Thinking Bigger Business—January 2018

VOL. 27 // ISSUE 1 // JANUARY 2018

BIGGER LAW

Keep Your Workplace Harassment-Free

BIGGER GROWTH Meet Your Goals in 2018

PULLING THE RIGHT LEVERS Lever1 grew 6,560% in one year.

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KC BUSINESSES THINKING BIGGER

Congratulations to the 2018 Class of 25 Under 25 For a complete class list, see page 14.

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Entrepreneurial Patron Sponsors

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Heartland Seating Inc.

Burns & McDonnell Sprint Supplier Diversity

17th Annual 25 Under 25 Dinner & Gala—February 24, 2018 Tickets on Sale January 3—www.25Under25.com

Honoring those who make our community a better place.

We’re proud to help celebrate the 2018 class of 25 Under 25.

Congratulations, and thank you for being a small company making a big impact in Kansas City.

Offices Worldwide

CONTENTS

JANUA RY 2018 VOL. 27 // ISSUE 1

IN FOCUS

42 Construction Construction companies nationwide face a worker shortage. A local company shares how that may affect the local building boom.

D E PA R T M E N T S

07 The Bigger Picture 08 Legislative Briefs 10 Biz Bits 12 BIG | deals 14 25 Under 25 ® Updates 49 BIG | talk 50 BIG | shots F E AT U R E

28 Microlending A new program could help small businesses jumpstart growth.

OUTLOOK

20 KC Futures Our driving experience will change as the auto industry trends toward more autonomous and electric cars.

S M A R T S T R AT E G I E S

33 BIGGER | finance What you need to know about payroll garnishments

34 BIGGER | hr Find your next employee on social media

24 | KC ENTREPRENEURS HE ON T R E V CO

WE GROW’ Lever1 is the fastest-growing business in Kansas City and

36 BIGGER | growth Master the art of follow-through

Missouri. Its exponential growth comes from having the right planning, people and partnerships in place.

38 BIGGER | law Four steps to a harassment-free workplace

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THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

‘THEY GROW,

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B IG I N F LU E NC E

| 18

B IG S TA R T S

| 18

MADE TO LAST

17

C O M PA N Y T O WAT C H

19

KC M A D E I T

22

ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

2020 Adventures

Made in KC

Alan Gaylin, Bread & Butter Concepts

Find authentic travel experiences by connecting with local guides worldwide.

The retail showcase for many local makers is expanding.

From fast casual to fine dining, this CEO has a smorgasbord of experience.

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

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CONTENTS

JANUA RY 2018

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

The 12 Months of 2018

F

resh off the heels of the “12 Days

isn’t coming. If there’s a cause or a mission that you care about, get involved yourself.

of Christmas”—and the holiday hangover you’re probably still trying to shake—consider the

“12 Months of 2018.” In this version of the time-honored classic, you won’t be receiving physical gifts; you’ll be purging. But if you’re successful, you will have given yourself some of the best gifts ever.

January: Say “no” to the short-lived satisfaction that comes with making an easy decision. If what you’re really doing is kicking the harder decision down the road, then you’re creating an unstable foundation for the rest of the year.

February: Say “no” to small ball. Don’t be afraid to fail.

Think Big. March: Say “no” to accepting excuses—from your staff and stakeholders, but most of all from yourself.

April: Say “no” multi-tasking. Even the best multitaskers burn themselves out, make more mistakes and ultimately take longer to achieve their goals. Focus.

May: Say “no” to importing other people’s limitations.

Stop listening to the nay-sayers. We live and work in the backyard of the “Wizard of Oz.” Take a lesson from

July: Say “no” to communicating just with Facebook friends. Yeah, it’s July and humid outside, but that’s not an excuse for relying on social media and email to communicate. Go out and meet some new people!

August: Say “no” to magic-bullet thinking. The year is more than halfway gone. If you’re not where you want to be, you’re going to have to take an honest look at what YOU need to do to turn things around.

September: Say “no” to doing things out of a sense of obligation. The average American lives about 78 years.

That’s just over 28,000 days. If you had $28,000 to spend in your lifetime, you’d be very frugal. Why aren’t we with our days? Why do so many of us continue to spend those hours on things that no longer interest us, that zap us, that keep us from doing things we really want to do?

October: Say “no” to trying to walk through closed doors.

They keep you from seeing where the real opportunities are.

November: Say “no” to micromanaging. The freedom you’ll discover is amazing.

thing that’s important to you. I heard Erin Brockovich

December: Say “no” to trappings. During the holidays especially, it’s easy to get caught up in a hustle and bustle that you really don’t enjoy. Consider what really brings you happiness and peace, and focus on those.

speak recently. She kept reminding us that Superman

Happy New Year to each of you!

that story: We already have the power within ourselves.

June: Say “no” to waiting for others to take care of some-

Ke lly S can lon

// Publisher // kscanlon@iThinkBigger.com

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

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L E G I S L AT I V E B R I E F S

FEDERAL Net Neutrality Regulations Repealed In December, the Federal Communication Commission voted to approve the “Restoring Internet Freedom” order advanced by Chairman Ajit Pai. The order rolled back regulations, often referred to as net neutrality, that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or selectively charging based on content or service level. The FCC will no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery in the same way as utitlities such as phone service.

SBA Will Study WBE Participation in Large Government Contracts On Dec. 12, President Donald Trump signed into law the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes a provision directing the Small Business Administration to study small business participation on Multiple Award Contracts.

The SBA study is in response to a Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) report revealing that women small business owners are being shut out of large government contracts.

The provision directs the SBA to address concerns that women-owned small business participation is underrepresented in Multiple Award Contracts, the kind of contracts many federal agencies favor because they create a pre-approved list of businesses that can supply unlimited goods or services during a specified period of up to 10 years.

The study also will examine the participation of other socio-economic categories of small businesses, including service-disabled veteranowned small businesses, those participating in the Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) program and participants in the 8(a) program.

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FLIPPING FANATICS

Life Happens, But It Doesn’t Squelch Entrepreneurial Spirit hile pursuing an engineering degree at the University of Missouri—Kansas City, Kalon Breckenridge received a devastating and life-altering diagnosis: leukemia. After completing years of treatment, Breckenridge began his first entrepreneurial venture in his mid-30s. He launched a candy vending company to help raise money for others dealing with blood cancers in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

W

From Vending to Real Estate

Breckenridge was so inspired after reading the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” that he turned his energy from vending to real estate. Breckenridge dove right in and began rehabbing homes across the Kansas City area in 2012. His business, Flipping Fanatics, LLC, is constantly searching for opportunities to renovate homes and improve residential areas around the city.

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THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

Breckenridge has inquisitive four-year-old boy/girl twins and an energetic two-year-old son.

Spending time together with his kids is among his highest priorities, as he knows how important time is. Breckenridge enjoys reading books and encourages anyone who has a dream to make the step forward to chase it and make it become a reality.

Kalon Breckenridge was born and raised in Kansas City.

He married his high school sweetheart, who is also from Kansas City. Today, Breckenridge is a successful real estate entrepreneur and is currently passionate about pursuing endeavors in the real estate and economic development space throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Contact Information:

Founder & CEO: Kalon Breckenridge Email: kaybee0128@gmail.com Mobile: (816) 808.5398

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MID-CONTINENT PUBLIC LIBRARY

Close the Book on New Year’s Resolutions

Three Ways Your Library Can Boost Your Business in 2018 I

n the business community, we’re continually working toward goals—sales targets, customer satisfaction ratings, profit margins, etc. So when the New Year rolls around, nothing dramatically changes. We’re still striving to reach our perennial mile markers, and occasionally we’re closer to achieving them or to moving the bar a bit higher. For businesses looking for ways to move the needle even further this year, there is one resource that is often overlooked but greatly undervalued— your local library.

As a vibrant hub of education, innovation and community conversation, Mid-Continent Public Library—the largest library system in the Kansas City area with 31 branches and a footprint that spans three counties—and its Square One Small Business Services division have been gaining a reputation as a go-to resource for local businesses.

