Five Questions With: Omar Jenblat

AFTER WATCHING HIS FATHER struggle to become a successful small business owner, Omar Jenblat is working at helping entrepreneurs and other small business owners harness the power of social media. / COURTESY OMAR JENBLAT
AFTER WATCHING HIS FATHER struggle to become a successful small business owner, Omar Jenblat is working at helping entrepreneurs and other small business owners harness the power of social media. / COURTESY OMAR JENBLAT

Omar Jenblat, the founder and CEO of BusySeed in Providence, talked with Providence Business News about his new business, which uses social media to increase companies’ sales.

PBN: Where did the idea for BusySeed come from?
JENBLAT:
I was born in Providence and raised by parents who immigrated from Syria in order to give my family a better life. My father owned multiple small businesses and struggled for a good while to make them successful. I saw him work nonstop in order to be able to provide for us, and now that I am able to make a difference, I want to help others going through the same struggle. BusySeed was founded in order to help small businesses grow, allowing merchants to focus on making that incredible pastry or sandwich while we do the technological heavy-lifting.

PBN: How are you using social media to help increase companies’ sales?
JENBLAT:
Social media is a part of everyone’s lives, and each day that you are not on social media, you are losing business. According to Forbes, 78 percent of small businesses get at least a quarter of new customers from social media. By bettering your Yelp reputation, posting consistently for potential customers to see and engaging your current customers, you can start drastically increasing your in-store or online sales. One example of this is that in the first month of working with a rare breeds farm, we were able to get their sales up by 21 percent just by engaging their dormant audience.

PBN: Why is it important for companies to harness the power of social media?
JENBLAT:
If they don’t, they are leaving money on the table and losing out. Sixty-nine percent of consumers are more likely to use a local business if they are socially active. Think of social media as the modern Yellow Pages, where if you want to get your name out, you have to have an online presence and pay attention to it. One example of this is that since we’ve started working with Mike’s Calzones, we took their average Yelp views from 500 a month to 800 a month, which has Mike’s bustling with new and returning customers.

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PBN: What services do you provide?
JENBLAT:
We provide all-around business development help, but more specifically we focus heavily on social media. We can help small businesses out by providing them full-service social media management or by helping to teach them with our consulting services. We want merchants to focus on making great things, while we make them popular. To learn a little more about what we do, check out our site and we’ll even give you a few free social media tips!

PBN: How many companies are you working with?
JENBLAT:
We are currently working with 30+ Rhode Island small businesses ranging from delicious sandwich shops to elegant perfumers. Our primary focus is social media, but we help them with bettering their products and services, bettering their presentation and taking advantage of technology. We love our customers because each one of them has a story that inspires us to constantly push ourselves harder.

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