Newspaper Page Text
Start:ME Up
Small business accelerator aids local entrepreneurs
By Grace Huseth
There are three things small business
owners need to be successful: knowledge,
networks and capital. Entrepreneurs in
Clarkston and East Lake are catching on
fast thanks to an accelerator program that
provides training and support for local small
businesses.
For four years, Start:ME Accelerator has
hosted an intensive, 14-week journey
that helps entrepreneurs start from
an idea to expanding their business.
Erin Igleheart, program manager,
said Start:ME was developed and
delivered by Emory University’s
Goizueta Business School as a way to
engage local talent.
“Our belief is that small
businesses are critical to making
neighborhoods vibrant and strong,
and that there are promising
entrepreneurs living in all
communities,” Igleheart said. “It
really is open to anyone who has a
promising business idea, or is already
operating a promising business.”
Each program is part of a coalition
of business schools, local partners and
community organizations, like the East Lake
Foundation and Friends of Refugees, as well
as key stakeholders to tailor the program
to each community. They fundraise as a
coalition to make sure the program is free
and accessible to entrepreneurs regardless of
background.
Start:Me has operated five cohorts in
Clarkston since 2013 and three in East Lake
since 2015. Over the years, 110 micro
businesses and blossomed under the program
and 89 percent of the graduates are still
active with their businesses. Over 50 percent
of those businesses employ others, resulting
in 186 local jobs in the community.
Recent Start:Me graduate Paris Campeau
learned more about marketing campaigns
and business practices to expand her
boutique spa Indigo Wellness in Kirkwood
to include a yoga studio and community
center.
“Start:ME is a great place for people just
starting out because it goes from concept and
idea all the way to opening your business,”
Campeau said.
Campeau said her Start:ME program
met weekly on Tuesday nights from 6-9 p.m.
Each week, students would update each
other on the progress of their businesses,
listen to a lecture with the topic of the
week and then break into small groups
led by mentors relevant to each business,
from bookkeepers to bakers. The Start:ME
program typically begins with writing
a business plan and then progresses to
insurance, marketing strategies and cost
analysis.
Campeau leaned heavily on her mentors
Jessica Woodside, of Woodhouse Consulting,
and Bryan Alii, a business transformation
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consultant, both of whom she remains close
with today. “Even though the program is
over, I still meet with my mentors. It’s a
lifelong mentorship,” Campeau said.
Ajah Myers, a 2017 Start:Me graduate,
said it was competitive to join the East Lake
program. Once her lengthy application was
turned in, she pitched her business plan to
entrepreneurs, not unlike “Shark Tank.” Out
of nearly 90 applicants, Myer’ behavior and
therapeutic services business plan was one of
the 16 approved to attend the program.
Myers offers tutoring and therapy
services to children and adults with
developmental disabilities and strives to put
the client first — sometimes at the sake of her
business. Now she’s able to provide both the
best care and use the best business practices
by keeping a Start:ME mantra in mind.
“‘Show me the money!’ was a phrase we
said over and over,” Myers recalled.
Myers found a new strength in pitching
her business. Myer’s mentor, Brian Cohen,
helped her communicate her elevator pitch,
in both 30 second sound bites to five minute
deliveries for bankers and loan officers. “Fie
made me pitch constantly and now I don’t
feel anxiety when doing pitches,” she said.
“Now we have a family and meet constantly
to work as a team to be successful. We help
each other build our businesses.”
For more information on the program,
visit startmeaccelerator.org. 03
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August 2017 IlNtown 19