Funded by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Library’s Square One team is comprised of several business specialists and a business librarian who meet with local entrepreneurs to offer recommendations on free resources and services (both within the Library and outside it) that can help take a business venture to the next level. The team also regularly partners with other local organizations to offer free, educational business programming on everything from finance and marketing to human resource management and how to grow clientele. Here are just a few ways Mid-Continent Public Library and Square One can help you boost your business all year-round:

Continuing Education 1 Free An educated workforce is a powerful workforce, and staying up to date on the latest techniques and trends in your industry is a surefire way to position yourself and your employees as the best and the brightest. MCPL’s online resources like Lynda.com, Universal Class, and Gale Courses offer you and your employees the chance to take free courses on a vast range of topics—from tutorials on using graphic design platforms like Adobe Illustrator to classes on “Predictive Customer Analytics.”

See the full list of resources at mymcpl.org/online-learning, or set up a time to speak with a Square One business specialist for custom recommendations.

Connections 2 New Networking is a big part of the business world, and having

Square One holds free Business Bootcamps several times a year.

and failure. Square One’s business specialists regularly work with chambers of commerce, economic development centers and other organizations across the metro. They leverage these connections to match entrepreneurs with the resources they need to thrive.

Looking to meet other local business owners on your own?

Attend one of Square One’s business bootcamps to exchange cards and create new relationships. The next Small Business Bootcamp will be held on January 26 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Celebration Station in Zona Rosa and will have an emphasis on usable technology. Visit mymcpl.org/SquareOne to learn more and register.

Savings 3 Financial Need a meeting space? Try your local MCPL branch. Many of them are equipped with smaller study rooms as well as larger community spaces that can be reserved for private functions.

Use the Library’s free online resources in place of traditionally costly services. LawDepot, for example, lets users customize contracts and other legal documents like operating and partnership agreements, employment contracts and more to avoid exorbitant legal fees.

Looking to improve your business plan in order to acquire additional funding? Online resources like Small Business Builder and Statista offer templates and suggestions to create break-even analyses, and they supply statistics and infographics on consumer markets and trends.

Visit mymcpl.org/SquareOne to find additional resources and programs and to schedule an appointment with a Square One business specialist.

the right connections can mean the difference between success SPONSORED CONTENT

BIZ BITS

AltCap Lauds Pitch Contest Winners An area organization that helps small businesses gain access to capital has announced the winners of its recent pitch contest.

The AltCap Your Biz competition took place during Global Entrepreneurship Week and was put on by AltCap, a Kansas City community development financial institution.

It was open to Kansas City small for-profit businesses and startups looking to grow.

Maker Village, a community woodworking and metalworking shop, won first place.

The business offers open shops, classes, prototyping and more to commercial entities and hobbyists. Maker Village won $10,000 and a scholarship for AltCap’s Workshop in Business Opportunities. It plans to scale up by purchasing more equipment to make available to the community.

The second-place winner was fashion designer Whitney Manney. She earned $5,000 and a WIBO scholarship to help expand her business.

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THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

In third place was Makefully, a studio focused on research and development of innovative educational technologies.

Makefully plans to open a studio in the spring where students can work on projects and receive mentorship. It won $2,500 and a WIBO scholarship.

Applications Open for Next E-Scholars Cohort E-Scholars, a program for up-and-coming entrepreneurs, is taking applications for its next class.

Up to 35 companies will be welcomed into the next cohort, which begins meeting Jan. v 20. Participants will receive training, mentoring and other support to help them launch their businesses.

The E-Scholars program runs over the course of 14 Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The program is open to UMKC students and community members. Apply online at go.umkc.edu/e-scholars.

KC Chosen for Google Transportation Initiative The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce announced a new partnership with Google along with its new Big 5 initiative at its 130th annual dinner Nov. 21.

Kansas City is one of a handful of cities worldwide picked by Google to be part of an Urban Mobility Platform pilot project.

That dovetails with the chamber’s new Big 5 goal: Building KC’s innovative regional transportation solutions.

More details about the Google partnership will be announced in January, chamber CEO Joe Reardon said.

K-State to Offer Sales Major Starting next fall, Kansas State University will offer a major in one of the most essential business skills: sales.

K-State’s program for professional strategic selling will be the only one of its kind in Kansas and only the 19th in the United States.

The degree is an outgrowth of K-State’s National Strategic Selling Institute (NSSI), which currently offers a certificate in professional strategic selling. The institute attracted 180 students this fall, up from 14 in 2013, when it launched. The Sales Education Foundation has called the NSSI one of the best programs of its kind in the country.

What distinguishes NSSI has been its focus on real-world, experiential education— graduates are prepared for just about anything you can experience in an entry-level sales job. So far, the NSSI has achieved a 100 percent placement rate for its graduates.

Kansas Governor Seeks Exporter of the Year Do you know a Kansas-based small business that’s making big strides in international markets? Nominate that company for the 2018 Governor’s Exporter of the Year Award.

The Kansas Department of Commerce will recognize the winner in June 2018 during Business Appreciation Month.

The nomination deadline is 5 p.m. Jan. 26, and self-nominations are welcomed.

Nominees will be judged on several factors, including the number of countries they export to, how many jobs they’ve added as a result of export growth, partnerships with international distributors and more.

The award winner will receive a site visit from the governor, membership in the Kansas International Trade Coordinating Council and increased opportunities for publicity and networking.

Download nomination forms at www.kansascommerce.gov/exporter.

Kansas Taps Director of Business and Education Innovation Diane M. DeBacker is taking over one of the most important jobs in Kansas: helping prepare the workforce of the future.

In December, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback named DeBacker as executive director of business and education innovation at the Kansas Commerce Department.

DeBacker comes to the state Commerce Department from RTI International, a nonprofit research institution with a global reach.

As director of education research at RTI, she built research partnerships with K-12 schools and education policy organizations.

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BIG | deals

WINNERS EXPANSION

Redivus Health Partners with KU Health System Local startup Redivus Health has launched a partnership with the University of Kansas Health System to help hospitals and EMS teams across Kansas quickly diagnose and treat cardiac arrest, stroke and sepsis.

Redivus Health is the creator of a “mobile clinical decision support platform”—an app that guides medical professionals, step by step, as they respond to critical situations.

Thanks to its University of Kansas Health System partnership, Redivus will make the platform available to Kansas hospitals and EMS providers through the Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative, a KU-based program that seeks to improve care at rural hospitals.

“Our rural health system partners helped develop the protocols and tools to implement evidence-based guidelines,” said Dr. Robert Moser, executive director Kansas Heart and Stroke Collaborative. “It is our hope that the Redivus application will become a tool needed for rural health providers to utilize the right care at the right time.”

The partnership is an expansion of a pilot program that launched in April. Early response was so positive that officials decided to make Redivus Health’s subscription service more widely available. The University of Kansas Health System is telling its members first, but the partnership is open to all Kansas health providers.

Kansas City Breweries Co. Plans to Ramp Up Production Kansas City Breweries Co. is planning to build a huge new brewery and beverage12

THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

A WINNER

production facility near Interstate 435 and Truman Road.

Once it’s up and running, the complex— which will occupy a former Nestlé Carnation plant in Kansas City’s Blue Valley Industrial area—will have the ability to produce 100,000 barrels of beer in a year.

The company, led by CEO Terri Bricker, also will bottle private-label soft drinks, energy drinks and other beverages for beverage, grocery and convenience stores.

Kansas City Breweries Co. is the supplier of KC Lite, KC Malt and KC Lager beer to local grocery and liquor stores.

The business is a successor to KCB Distributing, a company that started in 2012 and launched the KC Lager and KC Lite brands.

Branding

Design

Digital

will allow the business to increase production, expand into wholesale and do more business in the wedding and event markets.

Image360 Kansas City Midtown Doubles Space Image360 Kansas City Midtown

has relocated to double its square footage, from 1,700 square feet to 4,000 square feet. Its new workspace at 1140 W. Cambridge Circle Drive in Kansas City, Kan., provides better visibility and improves production capabilities, said owner Charles Payne.

