TheBurg

20 | theburg | 02.16 L aunching a new business is like venturing on a cross-country road trip, but in pre- GPS days, without the luxury of Siri telling you your next move. Daunting, I know. With endless possibilities, it's overwhelming to think of what needs to happen between packing your bag and arriving at your final destination, or in business terms, fashioning an initial concept and flinging your doors open to gleaming sunshine and singing birds on opening day. Hats off to the brave souls who have navigated this uncertain terrain successfully. We spoke with three Harrisburg entrepreneurs with very different businesses to learn how they began and what advice they could offer to those just beginning their journeys. kNoW your AbILItIeS— AND ChALLeNgeS When Urban Churn owner Adam Brackbill decided to take a dip into the ice cream business, he did so with a family history of ice cream churning behind him and a "why not" mentality in front of him. "We had a churn at my grandmother's cottage, and, at every family gathering, my great uncle would make ice cream," said Brackbill, a serial entrepreneur who also co-owns the co-working space, StartUp and has his own Web development company. "I thought that there was nothing like that in Harrisburg. So, I started doing research and bought five small churns and began experimenting with flavors." His experience with ice cream made his start a bit easier, but it definitely did not eliminate the challenges. ese included a lack of funding and confusion around what type of licenses he needed, especially since he was venturing into the regulated terrain of manufacturing and selling food. All five original churns also broke, thanks to an overzealous owner experimenting with flavors. Like Brackbill, Ivan Black of Next Step Performance built his business off of what he already knew and loved—fitness. "I'm a life-long athlete, and I couldn't find anything else that fulfilled me," he said. A veteran trainer, Black had years of experience working the floor with clients, but not with the ins and outs of a business venture. "e business side of things has been the new challenge, but my best asset is my ability to work with people, and that's been paramount in opening a business," he said. To help overcome his perceived weaknesses, Black asked for help and advice. "I never held a management position with any of the big corps I've worked for," he said. "So, I talked to my coworkers and people who have held those management positions. I talked to them about the business management side of things, which was helpful." ose business items included navigating through payroll and learning how to add schedules to a website, he said. On the other hand, Ruth Prall, co-owner of note. Wine Bar and Bistro, built off of her base of expertise from a previous life as an accountant. She self-identifies as the "spreadsheet queen" and leveraged those skills to work through projections, projections and more projections. " is is definitely my first business," she said. "I don't want to say I don't recommend it, but I'd say being older and having gone through so many experiences put me in a much better position to do something like this because you just learn over time." Prall's prior career as a nurse also came in handy. "Being a registered nurse, you learn the experience of dealing with people and dealing with stressful situations," she said. "So, nothing could be as critical as the things I did before in that job. I could deal with somebody being unhappy with their meal." Given that philosophy, Prall confidently launched into her new venture. "I knew I wanted to run a business that had to do with hospitality, and, through the course of a couple of years, I was planning and thinking and testing other things out through traveling," she said. " e road kept narrowing until I came to this concept of a wine bar." kNoW the terrAIN As you may imagine, opening a business in Harrisburg is different from opening a business in Philadelphia or even Lancaster. e opportunity to create a unique business—one different from those around it—was something that all three entrepreneurs identified as a positive for Harrisburg. Brackbill led me through his thinking when he considered starting each of his three businesses. "For a co-working business, it made sense because there's no co-working spaces in Harrisburg," he said. "For ice cream, it made sense because there were no ice cream places in Harrisburg. For Web development, that was just because office space was very affordable in the city." Prall also felt that her concept of a wine bar and bistro was unique compared to other restaurants in Harrisburg. In addition, she felt an emotional attachment to the community that is her lifelong home. "I grew up in Harrisburg. I've never lived anywhere else," she said. "I was one of the complainers about how there's not much to do around here, but it wasn't until I moved into Midtown that I spent so much time in this area and realized what a fantastic neighborhood it was." is enthusiasm for the community is something Brackbill identified as a common thread among Harrisburg business owners. so yoU WanT To sTarT a BUsiness Harrisburg is a mecca for small, independent businesses. ree entrepreneurs share their experiences in the capital city. by AShLeIgh PoLLArt buSINeSS

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