Thursday, February 28, 2013
Our panel of experts are waiting in the comments to answer your questions about starting a business in the latest installment of Ask the Patch Pro.
It's time for another edition of Ask the Patch Pro, where each week we tackle a different topic and open up the comments section for questions. Our team of experts stop in to help you out and answer your questions. This week we're talking business. Thinking about starting your own business, but not quite sure where to start? Patch wants to help you find answers to your questions this week, but we needed some help. We've compiled a team of experts to help us out. Meet the experts: Have a question? Ask our experts in the comment section below!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Event Planner Chermeka Harvey says, "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!"
Raised in New Orleans by a family that loved planning themed celebrations, Chermeka Harvey has plenty of inspiration and experience to run her home-based O'Fallon event-planning business, C*Harvey's. On her company website, Harvey says that she can "create an experience to celebrate the moments that make life unique and special—whether it be a surprise candlelit dinner for two or a barbecue blowout with the family." Harvey offers her services to coordinate parties for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, showers, house warmings and wedding receptions, as well as corporate or business get-togethers, fundraisers and banquets. Harvey even offers pet parties and "I'm Single Again" divorce parties. The pet parties, which are called the "Fuzzy…
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The pharmacy is located at 2175 W Terra Lane in Peruque Crossing Shopping Center, at the border of O’Fallon and Lake St. Louis.
A local family-owned pharmacy is just one year away from celebrating 40-years of serving O’Fallon and Lake Saint Louis residents. When Sandy and Marlene Palens first opened Wharf Healthmart Pharmacy in Lake Saint Louis in November 1973, business wasn’t quite booming. “It was kind of slow going at first, there weren’t many houses out here,” Shanna Palens, vice president of marketing said. But as St. Charles County continued to grow, so did the family business. Today Wharf Pharmacy is located at 2175 W Terra Lane in Peruque Crossing Shopping Center, at the border of O’Fallon and Lake St. Louis, where they moved in 2006. The pharmacy has been in the family for almost 40 years. Shanna’s husband Andy decided to follow in his father Sandy’s …
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
No, there's not a catch. SCORE's experienced mentors will help you take your business to the next level.
When it comes down to it, behind just about every small business is an entrepreneur hoping to turn their passion into a paycheck. But, as many wise business advisers have noted: Hope is not a strategy. Business owners need support to turn dreams into reality. That's why Patch is pleased to announce a new partnership with SCORE, a nonprofit organization with 12,000 business experts nationwide who provide free mentoring to small business owners. The partnership makes sense because we believe that when local commerce grows, the whole community gets stronger. Patch already provides free listings for local businesses and other tools to help build local brands. Whether you're a 10-year-old jewelry designer or a 79-year-old who carves wood knives…
Friday, March 9, 2012
A local entrepreneur and a business consultant provides tips on getting free and low-cost business training.
If you’ve been following our series on how to start a small business in O’Fallon, you know that we’ve discussed ideas for choosing a business concept, including the development of unique business ideas and tips and suggestions for franchise opportunities. We’ve also discussed writing a business plan. This week, we’re spotlighting free and low-cost business training opportunities for O’Fallon small business owners. To get some guidance on where to find the best free and low-cost training for small business owners, we talked with entrepreneur Richard Shoaf and franchise consultant, Chris Coleman. Meet the Experts Shoaf, a St. Charles County resident, owns several businesses, including Safety Training and Consultations International (STCI), a…
Thursday, February 23, 2012
He will be at the James Beard House on March 20, Feast Magazine's The Feed blog reported.
- BUSINESS
- Nate Birt
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Thursday, February 23, 2012
St. Louis chef and restaurateur Jim Fiala will cook at New York City's James Beard House on March 20, Feast Magazine's The Feed blog reported. Fiala's restaurants include The Crossing in Clayton and Acero Ristorante in Maplewood. Quoting from The Feed: "He was invited by True Refrigeration of O'Fallon, Mo., to prepare a multi-course dinner for 50 invited home-design professionals." Read more about the trip and how Fiala became famous in the complete post on The Feed. More about Jim Fiala on Patch:
38.650168
-90.337167
The Crossing
7823 Forsyth Blvd, Saint Louis, MO
/articles/restaurateur-jim-fiala-gets-new-york-cooking-invitation
1428644
/locations/6429741
Friday, February 17, 2012
"Patch" rounds up tips and resources for prospective O'Fallon business owners.
If you’re considering opening a business in O’Fallon, you may be following our small business series. So far, we’ve covered the concept phase of starting your own business, including tips on choosing an original business idea and inside information on buying a franchise. Once you’ve decided what your business you'd like to open, it’s time to bring the concept into reality. The first step on that journey is to create a business plan, which can be simply defined as a written description of the steps you’ll take to launch and build your business. Why do I need a business plan? “Making a business successful depends on so many variables,” said Patty Brown, an economic development specialist for the City of O'Fallon. A business plan can serve …
Friday, February 10, 2012
“O’Fallon Patch” offers advice from local business owners.
When you’re considering starting a small business, the first step is to develop a business concept. Whether you choose to go the potentially safer route and open a franchise or you choose to think outside the box and open a unique business, the first thing you need is a good idea. Since we discussed buying a franchise last week, we’re going to focus on coming up with your own original business idea. We’re taking a little inspiration from some O’Fallon business owners who shared the different ways they were inspired to start their own businesses. The family business (with a side of passion) Susie Gentemann owns Susie G’s Specialty Cakes, a bakery she opened in 2000 on Highway K with the help of her father, Ernie Zimmermann. Zimmermann owned…
Thursday, January 26, 2012
O'Fallon Patch launches a new feature that will offer step-by-step guidelines for starting your own local small business.
If you’ve ever considered starting a small business, you might be doing yourself and the O’Fallon community a favor. How can opening a small business help you? While most small businesses don't become overnight successes, hard work and careful planning combined with a great idea can lead to serious financial success. Plus, opening your own business gives you an opportunity to do something you want to do. You can follow your passion, provide a service or product that the community needs--and you can be your own boss. How can opening a small business help the O’Fallon community? In addition to simply providing a new product or service for the community, small businesses are good for the economy. Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of all …
Friday, January 6, 2012
O'Fallon Patch talks to a local couple who built a successful family business, one bounce house at a time.
If you’ve ever been to a kid-friendly event around town that featured inflatable entertainment, you might have met Pam or Bill Dilallo, the owners and operators of O’Fallon-based All the Fun Inflatables, LLC. The Dilallos have been married for 27 years and they have two adult children. Pam Dilallo said that the whole family works together to make All the Fun Inflatables a successful business. “Our son Joe, now 24, and our daughter Jackie, 23, have both helped us since we started up the business and they are still helping us,” Dilallo said. Running their business, in addition to working other jobs, keeps the Dilallos on their toes. In addition to managing and maintaining the inflatables, they handle their own marketing, accounting and …
Robin Tidwell
8:25 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
I don't see the benefit of two separate checking accounts, just more fees for the bank and more work for you and your partner. As for the phone - sounds to me like more of an expense again. Even if Charter doesn't charge a fee for this, if you're using a cell as a business phone why would you want it to ring to your home? In my experience, most people answer a home phone with "hello" which, by … more ›