The company has four employees and is a member of Alliance Franchise Brands network.

t.Loft Opens in The Village t.Loft, a tea and juice bar, has opened a new location in Prairie Village.

The Prairie Village Café is at 3924 W. 69th Terrace in The Village shopping center. It’s the fifth location for the health-focused retailer.

Doughnut Lounge Expands Metro-wide

Doughnut Lounge is celebrating two years in

business with rapid expansion.

The specialty shop, which first opened in Westport in 2015, announced new locations opening this year in North Kansas City and Overland Park. It also added a food truck that’s available for events.

The shop in Downtown Overland Park will be Doughnut Lounge’s first location in Kansas and will serve hot breakfast items, coffee and a full bar. The North Kansas City location features a much larger kitchen, shared with Kansas City Baking Co., which

Quay Coffee Opens Second Location A locally owned coffee shop has opened its second location at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Quay Coffee will serve hot drinks, breakfast burritos and pastries at the north end of the Bloch Building. The shop will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and museum members will receive a discount at this location.

“Quay Coffee is a multi-roaster, which means we sample coffees roasted by companies across the country,” said Cory Stipp, owner. “We choose the coffees we’re excited about, so we always have a variety of unique offerings.”

Quay Coffee’s original location in the River Market remains open. The shop takes its name from the former name of the area, which was River Quay (pronounced “key”).

BIG | deals

FINANCING

ON THE MOVE C3 Names New President Creative Consumer Concepts (C3) has named

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Lenexa Auto Title Company Acquired Lenexa’s Metro Title Services has been acquired by MetroGistics Holdings. Metro Title Services, which has 60 area employees, is a national leader in title and registration services to fleet and auto dealers. MetroGistics, based in St. Louis, creates vehicle shipping solutions. The acquisition will help the company streamline the process for buyers, especially of fleet vehicles.

“We recognized best-in-class vehicle compliance services as a major market need and understand that bringing in a world-class provider like Metro Title Services would bring value to our clients and partners,” said William Billiter, CEO of MetroGistics Holdings.

Staffing Kansas City Wishes You a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

We look forward to another great year of providing Kansas City companies with “Top Performers!”

Start the New Year off right and call your employment partners Marie, Shelley, Michelle, Ashley and Roses

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RiskGenius Brings Onboard Big Client, Nearly $3M in Funding RiskGenius closed a $2.95 million series A extension round in October that also resulted in a huge enterprise contract.

QBE Ventures, based in Australia, led the investment. The RiskGenius Platform, which uses artificial intelligence to streamline insurance policy information, will be implemented at QBE North America in 2018.

RiskGenius Platform helps to standardize insurance policy language, which can help companies streamline and roll out products.

The Overland Park company, formerly known as ClaimKit, is led by CEO Chris Cheatham.

50-Year-Old Business Ends Operations John’s Space Age Donuts in Downtown Overland Park closed in December after a 50-year run.

The store was founded in 1967 by John Taylor Sr. and his wife, Velma. His sons

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Rx Savings Solutions Raises $18.4M Overland Park’s Rx Savings Solutions closed 2017 strong, with a large investment round, more users and the rollout of a new product.

Rx Savings Solutions has created a platform that lets users find the lowest-cost alternative for their prescriptions. Selffunded employers and health plans subscribe to the service and, in turn, make it available to their workers and members.

By January, about 2 million people will be using Rx Savings Solutions, up from 100,000 in 2015. Clients include American Century Investments, Quest Diagnostics and Berkshire Hathaway Media Group, among others.

In November, the company raised $18.4 million in new funding, which it will invest in sales, marketing and increased functionality for its product. This round of funding was led by Omaha-based McCarthy Capital.

And with its new Contact Prescriber feature—in beta on Rx Savings Solutions’ desktop and mobile app—customers have to make only a single click to request a switch to a medicine recommended by the platform.

The goal was to remove another barrier in the user experience. With Contact Prescriber, customers don’t have to call any changes into their pharmacist or doctor’s office. Rx Savings Solutions’ platform will do it for them.

Jennifer Loper as its new president. She will oversee day-to-day activities at the Overland Park marketing and design agency.

Previously, Bob Cutler, who founded the firm in 1987, filled the roles of president and CEO. He will remain CEO. The agency works with restaurant, retail and hospitality brands to produce engaging marketing campaigns, focusing on families and children. C3 employs 45 people.

Rodney and John Jr., along with John Jr.’s wife, Brenda, took over operations in the 1970s.

John Jr. told the media he had tried to sell the shop but negotiations fell through.

TY-FI

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Class of 2016

913-663-JOBS (5627) www.staffingkc.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

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2 5 U N D E R 2 5 ® U P DAT E S

Shatto Home Delivery Expands Footprint, Offerings Shatto Home Delivery, a spinoff of Shatto Milk (Class of 2006), is offering an expanded

lineup of products to more communities.

Fruits and vegetables have been added to its menu, and customers can order from-scratch meals from Chef Carey Weir

and the Kearney Culinary Academy. The meals can be ready to eat in minutes.

The company’s trucks now travel to Independence, Blue Springs, Lake Quivira, Greenwood and the Tiffany Springs area of the Northland, bringing the total to 18 communities served by Shatto Home Delivery. The service launched in late 2015 with the goal of bringing back the concept of the neighborhood milkman.

“We are super excited to be serving more communities and offering customers more options,” said Matt Shatto, co-founder of his family’s Osborn-based dairy and founder of the delivery service. “Our customers asked for fresh product and prepared local meals, and we are now providing them.”

Shatto Home Delivery’s lineup includes more than 650 products produced in the Kansas City area.

25 Under 25 Winners Announced ‘Tis the season for celebrations, and 25 area small businesses have one more reason to celebrate.

An independent panel of judges has selected the honorees for Thinking Bigger Business Media Inc.’s 25 Under 25 Awards. These are Kansas City-area for-profit businesses that have been in operation for at least three years and have fewer than 25 full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees.

The purpose of this award is to recognize outstanding small businesses, which are critical to the economy: 89.4 percent of U.S. businesses have 20 or fewer employees, according to 2014 U.S. Census data.

For this award, companies are judged on financial stability, ability to overcome adversity and challenges, community involvement, distinguishing or defining characteristics, and company vision.

Here are the winners of the 17th annual 25 Under 25 Awards: » Adams Dairy Bank » Cherry » Code Koalas » DMC Service, Inc. » Freedom Interiors » FSC, Inc. » Good Energy Solutions, Inc. 14

THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

Strata Takes Part in WWI Memorial Restoration Project Strata Architecture + Preservation (Class of

2017) took part in a project for the National World War I Monument and Museum in Kansas City that included site improvements and exterior rehabilitation.

Working with Gould Evans, Strata prepared construction documents and performed construction administration services for the

» Happy Food Co. » High Prairie Landscape Group » Kansas City Foot and Ankle | Heel Pain Center of Kansas City » KC Crew » KC Restoration, LLC » Meridian Business Services LLC » Midwest Sport Productions » Morgan Miller Plumbing » MTI Events » Network Innovations Inc. » Notes to Self » Partners N Promotion » Pioneer Music » Prineta » SureHosting Internet Solutions, Inc. » Sydney’s Pet Spa » Thirsty Coconut » Wide Awake Films

A pair of entrepreneurs also will be honored at the event. This year’s honorees for the Entrepreneurial Legacy Award will be Joe and Judy Roetheli, founders of S&M NuTec LLC and creators of Greenies pet treats.

Honorees will be recognized at a black-tie dinner and gala Feb. 24 at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown Muehlebach Tower. Tickets go on sale Jan. 1. For tickets and other information about the gala and awards, visit www.25under25.com.

project. The architecture firm also worked with the museum and Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation to develop a long-term exterior maintenance manual as part of the city’s upkeep of the site.

Strata, located in Kansas City, was founded

by Susan Richards Johnson, senior principal, who is an expert in historic preservation and architecture.

