Anna Faltermeier/Sun NewsCary Clark, right, market development director with KCSourceLink, answers questions during a panel discussion with five other local business people Feb. 26 at Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods. The program was titled “Six Slices of a Successful Business.”
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The elements of success
By Ray Weikal
Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods students recently got to sample some of the ingredients needed to go far with a small business.
A half-dozen local entrepreneurship experts led a panel discussion titled “Six Slices of a Successful Business” on Feb. 26 at the Student Center on the Northland campus. Touching on topics such as legal, bookkeeping, financing, marketing and human resources, the presentation was designed to cover most of the basics for a packed room composed mostly of students in the school’s business program.
The event was held in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Week, Feb. 23 to March 1, according to business faculty member Jim Moes.
“Our desire is to foster and promote entrepreneurship across this campus and across the nation,” said Moes, who also owns a travel company.
The importance of sound financial planning was a common theme throughout the 90-minute event.
Kevin Robinson, president of People Wise of Missouri, talked about the role of bookkeeping in a small business. A good bookkeeper can let the owner focus on other aspects of the business, he said.
“What a bookkeeper should be doing for you, the owner, is making sure that you are getting paid for your services,” Robinson said. “Still, you can never totally take your hands off the bookkeeping aspect of it.”
People who want to own their own business should protect their credit rating and make connections with banks that serve entrepreneurs, said Cassandra Parks, a lender relations specialist with the federal Small Business Administration.
“It is very, very important for you to start establishing good relationships with your lenders as soon as possible,” she said. “It would also be a good idea to have a business plan. It is your map for success.”
Danny O’Neill is the founder of The Roasterie Coffee Co. and was one of the presenters. He echoed Parks’ comments, adding that the real financial crunch could come later in the business development process.
“Once you start growing, that’s when you really need the money,” O’Neill said. “When you need (a lender), you want to reach out and have that relationship already established.”
New business owners should also take an early interest in their human resources, according to several panel members. As his business doubled and tripled in size in its first four years, O’Neill found himself wishing he’d spent more time hiring the right staff.
“The most stressful part is managing the growth. You basically have too much work to do and too few people to do it,” he said. “We didn’t know what we were doing in terms of hiring people.”
Old fashioned door-to-door sales with a handshake can be one of the best ways for a small business to grow, according to both O’Neill and Shatto Milk Co. founder Leroy Shatto. Before he had even built his dairy plant, Shatto spent several weeks visiting with local grocery store managers and showing off his signature glass bottles. An initial round of meetings yielded seven informal marketing agreements with stores in the Kansas City area, he said.
“Every single one of those guys that signed those (letters of intent), when I got my plant built, wanted our milk,” Shatto said.
No matter what discipline they study, college students are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship when they leave school, Moes said.
Angela Lukenbill is the proprietor of Kids Kick Start Campus, a preschool on Northwest Englewood Road. She’s taking business classes at the college and attended the presentation.
“It’s great information,” said Lukenbill, who has a degree in Spanish. “I can tell people that they really need to do the research before they start.”
Words of wisdom:
Bookkeeping
“The number one challenge for a small-business owner is actually getting information about their finances and understanding what is being done with their money.”
Kevin Robinson, president of People Wise of Missouri
Financing
“There’s no such thing as 100 percent financing, so you need to have some money to start up.”
Cassandra Parks, U.S. Small Business Administration lender relations specialist
Legal advice
“If you’re going to start a small business, please have a lawyer review your contracts. It’s important, as a small business, to get with a law firm that you trust.”
Monika Jenkins, associate attorney with Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer & Gee
Growth
“I’ve heard people say that they’re going to throttle back their growth. I don’t know how to do that. If I have someone on the phone who wants to buy my coffee, I’m not going to say ‘no.’”
Danny O’Neill, founder of The Roasterie Coffee Co.
Marketing
“We started doing tours of our dairy plant because we found out that there are all these people who want to find what a cow looks like. Those people may not have heard of us before, but they go home looking for our milk.”
Leroy Shatto, founder of Shatto Milk Co.
