As someone on the backside of 50, Pat Coslett felt like he had one more good run in him and took to the internet for ideas. Having been around the furniture business for 50 years (his father, Joe, owned and operated L.B. Jones Furniture), the decision was made to stick with furniture. The process began in December 2016 when Coslett approached Business Advisor Doug Claybourn with the Southwest Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC). He shared that besides assistance with the business plan and strategy, more appreciably, Claybourn gave him hope to pursue his dream.
Coslett says the difference with locally-owned Simplicity Furniture is that it’s not about the money or the furniture. According to him, the experience of shopping there is not just fun but life-changing. For even more fun, the building also houses a comedy club that operates stand-up comedy shows after hours on select weekend nights. The Southwest Indiana SBDC helped make the process easy for Coslett to jump back in after being out of the business world for a while. He thanks Claybourn for serving as both a cheerleader and consultant and providing one-stop shopping for his start-up needs. “He helped us believe in ourselves that we could do it… and by golly, we did!”