Corridor Offers New Resource Guide Corridor (Class of 2011) launched a

resource called Hospice Medical Director Quickflips. The reference guide aims to assist hospice medical directors on topics such as eligibility factors, levels of care, disease trajectory and frailty, and more.

Corridor serves as a business partner in operations, coding and regulatory compliance to providers of hospice, home health and home care. It is based in Overland Park and is a portfolio company of HealthEdge Investment Partners.

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ECCO Select CEO Earns IT Award Jeanette Prenger, CEO of ECCO Select (Class of 2003), earned a HITEC 100 award from the Hispanic IT Executive Council. The award recognizes the most influential and notable Hispanic professionals in information technology.

Prenger was in the minority of honorees representing a small business—her peers on the list included representatives of Microsoft, Facebook, Visa, AT&T and other large corporations, including Marcelo Claure, CEO of Overland Park-based Sprint.

ECCO Select is a talent acquisition and advisory consulting company based in Kansas City.

Expanding? Adding associates?

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Hilary’s Eat Well Product Earns Healthy Food Distinction Hilary’s Eat Well (Class of 2014) earned

distinction for one of its packaged meals.

Hilary’s Fresh Greek Millet Medley made the list of the 100 healthiest foods of 2017, as chosen by the editors of Eat This, Not That! The editors described the list as “the best foods that graced grocery stores this year.” Hilary’s, based in Lawrence, produces pre-packaged, allergen-free foods.

Want to

GIVE BACK Looking for something to do?

Bring your talents to SCORE and volunteer. You will share your skills and expertise helping small businesses achieve success. Come work with other enthusiastic professionals.

Join us at KansasCity.Score.org

RestaurantLink Moves to New HQ RestaurantLink (Class of 2007), a food

service management company founded in 1995, has moved to a new headquarters at 12101 W. 110th St., Suite 300, Overland Park. The company handles service and supplier relations as well as billing and issue resolution for restaurants of all sizes. It is part of private equity firm ProAirus.

(816) 235-6675 SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

15

BIG INFLUENCE | THE ROASTERIE

‘Soul Searching’ Helps The Roasterie Narrow Charitable Focus Focus on children drives company’s philanthropic efforts Like many business owners, Danny O’Neill is committed to giving back to the community. But the founder of The Roasterie admits “it’s just not feasible” to help everyone.

Still, he and his employees have donated products and volunteer time to a variety of efforts since he founded the company in 1993. He says the spirit of giving is ingrained in Kansas City.

“It’s truly a privilege to be in a city that’s focused on philanthropy,” O’Neill said. “Community involvement isn’t an option for us, it’s a way of doing business.”

As the company has matured, O’Neill said, “Team Roasterie has done some serious soul searching and landed on the cause that tugs our heartstrings every time: children. They are the future.”

The focus of the company’s efforts are Variety Children’s Charity of Greater Kansas City and Children’s Mercy Kansas City.

A vacation brainstorming session led O’Neill to his most recent philanthropic endeavor: a six-day ride to the Arctic Circle on his BMW R1200GS dual sport motorcycle for Variety KC, which provides adaptive equipment to children with developmental disabilities. O’Neill recalled a conversation with the organization’s executive director, Deb Weibrecht.

“Deb explained that the world is pretty much built for healthy kids without mobility issues. Her organization works with kids who live in a world that isn’t built for them,” he said.

O’Neill’s goal was to raise enough money to purchase 10 custom adaptive bikes, which cost about $2,500 each and are not covered by insurance. The response was humbling, he said.

“The awesome people of Kansas City donated enough that Deb could order 12 bikes for kids who might not otherwise have a chance to experience the exhilaration of riding a bike,” he said. “Seeing the kids’ faces when we presented them with their very own bikes last October reinforced to me—and Team Roasterie—the power of being charitable.”

16

THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

In October 2017, Variety KC kids were presented with 12 custom-fit adaptive bikes purchased with funds raised by Danny O’Neill’s epic motorcycle ride to the Arctic Circle in August. (Photo courtesy of Haley Photography)

C O M PA N Y T O WAT C H K C

2020 ADVENTURES

E N T R E P R E N E U R S

(Photo courtesy of Austin Walsh Studios)

Global Adventures, Local Expertise 2020 ADVENTURES ASSISTS CLIENTS WITH AUTHENTIC OVERSEAS JOURNEYS LED BY LOCAL GUIDES. ENTREPRENEUR

Spencer Carlson C O M PA N Y I N F O R M AT I O N

2020 Adventures 1828 Walnut St., Fifth Floor Kansas City, MO 64108 (816) 986-7538 www.2020adventures.com TYPE OF BUSINESS

All-in-one travel company that books custom overseas itineraries YEAR FOUNDED

2015 E M P L OY E E S

3

ravel is simply a journey between points.

2020 Adventures is more focused on the experience its clients have after reaching a destination.

Founder Spencer Carlson developed the concept for this hyperfocused travel company based on his own global travels.

“I graduated from the University of MissouriKansas City, sold all of my stuff and took an around-the-world trip,” Carlson said.

He traveled to 30 countries on a budget.

“I found travel hacks, couch surfed and worked on farms for lodging and food,” Carlson said. “My best experiences were with locals.”

Now married and a father of a 6-month-old daughter, Carlson channeled his enthusiasm for authentic travel experiences and founded 2020 Adventures. The firm distinguishes itself from other travel agencies and online sites that offer “cookie-cutter tours.”

“We connect people with a local guide and experts,” Carlson said. “The value proposition of 2020 is the authenticity of experience at the destination—to be able to go to Barcelona and have real tapas as a food experience.”

Its website allows customers to book a range of trips, including cheap getaways, once-in-a-lifetime honeymoons and explorations of Paris, Greece, Ireland and other idyllic places.

Originally, Carlson created custom itineraries

T

for each client. He built his own website and “hustled” on his own to launch the startup company.

Early on, he operated 2020 at BetaBlox, a local startup accelerator, and acquired helpful support there.

His biggest challenge was the time-consuming, custom client service, which was hard to scale.

Gradually, he built a network of local guides and resources to better provide unique itineraries. He also streamlined offerings to simplify the back-end administration and customer booking experience.

After Carlson won a $25,000 grant from Digital Sandbox last summer, he hired a developer to upgrade his website.

The revamped site, launching in January, will make it “easier to look at itineraries built by us and our experts and customize them,” Carlson said.

“You can select your lodging and travel options and book it in one place. You spend less time researching online at multiple places.”

Carlson describes his target audience as Americans ages 25 to 50 who have disposable income and seek “experiential” overseas travel.

Whether it’s a honeymoon in Costa Rica, an immersive excursion to Japan, a girls’ trip to Belize or a globe-trotting escapade in 22 days, 2020 Adventures simplifies how such adventures are booked and leaves more time to pack the bags.

Pete Dulin is a freelance writer based in Kansas City, Mo. www.petedulin.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

17

AT A G L A N C E K C

E N T R E P R E N E U R S

BIG STARTS | BELLWETHR

MADE TO LAST | MCGONIGLES’S MARKET

Creating New ROI With AI Bellwethr helps businesses prevent customer churn.

COMPANY NAME // Bellwethr ENTREPRENEURS // Matt Moody and Joshua Barnhart WHAT THEY DO //

Bellwethr develops artificial intelligence software for businesses and has two core products.

“UTurn is a customer retention platform that identifies the risk of customer churn, or customers at risk of exiting a business,” sales director Joshua Barnhart said. Capturing this data allows the business to take action and prevent the exit. The other product, Bellwethr POV, is a video analytics product that lets business owners learn more about those visiting their business, including demographics, repeat and new visits, and other metrics.

THE INSPIRATION //After placing in a data science competition,

the Bellwethr team realized their ideas could compete in the marketplace, too. “It became clear that machine learning was the future of business,” Barnhart said. “With Bellwethr, we tackled blind spots for most businesses where machine learning shines: classification in video and anomaly detection.” In its first year, the company has grown to seven employees with no outside investment.

