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Springfield Small Business Week Profile: Self Interactive

We’re shining a light on efactory member and Springfield small business Self Interactive as part of Springfield Small Business Week 2018. Read on to hear founder Charlie Rosenbury’s take on leveraging local resources, building a solid team, and the best part of owning a small business in Springfield, MO.

Tell us a little about Self Interactive, for those who haven’t met you and your team:

Self is an interactive development studio providing custom solutions to business needs. We primarily build web applications and mobile apps as well as virtual reality and augmented reality experiences.

What does your full-time employee count look like these days?

We’ve got six folks working full-time under Self.

Have you leveraged any local resources designed to help businesses and entrepreneurs? What has been helpful to you as a business owner?

I have a weekly appointment with the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), we are engaged with the Chamber and networking groups like Springfield Creatives. We have had invaluable relationships arise from being in the efactory, along with useful education through the regular speaker series and other professional resources.

What has been your greatest success or proudest moment to date?

Building a team. I started Self with the intention of being a one-man show for simplicity’s sake, but building and leading a team (and making payroll!) is a rewarding feeling. There’s an increased sense of purpose and inherent value in what you’re building when the successes and failures are shared.

What does the next 18 months look like for Self?

We plan on continued growth in terms of revenue and workload capacity as Self, and we are spinning out our VR training platform, Tacit, as its own company. We plan on hitting that hard and scaling as quickly as we can.

What’s the best part about being a small business owner in Springfield, MO?

The supportive, fraternal spirit in the business community. Everyone in business that I’ve come across wants to help one another, even direct competitors. Business in SGF is not typically viewed a zero-sum game, but as a rising tide to which we all contribute.

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