Getting all the Kinks Worked Out as a 2013 Dakota Rising Fellow
October 15, 2013
Nine more South Dakota small business owners have been chosen as the 2013 Dakota Rising Entrepreneur Fellows. Three of them are right here in this area: Cheryl Schaefers, Lisa Mueller and Melanie Hoke.
The third of these entrepreneurs that the Record interviewed was Lisa Mueller of Mueller Therapeutic Massage and Mueller Properties. Mueller is a licensed massage therapist, who started her business in Iowa.
“When I moved back to Faulkton I was approached by members of the economic development board as well as some of the other entrepreneurs that had been involved in the Dakota Rising process,” Mueller said. “They all highly encouraged the system and the process. I was worried at first that I wouldn’t be eligible for the program, since one of the requirements is that you have to have operated your business for at least three years. I have been in business since 2005, but that was in Iowa before I transplanted my business back home. But the program’s chairwoman assured me that it wasn’t an issue.”
Mueller said that the application process, though challenging, was well worthwhile.
“Crafting a business plan is something I’ve done before as a business professional but this time it was more detailed and time consuming, requiring more man hours than I’d ever put in before. My goals for the future are and remain long term, to promote overall wellness for any age group and help them meet thoseneeds. Now I had to set out detailed plans to achieve those goals. The process was grueling at times. It made me step back from myself and look more objectively at my business, what I could do better. What my strengths and weaknesses were.”
Mueller said that the $10,000 grant didn’t hurt either.
“In my business, professional development of yourself is the most important thing you can do,” she said. “It’s all about education. Increasing my education increases the services I have to offer, adding new things in my box of tricks, makes my business more dynamic and profitable. The funding will help pay for the classes and accreditations to make me better at what I do.”
But, Mueller said, the 10K is only icing on the cake.
“My professional development, the business plan, and my cohort group are the real big prizes here,” she said.“The $10,000 will be extremely useful and is greatly appreciated, but the brain trust of the program is even more valuable. Mentoring with other South Dakota business owners who have similar businesses to mine, both in massage therapy and real estate, have given me amazing assistance.They know how to help because they’ve overcome similar challenges in the past, and were able to show me different ways of thinking about my problems.”
“With any business problem, there are always underlying factors, deeper issues and deeper problems,” she said. “Something beneath the surface, and anyone involved with Dakota Rising has learned how to find those issues, to dig deeper, to root out the problem and fix it. From there you can create a great growth strategy, and learn to play the long-term game. They have given me great advice that I don’t think I could have gotten anywhere else, from bookkeeping to property management.”
Mueller strongly recommends this program to any other local business.
“I am eager and excited to see what a year or two into the program will bring and where the exposure takes us,” she said. “Nothing is easy, it’s always work and this, like any thing else, is a get out of what you put in to it sort of thing. Still, everybody involved with this program is committed, everybody is there for a common purpose.”