WHAT’S NEXT // A Customer Risk Score API that allows clients

to integrate risk-scoring into CRMs and customer support tools.

“This has a measurable impact on our clients’ churn rates and improves customer success metrics,” Barnhart said.

HOW TO CONTACT // Bellwethr // 1828 Walnut St., Kansas City,

MO 64108 // (785) 787-2493 // www.bellwethr.com

Where Quality is a Cornerstone McGonigle’s sticks to principles in a changing landscape.

When McGonigle’s Market opened in 1951, it operated on what were then the outskirts of Kansas City. But Bill McGonigle—a World War II veteran turned enterprising food salesman—was already building an operation that would endure for decades.

To distinguish his neighborhood grocery store from the era’s emerging supermarket concept, McGonigle specialized in high quality meats and perishable goods. His son Mike assumed store management in 1983 and bought the business three years later when Bill retired.

“My father had the foresight to specialize and offer a high level of service,” said Mike McGonigle, president and owner. “We went from a corner grocer to specializing in meat, seafood, produce, catering and a gift program, where we ship steaks nationwide.”

McGonigle’s premium beef, pork, poultry and game meats remain the cornerstone of the store’s reputation in a competitive marketplace. “We maintain a high level of quality in a changing industry,” Mike said.

A 30-year industry veteran, Mike still enjoys his work. “If you’re not having fun doing it, then maybe it’s not worth it.”

18

THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

KC MADE IT K C

MADE IN KANSAS CITY

E N T R E P R E N E U R S

Made Men THE TEAM BEHIND MADE IN KANSAS CITY IS MAKING BIG MOVES IN 2018. ade in Kansas City carries products that are either designed or made right here in the metro.

“We represent what’s around creatively in our city,” said Keith Bradley, who owns the company with brother-in-law Thomas McIntyre and Tyler Enders, McIntyre’s high school buddy.

“We wanted to bring locally made goods out to the suburbs of Kansas City and try to change people’s buying habits by supporting local.”

M

A POP-UP THAT STILL ENDURES

Made in Kansas City began as a temporary, pop-up operation.

“It started off with Tyler helping a friend get some of her products into some area boutiques. Then some other folks asked him to do it as well,” Bradley said. “Based on the initial success from that, things fell into place our first pop-up shop.”

McIntyre’s connections in commercial real estate helped them find a spot in Prairiefire.

Shortly thereafter, McIntyre opened the Briarcliff location. By early 2016, Made in Kansas City was in its third location at Corinth Square.

All three Made in Kansas City locations carry an eclectic mix of products that Bradley and his partners have sourced.

“We buy wholesale from the majority of our makers and do very little consignment

deals,” Bradley said. “One of my main roles is scouting artists and establishing relationships.”

In 2015, Made in Kansas City offered products from 15 makers. Today, that number is over 200 in its retail stores. The Made in Kansas City website has additional items.

When sourcing products for Made in Kansas City, Bradley uses a few basic criteria.

“We always look for quality,” he said.

“A lot of these companies offer high-quality products that have succeeded before we existed.

We also look to see whether the product being offered is something we don’t already have in our shops, and does it have a ‘wow’ factor?”

The product mix includes a little bit of everything: coffee, apparel, artwork, jewelry, barbecue sauce and more.

Though none of the founders had a retail background before Made in Kansas City, they’ve made some very savvy moves, such as developing a relationship with Hallmark.

“We started to partner with them toprovide local offerings in one location, and it has developed into providing products in 13 area stores,” Bradley said, including Hallmark and HMK stores at Country Club Plaza and Crown Center.

LIKE ETSY FOR KC

Last spring, Made in Kansas City launched its new online portal: Made in Kansas City Marketplace (mikcmarket.com).

“It’s like Etsy, where makers can upload the products and control the inventory, and we handle the marketing,” Bradley said. “It’s

makers we want to support, but we just don’t have space for in our brick-and-mortar stores.”

The new portal features about 100 different makers and over 1,000 more items. Made in Kansas City takes a percentage of sales from purchases on the site.

“It’s doing really well,” Bradley said of the Marketplace. “It is one of our growth areas as a company, but we have been pleased with its initial success.”

NEW CONCEPT BREWING

In the meantime, Made in Kansas City continues its physical expansion. During the first quarter, Made in Kansas City will move into new headquarters in the Crossroads.

The 4,800-square-foot facility will include offices on the top floor and retail and warehouse space on the bottom level.

The company plans to open another location in the first quarter with a new store at 1114 Baltimore in downtown Kansas City, Mo. “It’s a little different concept … and it’s our first step into the food and beverage arena,” Bradley said. “It is a Made in KC Café with a coffee shop and retail sprinkled throughout. … Later on, we will do a bar-taproom in the back featuring local coffees, food and drink offerings.”

Moving into the New Year, Bradley said he and his partners would continue to have an eye toward expansion.

“We are doing more and more business and corporate gifts that we are excited about,” Bradley said. “We are always open to exploring new opportunities.”

Ruth Baum Bigus is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

19

KC FUTURES

( by Kate Leibsle )

The Road Forward THE FUTURE OF KC TRANSPORTATION HOLDS OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES. t might be hard to see, believe and communication and Wi-Fi-enabled vehicles, endure, but the myriad orange cones etc.—for Kansas City to continue its developin the metropolitan area are a sign of great ment as a Smart City. progress for Kansas City’s transportation future.

Younger people living downtown want This won’t come as news to anyone, but to use public transportation. And they want we Kansas Citians are very automore pedestrian-friendly ways of mobile-centric, said Kevin getting around, Honomichl says.

Honomichl, president Right now, Kansas City’s public of BHC Rhodes, a leading transportation options aren’t design firm on transporrobust, although the streetcar tation projects throughout and private ride-sharing the region. options are changing the “We have the highest game significantly. lane miles per capita in the With more than 1 million United States,” Honomichl riders annually, the streetcar said. “But our infrastructure is Ke is becoming more mainstream, l vin Honomich pretty good, and our congestion but it’s still limited t0 a 2-mile is not unbearable.” route in Downtown Kansas City, Overall, we are in good shape, better than though expansion options have been proposed. many areas, Honomichl said. However, there Ride-sharing services such as Uber and is room for improvement.

Lyft may be even bigger game-changers Currently, the area is in the midst of great because they operate throughout the metro — change in transportation, from the rollout not just downtown. of the downtown streetcar to the emergence Honomichl says he could foresee a suburban of services like Uber and Lyft. Kansas City city setting up a service through Uber to help is preparing for major repairs to the Buck senior citizens with their transportation O’Neil and Lewis and Clark bridges, even as needs instead of trying to establish its own planners are thinking of ways to support the bus route. self-driving cars of the future.

“Uber is changing what public transportation is,” he said.

CONNECTIVITY IS KEY

I

Because of his business, Honomichl is keenly aware of the opportunities and challenges the area faces and argues that connectivity is key—connectivity in a broad sense, putting people, technology and transportation together.

“We are a sprawling metro,” he said.

“We have various urban cores, and each suburb has its own central business hub.

It’s difficult to develop something that reaches all of them.”

But with changing demographics on both ends of the age spectrum, new transportation methods are necessities, as are the amenities users are coming to expect—i.e., real-time 20 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

“It’s a charging issue,” Honomichl said.

“People will go places where they have the chance to charge. For property owners, it’s about how to position themselves.”

There are challenges that come with the changing demographics and the increased desire of people to live closer to the urban core and be more engaged with public transportation. But there are so many more opportunities, he said.

“Community leaders have the opportunity to embrace what’s already coming and leverage it for economic good,” said Honomichl.

Kate Leibsle is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.

2

‘IT’S A CHARGING ISSUE’

Another area ripe for change? How we drive and power our vehicles. With more and more self-driving and electric vehicles on the road, communities will need to have plenty of charging stations available.

Honomichl can see a time when a trip to the shopping center or library or anywhere, really, can include charging your vehicle.

“Why not charge your vehicle while you shop?” he said.

That’s an opportunity for businesses, particularly small businesses, to set themselves apart starting now.

