By Paul Post
Bert Weber got so much help from his small business mentor that he named a beer after him.
A retired BOCES horticulture and landscape design teacher, Weber co-owns South Glens Falls-based Common Roots Brewing Company, which has blossomed into one of the region’s largest craft breweries since its founding 10 years ago.
Weber credits much of its success to programs such as SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer expert business mentors; and Start-Up ADK, an eight week non-credit SUNY Adirondack course for small business owners and entrepreneurs that includes business planning and topics such as marketing, bookkeeping, legal issues, financial projections, human resources and small business tools.
“Everyone has a great idea and wants to get started, but there’s the business part of it, things like finance, insurance, regulations and licensing that you have to consider; things you don’t want to think about, but are really necessary as a new business starting out” Weber said. “They talked a lot about pitfalls you should avoid.”
Without good insurance, Common Roots probably wouldn’t have survived a devastating 2019 fire.
Kate Austin got so much help from Start-Up ADK that she literally can’t stop talking about it as one of the program’s most enthusiastic ambassadors, telling clients and fellow entrepreneurs about its many benefits. Austin owns Advokate, a Glens Falls-based firm she launched 13 years ago specializing in web and graphic design, branding, public relations, marketing and social media outreach.
“I thought it was very helpful to be in a class with other people who were in the same boat I was, trying to figure out what their business even was,” Austin said. “Having that peer group was super valuable on top of the fact that we had experts in insurance, legal matters, marketing and writing a business plan. They also talk about the nitty-gritty, ups and downs of what it’s like to be in business.”
“The whole thing start to finish was absolutely essential and I’ve been recommending it ever since,” she said.
Start-UP ADK is offered twice per year, beginning in September and March, through the school’s Continuing Education Department.
“We start out in Week 1 by talking to people about their business ideas,” program Director Robert Bullock said. “Our job is not to say whether they have a good or bad idea. Our job is not to pass judgment, it’s to assist them in developing a business plan and giving them exposure to experts within the Warren and Washington counties area, so as they hopefully go ahead and bring their program to scale they know who they need on their team — a good insurance person, a good accountant, a good marketing person and certainly a good attorney. That really is the basis of Start-Up. At the end, if they are successful in completing their business plan, that gives them the inside track for financing from one of two local development corporations (Warren and Washington counties).”
Some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs (Apple Inc.) and Bill Gates (Microsoft Corp.) started out as young, college-age inventors. Others launch a small business in retirement, growing out of a lifelong hobby as a way to provide supplemental income.
Warren and Saratoga counties have lost several large industrial employers in the past year such as Glens Falls Cement, Essity paper company and Quad Graphics, which printed some of the country’s most well-known magazines.
“A lot of people think the job of an economic developer is to go out and get another major industrial employer,” Bullock said. “But if you take a look at how the workforce has changed, it’s very possible that the next generation of workers aren’t going to come from major corporations, they’re going to be at smaller leaner, more nimble companies. This is a time and place where entrepreneurs can prosper.”
Warren County Economic Development Corporation President Jim Siplon said the surrounding area is ripe for small business opportunities.
“We saw a huge increase in the number of businesses forming in Warren County during COVID,” he said. “Before it was about 200 to 250 per year. During COVID it spiked up over 600 and has remained at or above that level ever since. It used to be that we would think of small business as a restaurant or service entity such as a beauty salon or dog care firm. Now we start to see much more imaginative and forward thinking things developing here.”
For example, Siplon said a high-end landscaping operation with sustainable, lake-friendly practices got started in response to the many large, seasonal homes owned by wealthy, part-time local residents.
“And there’s great pressure on housing stock so builders and subcontractors, trades people and surveying businesses, are starting their own shops,” he said.
In some cases, rather than just supporting someone’s business idea, the EDC tries to connect ambitious, hardworking entrepreneurs with potential opportunities they might not have considered. In other words: here’s a need, why not try to meet it?
Siplon cited three traits that define successful entrepreneurs.
“Number one is the willingness to go through the rigor of developing a real business plan,” he said. “Start-Up ADK helps people go through that. Second is a willingness to be nimble and adapt because nothing is ever quite what you thought it would be when starting out. And third, setbacks and delays aren’t failure. It’s part of the process. Your business may take longer to emerge than you planned on.”
The non-profit Adirondack Economic Development Corporation is another valuable resource for small business owners just starting out or hoping to expand. Based in Saranac Lake, it serves 14 northern New York counties including Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties.
AEDC’s eight-week, 60-hour Entrepreneurial Program is held virtually once per year, starting in September.
First, participants are sent templates that tell how to write a business plan and they’re assigned a business counselor to review and/or assist with writing it. People are also given a financial counselor to help with budgeting, establishing financial projections and setting goals for important purchases.
“The most important thing is a willingness to put in the effort,” said Stephanie Donaldson, program manager. “You have to have a sense of commitment to the project, meet with counselors regularly to work on a business plan and have them review it and make changes. You also have to fill out loan applications and upload associated documents.”
Towns and hamlets throughout northern New York are home to all kinds of small business that have a major economic impact.
“It pretty much goes across the gambit of all industries from breweries, beauty salons and restaurants to day care and dance studios,” Donaldson said.
In Clifton Park, AEDC helped Antzy Pantz Preschool obtain funding for a recent expansion project. It also helped St. D’s Pizzeria in Elizabethtown to expand and assisted with the opening of Esther’s Coffee House in Massena.
Primarily funded by competitive state and federal grants, AEDC has three major legs of services. In addition to its Entrepreneurship Program, these are small business lending, and technical assistance including group training and one-on-one counseling and support.
“Our mission is to support small businesses in a comprehensive manor,” Executive Director Victoria Duley said. “Their work makes up the majority of our economy in a lot of cases in the Adirondacks and beyond.”
For information about SCORE go to: www.score.org.
For information about Start-Up ADK go to: https://catalog.sunyacc.edu/content/small-business-entrepreneurship-support.
For information about AEDC go to: www.aedconline.com.