Resources
“Continue your self-education. It’s a lot easier to learn from somebody else’s mistakes or successes.”
Cary Clark, KCSourceLink market development director
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.
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A half-dozen local entrepreneurship experts led a panel discussion titled “Six Slices of a Successful Business” on Feb. 26 at the Student Center on the Northland campus. Touching on topics such as legal, bookkeeping, financing, marketing and human resources, the presentation was designed to cover most of the basics for a packed room composed mostly of students in the school’s business program.
The event was held in conjunction with National Entrepreneurship Week, Feb. 23 to March 1, according to business faculty member Jim Moes.
“Our desire is to foster and promote entrepreneurship across this campus and across the nation,” said Moes, who also owns a travel company.
The importance of sound financial planning was a common theme throughout the 90-minute event.
Kevin Robinson, president of People Wise of Missouri, talked about the role of bookkeeping in a small business. A good bookkeeper can let the owner focus on other aspects of the business, he said.
“What a bookkeeper should be doing for you, the owner, is making sure that you are getting paid for your services,” Robinson said. “Still, you can never totally take your hands off the bookkeeping aspect of it.”
People who want to own their own business should protect their credit rating and make connections with banks that serve entrepreneurs, said Cassandra Parks, a lender relations specialist with the federal Small Business Administration.
“It is very, very important for you to start establishing good relationships with your lenders as soon as possible,” she said. “It would also be a good idea to have a business plan. It is your map for success.”
Danny O’Neill is the founder of The Roasterie Coffee Co. and was one of the presenters. He echoed Parks’ comments, adding that the real financial crunch could come later in the business development process.
“Once you start growing, that’s when you really need the money,” O’Neill said. “When you need (a lender), you want to reach out and have that relationship already established.”
New business owners should also take an early interest in their human resources, according to several panel members. As his business doubled and tripled in size in its first four years, O’Neill found himself wishing he’d spent more time hiring the right staff.
“The most stressful part is managing the growth. You basically have too much work to do and too few people to do it,” he said. “We didn’t know what we were doing in terms of hiring people.”
Old fashioned door-to-door sales with a handshake can be one of the best ways for a small business to grow, according to both O’Neill and Shatto Milk Co. founder Leroy Shatto. Before he had even built his dairy plant, Shatto spent several weeks visiting with local grocery store managers and showing off his signature glass bottles. An initial round of meetings yielded seven informal marketing agreements with stores in the Kansas City area, he said.
“Every single one of those guys that signed those (letters of intent), when I got my plant built, wanted our milk,” Shatto said.
No matter what discipline they study, college students are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship when they leave school, Moes said.
Angela Lukenbill is the proprietor of Kids Kick Start Campus, a preschool on Northwest Englewood Road. She’s taking business classes at the college and attended the presentation.
“It’s great information,” said Lukenbill, who has a degree in Spanish. “I can tell people that they really need to do the research before they start.”
Words of wisdom:
Bookkeeping
“The number one challenge for a small-business owner is actually getting information about their finances and understanding what is being done with their money.”
Kevin Robinson, president of People Wise of Missouri
Financing
“There’s no such thing as 100 percent financing, so you need to have some money to start up.”
Cassandra Parks, U.S. Small Business Administration lender relations specialist
Legal advice
“If you’re going to start a small business, please have a lawyer review your contracts. It’s important, as a small business, to get with a law firm that you trust.”
Monika Jenkins, associate attorney with Seigfreid, Bingham, Levy, Selzer & Gee
Growth
“I’ve heard people say that they’re going to throttle back their growth. I don’t know how to do that. If I have someone on the phone who wants to buy my coffee, I’m not going to say ‘no.’”
Danny O’Neill, founder of The Roasterie Coffee Co.
Marketing
“We started doing tours of our dairy plant because we found out that there are all these people who want to find what a cow looks like. Those people may not have heard of us before, but they go home looking for our milk.”
Leroy Shatto, founder of Shatto Milk Co.
Resources
“Continue your self-education. It’s a lot easier to learn from somebody else’s mistakes or successes.”
Cary Clark, KCSourceLink market development director
Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or rayweikal@npgco.com.