When organizers launched the Business Startup Speaker Series earlier this year, they were responding to questions that brand-new owners have about starting a business.
What they quickly discovered is that many longtime business owners have those questions, too.
The Business Startup Speaker Series — a joint venture by NewBoCo in Cedar Rapids and the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD)– is closing in on completing its first year. The program features monthly sessions on branding, accounting, legal issues, advertising and communications, and more.
“Our original intent was for people who had just started a business and have no idea what they’re doing,” said Alex Taylor, managing director of NewBoCo’s Accelerator. “But we’re finding that anyone can benefit from these programs, no matter how long they have been in business.”
‘Recognizing a gap’
The monthly series, launched in January, leads entrepreneurs through a step-by-step guide of how to start and grow a business.
In an effort to make the sessions accessible to both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, sessions were held one week at the MERGE co-working space in Iowa City and then at The Vault co-working space in Cedar Rapids the following week.
“There are so many incredible resources for entrepreneurs in our community, but we recognized a gap that we wanted to fill,” said Liz Hubing, ICAD’s director of entrepreneurship and community engagement.
“It was clear that joining forces with NewBoCo on a regional series would maximize our impact. It makes it a lot more accessible for people with different work schedules and locations. We’ve loved being able to offer more opportunities for people based on what works best for them.”
The first speaker in the series was Julie Lammers, president of Lambo Business Services.
Lammers spoke in January about administrative basics, covering what needs to be done to get registered, licensed and “officially” established. Lammers returned to present on the topic again at MERGE last week, and will present at 8:30 a.m. this Wednesday at the Iowa Startup Accelerator/Geonetric Building, 415 12th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.
The session covers state and local licensing requirements, opening a bank account, customary discovery and more.
For veteran owners, too
And as it turns out, those things are topics that plenty of longtime business owners want to know more about, too.
“For me, the biggest surprise has been that at each session, we have completely different attendees,” Hubing said. “We’ve had a few people who have come to multiple sessions, but for the most part we see people who are attending specific sessions.
“For someone who might know about marketing, but doesn’t know anything about legal, it’s great that we can offer a one-off educational opportunity for them.”
As it turns out, those are things that plenty of longtime business owners want to know about, too.
Bill Daly, an attorney and senior vice president with Shuttleworth & Ingersoll in Cedar Rapids, gave a Legal 101 presentation at the Small Business Speaker Series in February and will do so again in October. Daly said the lessons being taught in the series apply to veteran business owners as well as those just starting out.
“It is very common for people to be operating their business for multiple years one way, and then they expand or make a change and it causes them to rethink how they have been doing things,” he said. “So the lessons we’re teaching in this series apply to them, just like if they were starting a new business.
“Once a business owner can get into a frame of mind of spotting issues and realizing they need to ask about them, that is their best way to keep growing.”
For that reason, Daly said he tries to learn more about the attendees at his session right from the start, so that he can tailor his presentation to them and their needs.
“I want to help people to grow, expand their business, and hopefully spend less on legal fees and risk than they would otherwise.”
Hubing says bringing in local experts like Daly is one of the things she likes most about the series.
“A lot of times, educational sessions will bring in big names from outside the community,” she said. “But I think that getting to use local experts to talk about things they know well, and connect them to others in their community, is really special.”
Continuing to grow
Taylor says the success of the program means that organizers are considering offering it to more communities. NewBoCo currently has partnership programs with other Iowa communities, including Sioux City, Fairfield and Mount Pleasant.
For now, though, organizers are waiting to see how the next few sessions go, and whether participants will be as enthusiastic as they were at the beginning of the year.
“It’s an experiment for us,” Taylor said. “So we’re excited to see how people continue to respond.”
The program is free, Those interested in Wednesday’s Cedar Rapids program can learn more at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/business-startup-speaker-series-tickets-707998993047
