Starting a small business isn’t easy. It’s full of ups and downs and constantly running the risk of failure. But four local entrepreneurs have found a way to make it work, and shared their experience with the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Thursday.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Chamber’s weekly Luncheon at the Moose Family Lodge, brewers, bikers and farmers told the audience what motivates them and what it takes to open a business.<\/p>\n
“I like beer, that was most of it,” said Evan Wood, co-owner of Devil’s Club Brewing<\/a>. “We saw there was space for a tap-room focused brewery in Juneau.”<\/p>\n Perseverance and diligence are some of the most important qualities for a small business owner, Wood said. Wood and his business partners spent four years preparing their business, including renovating a 102-year-old building on Franklin Street downtown before opening in April 2018.<\/p>\n “There’s an amazing amount of points where if things go this way, you’ll go out of business,” he said. “I think diligence goes a long way in not failing at a business venture.”<\/p>\n [Alcohol board vote means huge ‘relief’ for local breweries, distilleries<\/a>]<\/ins><\/p>\n Ken Hill, owner of Juneau Bike Doctor<\/a>, talked about taking his past work experience and the skills needed for his business.<\/p>\n “I worked for Adventure Sports (a since-closed locally owned sporting goods store). As a young person you see things, and you think you can do it better,” Hill said, laughing. Hill opened his bicycle repair business in March 2018 and said he’s proud of what he’s accomplished. Success comes a whole new set of pressures, though.<\/p>\n “I didn’t want to fall short of the (public’s) expectation,” he said.<\/p>\n But Hill said he’s proud that he turned his passion into a business, a sentiment shared by Kaila Buerger, founder of Alaska Probiotics<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I’ve always had a passion for health,” Buerger said. “I was in Nicaragua and these little old ladies were making this carbonated beverage, and I said ‘I have to learn how to make this,’” she said. That beverage turned out to be kombucha, a fermented tea touted for its health benefits.<\/p>\n “I came back home and started learning about fermentation,” she said. “It’s super magical, fermentation is amazing.”<\/p>\n Buerger said she began brewing in her mother’s kitchen but soon moved to another space downtown more conducive to the sometimes messy process of fermenting kombucha.<\/p>\n “It’s only been the last couple of months that I feel like I’ve gotten my head above water,” she said. The most important things, Buerger said were, “Keeping your eye on what you’re doing. Maintaining the why behind your business.”<\/p>\n Meta Mesdag wanted to start a business she could share with her children.<\/p>\n “I was spending at least three days a week on my computer with my kids,” she said. “I wanted to create a business model that would allow them to be outside.”<\/p>\n