Without any experience as a business owner, Chris Runyan decided he”™d like to be one after he moved with his wife from Arkansas to Stamford when her job was relocated to the area.
Within just three years, he opened six stores, hired 50 employees and this year was named the Small Business Person of the Year by the Connecticut Small Business Association (SBA).
But looking back at his success, Runyan said it was no easy feat. For months he couldn”™t find the funding he needed to start a Connecticut franchise of Game X Change, a retail outlet that buys and sells used video games. Runyan had helped the owner of the original franchise choose his store locations as a real estate agent in Arkansas.
“When I moved up here and started, it was quite painful in the beginning,” Runyan said. “Without the income my wife was making, we couldn”™t have survived. It”™s not easy living in the Northeast. It”™s a lot more expensive than in the South.”
Runyan said he hoped he”™d be able to open a store within three or four months, but after struggling to find adequate financing, it took a full year. He opened his first store with the help of lending officers at the Connecticut Community Investment Corp. (CTCIC).
“They were definitely instrumental in what I”™ve been able to do,” Runyan said. “Without them I don”™t know if I”™d have any stores open, let alone six.”
CTCIC is a nonprofit economic development financing agent and the No. 1 SBA microlender in the state. Unlike traditional banks, the organization is able to invest in “risky” loans where borrowers may not have the collateral or credit to secure a loan. The average microloan is about $37,000 but can be as large as $50,000. The group also has much larger financing options.
With roughly $100,000 in loans backed by the SBA and other lenders, Runyan said he was able to open his first store in Orange, which quickly set off a chain reaction. He proceeded to open stores in Bridgeport, Wallingford, Waterbury, Branford and Hamden.
Buck Harris, vice president of business counseling at CTCIC, said it was an easy choice to make when he nominated Runyan for the small business owner of the year award.
“Game X Change has created a lot of jobs, showed a lot of profitability and growth, and the character of the owner of the business ”” he”™s just a really hardworking person.”
Each Game X Change store makes about $600,000 in revenues a year, Runyan said. Within the next couple years, he”™d like to open additional stores surrounding New Haven and then move farther into Fairfield County. He said he”™d like to open about two stores a year.
“Thinking back to the beginning when were living in Stamford and killing ourselves just to make it,” Runyan said. “I look back and I definitely feel successful in my goal. But I don”™t feel like I should stop. It just makes me want to work more and open more stores and take more chances.”