4

1. Ride sharing will become a routine part of the transportation system. 2 . Autonomous vehicle technology is advancing at an impressive rate. 3. Connectivity and wireless technology is essential to Smart City initiatives.

4. The future of vehicle recharging will be at the places you stop every day. (Photos courtesy of BHC Rhodes.)

1

3

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21

ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY K C

( by Katie Bean )

E N T R E P R E N E U R S

as COO in Kansas City. After a corporate restructuring and sale of the company, he decided to go the entrepreneurial route.

In 2007, just before the Great Recession hit, he planned to become a franchisee for Houlihan’s. But before he could get the new restaurants off the ground, “the casual dining business crashed hard.” He came out of the situation largely unscathed, but he took time off before charting a new course.

Restaurateur Craves New Experiences, Growth Alan Gaylin has weathered highs and lows in the industry, from both corporate and small business perspectives.

A

lan Gaylin’s background in the restaurant business is like a buffet—there’s a little bit of everything.

Gaylin, now founder and CEO of Bread & Butter Concepts based in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, climbed the ranks from waiting tables to serving as COO of a nationwide restaurant chain. His experience ranges from fast-casual to fine dining to franchising.

He got an early start in the restaurant business, serving at a restaurant in Tyler, Texas, during college.

“You get in the restaurant business, and it gets in your blood,” he said.

Putting more on his plate After years working at different restaurants 22

THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

in various managerial roles, his first taste of ownership was as a partner in a Dallas fine dining group.

“That was a real learning experience because I was working with two partners who knew nothing about the restaurant business,” Gaylin said.

That job put him in the right position for his next opportunity—literally. The TGI Fridays headquarters was down the street from one of Gaylin’s restaurants, and the executives were regulars. One day, the TGI Friday’s CFO called him to talk about offering a new concept to franchisees. That led to an opportunity for Gaylin with the corporation.

Eventually, his corporate background led him to Houlihan’s. Gaylin worked his way up there over eight years, culminating in serving

‘Kansas City supports local’ Around that time, Gaylin reconnected with a lifelong friend, who became his business partner. They saw the burger business was ready to boom in 2009 and looked into buying a franchise, but none of the deals worked out. So they developed their own concept: a family-friendly but cool, modern dining experience at a reasonable price. They opened the first BRGR Kitchen + Bar in 2010 in Prairie Village’s Corinth Square.

“The goal was just to open one restaurant, see what happens,” Gaylin said. “Things went great. The community supported us right off the bat.”

The initial success of BRGR laid the foundation for what became Bread & Butter Concepts, which encompasses a variety of local restaurants: Urban Table, Gram & Dun, Taco Republic restaurant and food truck, Stock Hill and The Oliver. BRGR now has three locations and a concession stand at Arrowhead Stadium during Kansas City Chiefs home game and special events.

“So now, eight restaurants later, here we are,” he said.

And the company still has an appetite for growth. In May, it will open Cherry Hall, a test kitchen for the restaurant group with a bar and event center. The space will allow the company to host chef dinners and cooking classes, and expand its catering capabilities.

One of the keys to the group’s success has been the community, Gaylin said.

“Now that I know the city as well as I do, Kansas City supports local more than any other city I’ve ever seen,” he said. “They’re very driven to buy local and support the local businesses.”

Katie Bean is the Executive Vice President at Thinking Bigger Business Media.

(913) 432-6690 // kbean@ithinkbigger.com

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KC ENTREPRENEURS

‘They Grow, We Grow’ How did Lever1 become KC’s fastest-growing business?

By helping clients achieve their potential.

ENTREPRENEUR

Erica Brune C O M PA N Y I N F O R M AT I O N

Lever1 510 W. Fifth St. Kansas City, MO 64105 (816) 994-1300 www.lever1.com TYPE OF BUSINESS

Professional employer organization YEAR FOUNDED

2012 E M P L OY E E S

17 KEYS TO SUCCESS

“Secure some capital up front to invest in the infrastructure.”

left // Erica Brune, president of

Lever1. inset // Nicole Tackett, vice president, and Alexandra Cook, director of HR, discuss a client’s HR issue.

24 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

L

ast year, Lever1 was the fastest-growing private business in the Kansas City metropolitan area—in the entire state of Missouri, in fact.

The company, based in the River Market, is a professional employer organization (PEO) offering outsourced payroll, benefits and HR services to other businesses.

For the three years ending in 2016, Lever1 reported growth of 6,559.79 percent. Annual revenue for 2016 alone was $27.6 million. As a result, Lever1 landed at No. 44 on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastestgrowing companies.

Not bad for a company that, when it launched, wasn’t really designed to make big profits.

“I have several business partners, and we created Lever1 to serve as our back-office administrative company for other co-owned businesses,” said Erica Brune, the company’s president.

Lever1 delivers HR expertise to Gragg Advertising, IntegriShield, Target Direct Marketing and other companies that share common ownership.

That way, those organizations can concentrate on their core businesses.

At first, generating a profit wasn’t even a major goal for Lever1. But Brune and her team found a string of other businesses hungry for a service like theirs.

“Very, very quickly, we were able to start making sales, and it’s just grown exponentially beyond the sister companies,” she said.

THE ROI OF PEOS

In the United States, as many as 180,000 small or medium-sized businesses use PEOs to provide benefits and other services to 2.7 million to 3.4 million workers, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

When a company hires a PEO, the PEO becomes the official employer of record for that company’s workers, though the client company continues to directly supervise its own employees.

The benefit for Lever1’s clients is they no longer have to worry about managing all the HR functions on their own.

The PEO will administer benefits, answer questions about employee disagreements—pretty much anything that a traditional in-house HR rep would.

A lot of smaller businesses take a piecemeal approach to those tasks because they don’t have a full-time HR professional on staff. The owner might be responsible for HR and personnel issues, while the bookkeeper takes care of payroll and the firm’s attorney puts together an employee handbook.

by James Hart // photography by Dan Videtich

Erica Brune is president of Lever1, a professional employer organization based in River Market that’s the fastest-growing company in the Kansas City area. In 2016, it reported 6,560 percent growth.

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

25

A PEO brings all those tasks together in one place, where they can be managed by people who were trained to handle them.

And, because a PEO typically represents several companies, it creates a larger pool of workers, allowing the client companies to enjoy better rates from insurers, not just for health benefits, but for workers’ compensation or discrimination claims, too.

That can make a big difference if a small business is hit with a large, potentially catastrophic claim.

“That is so disruptive to the cash flow and the culture—it’s very hard to overcome that,” Brune said. “When you have that spread across 60 companies, several thousand people, that risk is then mitigated.”

For smaller companies, PEOs also provide the ability to offer

above // Michael Halford, human resources specialist; Alexandra Cook, director of

HR; and Gena Hogan, human resources specialist, discuss a deadline. inset // Christy Wilson, business development manager, discusses the details of a new proposal with Michelle Macrorie, CEO and founder of Autism From the Start.

benefits they might have trouble accessing otherwise.

“We have a client that secured health insurance for their employees for the first time,” Brune said.

“They looked at quotes for the three years they’ve been operating their business, and they simply (couldn’t) find anything that was even reasonably priced.”

Then Lever1 got involved.

The employees now have better options, and the employer has another way to retain team members.

26 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

“That’s impactful, and so we’re really proud of that,” Brune said.

‘WE’RE ALLOWING THEM TO FOCUS ON THEIR BUSINESS’

Brune is a Shawnee Mission South grad who started her career in New York City and worked her way up to chief administrative officer for a law firm there. A certified theater buff, she loved catching the latest shows, but she was less enthusiastic about paying Upper West Side rent.

She returned to the Midwest in

2008 and was hired as director of operations for Gragg. Lever1 spun off in 2012.

Today, Lever1’s sister companies account for only 15 percent of its business. The rest comes from companies in several fields: skilled trades, law firms, property management, advertising and hospitality, among others.

“The whole theory is, we’re allowing them to focus on their business and mitigate that risk for them,” Brune said. “They can grow faster, take those dollars and resources, and put them back into the business and grow.

