happened in the construction industry and fortunately for Ghanem he's now out of the tool-rental business.

Parties are big business on the Gulf Coast. Creative Events rents 400 tents that come in all sizes, up to 30,000 square feet cooled with portable air conditioners. In addition, the company arranges caterers and flowers and designs the decor and builds special props. The company books "several thousand" events per month.

About 70% of the company's revenues are from corporate and nonprofit events. The rest of the parties are for individuals, such as weddings and other family celebrations. Ghanem recently launched a new Web site that he hopes will help him brand the company.

Ghanem, the son of Middle Eastern immigrants, grew up in California and learned how to repair airplane jet engines. He later got into the insurance business, becoming an agent for Northwestern Mutual Life and building a 14-office operation in Pennsylvania. Driven by an entrepreneurial urge, Ghanem sold his stake in the insurance business in 2000 and moved to Naples.

Now, Ghanem has his sights set on a bigger geographic area. Tampa is particularly attractive because he thinks he can compete with the Orlando firms that have moved into the region. The 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa will be an opportunity to showcase his company because of the huge corporate tent village that springs up around the stadium.

In addition to geographic diversification, Ghanem is exploring ways to control costs, such as making his own linens and manufacturing the company's own rental chairs and lights in China.

Wringing out costs is especially important now that the economy has softened.

"We have a lot of clients who are in very bad economic shape," Ghanem says. "A lot of people aren't going to last in the next month or two." The key, Ghanem says, is for the business to be agile and look for alternate markets. Ghanem is fond of an old proverb: "If you don't crack the shell, you can't eat the nut."

Entrepreneurial TIP:

Q. What is the toughest challenge you've ever faced as an entrepreneur?

A. "The toughest challenge is what I'm facing right now," says George Ghanem, the president and owner of Creative Events and Rentals. Ghanem is building a 60,000-square-foot headquarters in Fort Myers that will house the region's largest event-planning and rental facilities in the state. "Today the economy is so gray," he says. "It's difficult to gauge when we'll get out of the doldrums." He's looking for any ways he can control costs and market his services. "I can control how we do business, the people we have, the products we deliver, our marketing strategy, advertising, spending," he says. "I've always thought I could control revenue, but when the economy's like this there are some things you can't control."

BY THE NUMBERS

CREATIVE EVENYS AND RENTALS

Year Revenue* % change

2005: $2.3 million

2006: $2.6 million 13%

2007: $3 million 15%

3-year ave. annual growth: 14%

Employees

2005: 28

2006: 32

2007: 37