Small-screen appearances mean big business

Having nosy cameramen filming your every move makes it harder to get work done. But it can be well worth the nuisance to appear on TV.

Four Richmond businesses have used the national spotlight to sell their brands and their personalities, boosting their exposure beyond Richmond.

“I watched it air with my wife and a few friends, and halfway through my BlackBerry started going nuts with emails from people wanting franchise information,” said Michael Barnett, CEO of Romp n’ Roll, who went on ABC’s “Shark Tank” with his wife/co-founder. “In just a few weeks, over 400 people have contacted us about a franchise. That’s about how many inquiries most companies get in about a year.” Read more

Richmond biz takes a swim in the ‘Shark Tank’

Richmond business owners Michael and Babz Barnett will be swimming with sharks Friday night.

The couple, who own and operate a chain of kids gyms called Romp n’ Roll, will appear on the nationally televised ABC reality show “Shark Tank.”

The premise of the show is simple. Startups or growing small businesses make a pitch to a panel of five self-made millionaires, dubbed the sharks. The sharks are free to invest in the company or pass on the idea. The show is produced by Mark Burnett, who also produces “Survivor.” Read more

Kids’ gym biz isn’t playing around

Not everybody is taking a wait-and-see approach to planning budgets for 2010.

Romp n’ Roll, a Richmond-based chain of kids’ gyms, wants to raise $1 million to $5 million as soon as possible to add more stores and recruit more franchisees for markets around the country. Read more

The Monday Q&A: No loan, no more business

As banks cut back their ending, small businesses are having more and more trouble staying alive. How that plays out locally depends on who you talk to.  Andy Schwabe is filing for personal bankruptcy after losing more than $200,000 of borrowed money on a failed children’s gym called Romp n’ Roll. Read more