Therefore, (it’s a) they-grow, we-grow kind of a concept.”

While most clients are headquartered in Kansas City, many employ salespeople and other workers across the country.

Because employees must be taxed

“I think turning a profit was probably the proudest moment. Because you know it really shows that everything you’ve been doing does work.”

Erica Brune // president

where they live, if working out of a home office, and because workers’ compensation programs live at the state level, Lever1 currently operates in 44 states—which means Lever1’s staff must study and comply with the ever-changing regulations of 44 states. It’s one staffer’s entire job.

A big part of Brune’s job is getting out into the community to give talks or appear on panels where she can introduce Lever1 to business owners who may not even have heard of PEOs. “We really have to go out and market ourselves,” Brune said. “So if they learn about it, they come on board. But a lot of them don’t know it’s still an option for them.”

Referrals are another major source of business, but those often involve a lot of education during the sales process. While

PEOs have become more popular, the concept is still relatively new in the Midwest.

Brune is able to be out of the office so often only because she has a team she trusts to put out fires and keep the day-to-day business running. She called her vice president, Nicole Tackett, her secret weapon.

“In the president’s role, my job is to really be out in the community, creating awareness, driving sales, making sure we have the tools to be successful in the business,” Brune said. “So that leaves somebody here in the office making sure clients are happy and that payroll gets processed.”

Tackett, who’s been with Lever1 from the start, has been essential to the company’s growth.

“She possesses that skill set of you can count on them to do anything, trust them with your life—and that’s not something you can train,” Brune said.

One of Lever1’s biggest challenges has been finding employees who are OK with the constant changes that come from being an evolving company.

Brune might go out and give a talk on safety issues and attract five new clients interested in safety services. Suddenly, Lever1 needs someone who can devote their time to that topic.

“While I love that environment, I’m aware that most people that you employ don’t,” Brune said.

“And so that’s been a challenge.”

Lever1 is compensating for this by hiring for adaptability and making sure job applicants know that, if they’re hired, change is going to be a fact of life.

“We are trying to be clear that every day, every client, is different,” Brune said, “and to be really successful here, you’re going to need to bounce around and try all areas of what we do based on the needs of the business.”

‘EVERY DAY, EVERY CLIENT IS DIFFERENT’

‘WE’RE NOT SEEING THAT SLOW DOWN’

Tackett is one of 17 people employed by Lever1. The company probably will add three to four more people by the end of the first quarter, Brune said.

The growth in head count hasn’t been a straight line. When the company started, it employed accountants, public relations representatives and other service providers that didn’t line up with its PEO mission.

“We were kind of the jack of all trades,” Brune said, “and now we’ve really streamlined and focused on being just the PEO.”

While Lever1 wasn’t originally built to be a big moneymaker, its leadership has been deliberate and aggressive about pursuing growth.

Brune’s advice for other entrepreneurs interested in becoming a fast-growing company? Secure capital up front, and be willing to invest in the people, resources and systems that will allow you to grow quickly.

“You can’t exponentially grow if you bring on a client, hire a staff member, bring on a client, invest in the software,” Brune said. “You

get so far behind the eight ball, it’s impossible to catch up.”

In Lever1’s case, it meant building its own time-andattendance software early on.

When a new client signs up, they start using the same software as every other client. That way, Lever1 avoids the cost of managing dozens of different systems.

It’s easier to do this at the start of the client relationship, rather than adding 30 clients and then deciding to move them all over to a brand-new, proprietary timekeeping system.

“The baby-step approach of one account at a time is fine, but it’s not exponential growth,” Brune said.

And that’s what the Lever1 team expects to see in 2018.

Growth in 2017—which will be realized this year—was strong.

“We’re not seeing that slow down,” Brune said.

While the Inc. 5000 ranking was an honor, her proudest moment was something simpler.

“I think turning a profit was probably the proudest moment,” Brune said. “Because you know it really shows that everything you’ve been doing does work.

And I kept seeing it, and I kept feeling it, and I kept knowing that it was happening, but until the rubber hits the road and the dollars are there for your investors or your partners, you feel such a sense of pressure. And then once it’s realized, it’s such a relief.”

James Hart is a freelance writer based in Kansas City.

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

27

SMALL LOANS PRESENT

BIG

OPPORTUNITY A NEW PROGRAM WILL EXPAND MICROLENDING IN KANSAS CITY, WITH THE POTENTIAL TO BOOST SMALL BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT THE REGION. ( by Katie Bean )

In the era of “Shark Tank,” venture capital has become the sexy option for boosting businesses. But for many small businesses, it’s not realistic—and it may not be the best option.

The fact is, even traditional loans may be out of reach for many entrepreneurs if they haven’t yet established credit or need only a small boost in working capital.

That’s where microloans come in.

MICROLENDING

Microloans—loans of $50,000 or less—are getting a big boost in Kansas City, thanks to a new program spearheaded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The foundation has set up a $1.2 million fund called the KC Microfinance Portfolio that will disburse $300,000 to each of four local microlenders: AltCap, the Women’s Business Center, KC Hispanic Economic Development Corp. and Justine Petersen. Essentially, these organizations will use the money to go forth and help local businesses prosper.

“A microloan of $50,000 can go a long way to accelerating the start of a business,” said Ruben Alonso, president of AltCap, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).

28 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

29

A benefit of working with a microlender is that organizations have more flexibility in structuring financing because they don’t have the same constraints that banks do.

According to the Kauffman Foundation, the initial investment should provide funding for 20 to 30 businesses.

One key aspect of the program is that it will help the microlenders market and sell those loans to local banks, which need a certain amount of these loans on their books to meet requirements of the Community Reinvestment Act. It’s a win-win for both institutions, Alonso said.

“As a bank looks to expand or grow, they have to demonstrate that they are lending into communities they are serving and where they want to grow. For a traditional financial institution or a bank to make a microloan, there’s just a lot of challenges with that— whether it’s economies of scale, being able to justify the cost and resources needed to make a microloan or a loan to small business, or regulatory constraints,” he said. “It typically requires a good amount of time and effort to really take a small business owner or microenterprise through a loan application process and to underwrite that loan. I think banks probably would prefer to go after the bigger deals rather than the smaller ones because

Owner Angel Canady used a $20,000 microloan from the Women’s Business Center to reopen Natural High Wellness Center & Spa when the business relocated to 2317 W. 143rd St., Leawood.

30 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

SUPPORTING THE ECONOMY

Angel Canady, owner of Natural High Wellness Center & Spa in Leawood, can attest to the benefits of microlending. In 2015, after 13 years in business, she said, she just needed a break.

“It just got really, really crazy, and I noticed the return on their investment in time and that I was trying serve wellness, and I wasn’t capital is much higher.” well. I was really depleted,” she said. “I just Through the Kauffman initiative, felt to be a true benefit to my clients, banks will pay microlenders for I needed to take some time providing the service and then to heal.” get credit for the loan. MeanAfter about six months, while, by selling the loans, she was ready to get back microlenders have a to business. Canady quicker turnaround on found a new location capital—plus an opportuthat she considered an nity to generate reveupgrade and wanted to nue—which means they take her customers’ can make loans more often. experience to a As the program’s partners An gel Canady higher level. make more microloans, a “I wanted to be able for bigger market is created with everything that went with opening more opportunities for banks to buy the new business to reflect that we were loan—and the cycle continues. back in business—we were ready to serve “I think what’s interesting, and I really and love and do all the things that we had commend Kauffman—they approached this from a very real business perspective,” Alonso been doing, but at a premium level,” she said. said. “They didn’t want to do this just from a Canady worked with Brande Stitt at Community Reinvestment Act perspective. the Women’s Business Center to secure Kauffman really wants to see how banks and a loan of $20,000. That gave her working CDFIs can work together and partner on capital to hire staff, buy furnishings and a business level to support small business equipment, and market the reopened spa. lending and microlending in Kansas City.”

“It just really helped us get the ball rolling again. I helped me to feel confident that I could move forward again,” she said.

