Elgin small business program prompts action

Business owners who participated in the first Elgin Area Small Business Academy said the program served as a call to action.

Kay Morrisroe, owner of HospitaliTea in Elgin, will be taking a food and sanitation safety class starting next week at Elgin Community College.

Elgin's Sheep Wreck Farm owner Carol Lussky might be partnering with Morrisroe to sell her farm-produced honey.

And Aaron Bowgren, owner and founder of Aaroco Customs Software in South Elgin, will carve out time to work on things like his quarterly goals, business plan and "elevator pitch" on a monthly basis.

The six-month free program offered by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce was attended by nearly 20 existing and prospective small-business owners and wrapped up this month. It featured a variety of presenters on topics including business plans, sales strategies, management and more.

Keith Rauschenberger served on the committee that organized the program, held typically on the third Thursday of the month. A new one is slated to start in January.

"When you start a business, you don't know what you don't know," said Rauschenberger, president of Rauschenberger Financial Advisors in Elgin. "It wasn't something where we would necessarily teach things like accounting, but instead make them aware of the pitfalls and figure out who to contact for help."

Participants also learned about resources for small businesses, such as the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Elgin Community College and the nonprofit organization SCORE, which provides guidance and mentorship to startup and existing businesses.

Bowgren said he enjoyed hearing from fellow small business owners.

"It was nice to see people that are further down the path, if you will, as far as their company and business maturity. They were also able to give some insight and feedback, like, 'That's what we do, and what we would have done differently.'"

The program highlights what aspects of the business one might need to work on, Morrisroe said.

Her goal for her loose-leaf tea business is to offer tea parties with sandwiches, hence her decision to enroll in the class at ECC, she said. She also had the idea of selling Lussky's farm-produced honey alongside her tea, she said.

Lussky, who a year ago retired as police chief in Pingree Grove, said she plans to perfect her business plan. Networking was another great benefit of the program, she said.

"It was a lot of different business people, and we got to listen to a lot of different perspectives," she said. "It was so well rounded. I would encourage anybody who hadn't been to something like that to do it."