Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nicholas Seigel, President of The RadioCave Corporation, located in Mount Dora, FL, USA.
What's your organization, and who are your members?
It's our core belief that community is the glue that holds humanity together & with your charitable support we can continue to create art & music, which are languages that soar far beyond our differences connecting us at the heart & soul where it matters most. We support special needs and those who have struggled through adversity to find their talents in the healing power of music and the arts through education, awareness & advocacy w/ charitable events that create a happy, uplifting atmosphere where all people can interact & receive the validation, love & support necessary for a positive outlook & zest for life.
RadioCave, at its core, acts as an online community coordinator and website services provider. We create events & fundraisers for other 501(c)3 organizations on Facebook. Our associated non-profit has an artist/musician collective that supplies us with music & art in both audio & video formats that I use to collect & arrange online music festivals via streaming to sites like YouTube, Twitch, and our website. Together with the community, we are known as the "Foundation of Families."
We specifically work with Facebook-based fundraisers to ensure all proceeds go directly to our partners with complete transparency obtained. RadioCave and its artists do not receive any compensation for fundraising, as 100% of all donations always go to our partnered organizations.
Tell us about yourself
I was a director of operations for a finance company for 10 years before epilepsy removed me from the workplace. I was also a Microsoft Certified Professional+ circa 2008. After epilepsy was diagnosed in 2008, I stopped working 2 years later. It was almost 10 years from that point till 2018 when I went to a music festival that inspired me to use my previous work, technical skills, and the world of social media to build a global community based on the trinity of music, art, and poetry. I knew I could program the website and provide free exposure as a central hub of information. After watching and listening to Gary V., David Goggins, Jordan Peterson, Tom Bilyeu, and Andrew Huberman on YouTube for several years, I decided to give away everything I could come up with to help others. I knew I could navigate the internet, website traffic, and links, so I built the RadioCave Social Ecosystem to help expose and advertise to others in an effort to support the charity through Facebook based 501(c)3. I knew I could allow Facebook to vet the other organizations, which would save me from the worry of organization competency.
So I have spent almost 5 years now and have a sole proprietor business and a non-profit business. I have supported all this from my disability checks and never asked for anything directly. We have never had a fundraiser for ourselves or anything like that. My outlook has always been that if I build it, they will come, and if I treat others as I would be treated, it will come back to me 10x. My daily motivation comes from getting up and knowing and seeing all the people who have been positively affected by posts and various actions taken. We also support an orphanage in Uganda, and watching them grow warms my heart. So I admin the Facebook page for them as well. My organization and job as president of this organization bring me love and joy each day when I am bound to the invisible cell that is my living with grand-mal seizures with no aura and local support.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment is my non-profit organization and the help we provide to the public from the generosity of our hearts. For the first time, this is an honest community built around an honest non-profit that gives 100% back in all its endeavors.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
For me, being disabled and financially supporting this non-profit and all its functions have been by far the hardest part. We now have a shop in place to help make funds, but I do not know marketing well, and we need grants to fund the advertisements of the shop.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Find your purpose, don't stop, and don't be afraid to ask for help or look for answers yourself.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
You can find my story in full, including being run over as a pedestrian, on this link - https://radiocave.org/my-story.
What we do for our members can be found here - https://radiocave.org/about-edm
What we do for our artists & crafters - https://radiocave.org/about-vendors
A bit of extra information about our road ahead and how we work -
https://radiocave.org/about-support
We have performed official fundraisers for the Epilepsy Association of Central Florida, Ascendigo Autism Services, twice for Onemind.org, The Cystic Fibrosis Trust & the One Voice Childrens Choir. We also yearly support the Ark, a wildlife refuge and conservation center in Hilliard, Florida, and Earthdance. All are 501(c)3 certified.
Our new website shop is www.theradiocavefoundation.com. We have a new "non-profit" specific page on Facebook www.facebook.com/foundationoffamilies.
Our main Facebook pages are @radiocave (our community home) and @foundationoffamilies (our official non-profit on Meta).
Where can people find you and your business?
Website:
https://radiocave.org/
https://theradiocavefoundation.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RadioCave/
https://www.facebook.com/FoundationOfFamilies/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.radiocave.foundation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theradiocave
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-s-seigel/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.