Dakota Rising picks Melanie Hoke of the Burger Shack as a new 2013 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 second of these entrepreneurs that the Record inter- viewed was Melanie Hoke of the Burger Shack.
Hoke took over the operation of the Burger Shack three years ago from her mother, and founder of the business Marvel Hustead. Since it’s inception the Burger Shack has been a wildly popular destination for both locals, tourists and hunters.
“I wanted to be involved,” said Hoke. “I had heard nothing but good things about this program and I wanted make it happen. As things were the application process worked out well for me as I began it during our off sea- son. I had the opportunity to take the time to concentrate hard on the project of my business plan and put that much extra effort into it. The process is almost like a second job.”
Hoke said that when she received the acceptance call she responded with a very enthusiastic yes.
“There is no price to this process, really,” she said. “It’s an education about your business that you can’t buy. I had many goals going forward, I wanted to get more involved in the community and to grow my business in the community, and get my business to the full potential that I know it can obtain.”
Hoke said that nonetheless she was very nervous at her first cohort meetings and mentoring sessions.
“I felt like a kindergartener going to her first day of school,” she said. “Nervous and enthusiastic at the same time. But you could tell from the start that all the cohorts were committed to the program, that these people are committed to their businesses and want to help you be better at what you do. From my personal mentor to my cohort group, everyone is focused on problem solving. They take the time, and go step by step as you hammer out details.
“You get taken out of your com- fort zone. Other new fellows, people in family businesses and partnerships were taken to different groups as an example. Lisa, Cheryl and me were obviously separated, because even though we didn’t know each other well, people tend naturally to reach out to their neighbors. And it can be very hard to be vulnerable,” she explained.
“Often times owning a business can be kind of lonely. But the cohorts really support, be- cause they have usually worked through the same kinds of problems. They can give you perspective, and really assist you during your problem solving. They know how to listen and give you problem solving techniques to try. I went in thinking it was going to be about all business, it’s really about making you focus on you and what your goals are in your business, and why you are doing it.”
“As the process continues, you find yourself being able to trust, to open up and help you to view your problems and challenges in a different light. With that support you discover what you need to make you personally successful, because it starts with the individual,” she noted.
Hoke said that, in short she would recommend the program to any who are thinking about applying for three reasons.
“First the $10,000 for upgrading and expanding your business certainly doesn’t hurt,” she said.
“For me it will help as I build on expansions to the Burger Shack. We have plans for a pickup window for carry out orders and to add more seating, expanding and enclosing my patio, and adding new signs on the east and west ends of town. Now, though I’m really thankful for the $10,000, but the most important thing I’ve gotten out of this is a vision, to understand where I want to go with my business. Money can’t buy that. The most valuable thing is the vision.”
“The second thing is becoming a part of an entrepreneurship program, to be involved with a program with this great big scope,” Hoke said. “These people are positive and professional. People with a vision for growth in South Dakota. People who are driven and strive for a better tomorrow.”
“The third is a better understanding for me for my own place in that fellowship. I get the privilege of working with a lot of our community’s youth. For many of them, this is their first exposure to the job force,” Hoke said. “For two or three summers they work for me, and when they leave to go off to further schooling or to join the workforce, they leave with a better understanding of responsibility, time management, and money management and what the responsibility of working for somebody is.”
“I’m certainly hoping that by being in this program, I will be- come a better person, a better business person, and a better community leader. I would like to help the community grow and bring more businesses into Faulkton. That is also why I would recommend this program to anyone in Faulk County,” she said.
Watch for next week’s issue for the final installment of this series featuring Lisa Mueller.