The spa will celebrate its 16th anniversary in February.

Stories like Canady’s highlight how small business lending boosts the economy through job creation and investment in communities, Alonso said.

“Most small businesses are very tied in to the local economy in terms of who they’re hiring or where they’re sourcing their materials or selling their goods,” he said. “That’s a great benefit for a healthy, thriving community.”

HOW IT WORKS

New Coalition Aims to Provide Accessible Financing A cohort of organizations that aim to support small businesses, nonprofits and low- to moderateincome communities has created the Kansas City CDFI Coalition.

The coalition is a partnership of 13 groups that offer various capital, development and consulting services.

Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a designation from the U.S. Department of Treasury for organizations that provide financial services to geographic areas underserved by commercial banks and lenders. Coalition members aim to promote economic development through communityfocused investments.

“By leveraging federal dollars, loans, grants and other resources, CDFIs help deploy capital that supports small businesses, community health and

educational facilities, affordable housing and other community-driven investments in Kansas City’s most economically distressed communities,” said Sherry Turner, executive director of the Women’s Business Center.

Services offered by coalition members include microloans, small business loans, commercial loans, New Markets Tax Credits and community development lending.

“By forming a coalition, we can better coordinate our efforts and leverage our collective expertise and assets to attract additional capital to and investments in Kansas City’s (low- to moderate-income) communities,” AltCap President Ruben Alonso said.

Learn more about the coalition, including specific services offered by each organization, at cdficoalitionkc.com.

To Alonso, the microloans can be a powerfu tool for stimulating and supporting KANSAS CITY CDFI COALITION entrepreneurship.

AltCap IFF “For AltCap, as a mission-driven organizaContact: Ruben Alonso Contact: Joe Neri tion really focused on underserved communi(816) 216-1851, ext. 1, ruben@alt-cap.org (312) 629-0060, jneri@iff.org ties and underserved businesses, we see this Central Bank of Kansas City Justine Petersen as an economic empowerment vehicle Contact: Bill Dana Contact: Robert Boyle to allow people to rise above whatever (816) 483-1210, bdana@centralbankkc.com (314) 664-5051, rboyle@justinepetersen.org socioeconomic challenges they have in their Community Housing of Wyandotte County Liberty Bank & Trust community and start their own business,” he Contact: Brennan Crawford Contact: Sidney King said. “This is especially true for our immigrant (913) 342-7580, bcrawford@chwckck.org (913) 321-7200, sking@libertybank.net communities.” Entrepreneurship can play Gateway CDFI Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives a significant role in helping immigrants Contact: Erica Dobreff Support Corp. (LISC) (816) 753-0941, edobreff@kcequityfund.com Contact: Stephen Samuels assimilate and prosper in this country, 816-753-0055, ssamuels@lisc.org Alonso said, whose own family immigrated Guadalupe Centers Inc. Contact: Cris Medina Mazuma Credit Union from Cuba in the late 1950s and early 1960s (816) 471-2582, cmedina@guadalupecenters.org Contact: Brandon Michaels and started small businesses in Florida and (816) 361-4194, brandon.michaels@mazuma.org Hispanic Economic Development Corp.

New Jersey.

Contact: Pedro Zamora Women’s Business Center Microloans can be used for a variety of (816) 221-3442, pzamora@kchedc.org Contact: Sherry Turner business purposes, Alonso said. Owners (816) 595-1296, sturner@onekcforwomen.com Holy Rosary Credit Union can use them to help grow an established Contact: Carole Wight business like Canady’s wellness center or (816) 221-2734, cwight@holyrosarycu.org to kickstart a new business. They also can be used to refinance debt, such as credit card payments or loans from payday interest rates, typically 8 percent financial institutions. Currently, it focuses lenders or online lenders to 15 percent, based on a on businesses based in or working in Kansas with high interest rates, variety of determinants, City, Mo. Alonso said. he said.

The organization offers other services, but A benefit of working At AltCap, small busiit sees a lot of interest in its small business with a microlender, nesses lending is part offerings, Alonso said. He said the organiAlonso said, is that of the organization’s zation plans to expand its footprint to help organizations like AltCap mission. As a CDFI, those small business throughout the metro have more flexibility in it’s certified by the U.S. in 2018. structuring financing Department of Treasury because they don’t have the Ru to deploy capital to busiben Al o ns o Katie Bean is the Executive Vice President at same constraints that banks nesses and communities that Thinking Bigger Business Media. do. AltCap can offer a range of are underserved by traditional (913) 432-6690 // kbean@ithinkbigger.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

31

SPONSORED CONTENT

THE HEISENBERG’S

Roll It!

ADDING VIDEO TO YOUR MARKETING PLAN CAN BE A POWERFUL TOOL FOR MOVING YOUR COMPANY FORWARD. ideo popularity is surging: 78 percent of people watch videos online each week, and 55 percent watch them online every day. More video content is uploaded to the web in a month than television has created in the last 30 years.

V

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering that video is everywhere. It’s on YouTube, Facebook, a growing number of company websites, emails, social media and a host of other platforms.

So, the question is: Can your customers find your company through video?

If you’re not taking advantage of video, it’s time to consider adding it to your marketing plan. Here are the Top 6 reasons that more and more companies are incorporating a video strategy.

VIDEO BUILDS STRONGER EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS. You know the adage: People buy from people they know, like and trust. Video involves more of our senses and creates greater emotional bonds— which are essential for building long-term, trusting relationships.

1

VIDEO BUILDS HIGHER ENGAGEMENT. The Content Marketing Institute reports that audiences are about 10 times more likely to interact with—share, embed, and comment on—video than with other types of content. And, in a 2016 study released by Wyzowl, 76 percent of users said they would share a company’s video if it was entertaining.

SEARCH ENGINES LOVE VIDEO. Comscore, a company that measures and analyzes media, reports that adding a video to your website can increase your company’s chance of landing on the front pages of Google results by 53 times. Because sites with videos tend to keep people on the site longer, the search engines read that as a sign your site has good content—and you may be rewarded with a boost in the rankings. Of course, you also need to optimize the video with keywords and add appropriate links.

4

VIDEOS ARE ACCESSIBLE. Tools for producing videos and platforms for viewing videos are becoming more accessible and affordable. Even SmartPhones can be used to produce videos that are suitable for certain purposes. And from an audience standpoint, the rise of SmartPhones has made video more accessible on mobile devices, delivering an even larger audience.

5

VIDEOS ARE GREAT FOR CONVEYING A VARIETY OF MESSAGES. There’s a video format for most types of content you’re likely to need as a business: “explainer” videos, promotional videos, animated videos, videos that tell a story, interactive videos, video ads, videos for email and more. Each can help you accomplish specific goals.

6

2

VIDEO CREATES MORE CUSTOMER CONVERSIONS. Not surprisingly, if you can establish a strong connection with your prospects and build trust (see #1!), you’ll likely see an increase in conversions. In fact, according to Hubspot, 90 percent of customers report that product videos help them make purchasing decisions, and 64 percent of customers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it. Again, that’s not surprising since videos can help potential customers see your product in action. After all, if a picture is worth a thousand words, what kind of value can a moving picture bring?

3

If you’re ready to put the power of video to work in your marketing efforts, please give us a call at (913) 980-2649. Or, visit our web-

site at www.TheHeisenbergs.com.

We’re eager to begin co-creating!

From idea to creation we will work together as partners, to give birth to your marketing concepts and ideas. We do more than tell stories—we capture experiences and engage our audiences to observe moments in life that inspire and motivate them to pay attention to the message.

BIGGER | finance S M A R T

( by Sean Dawson, CPA )

S T R AT E G I E S

What You Need to Know About Payroll Garnishments Keep your small business on the right side of the law.

M

illions of wage garnishments are issued every year, but if you haven’t dealt with them before, they can be confusing. Keeping the following things in mind can help you meet your obligation as an employer.

What is a Payroll Garnishment?

A wage garnishment is a court-ordered process of deducting money from an employee’s compensation or wages so those funds can be paid to a creditor. Garnishments can be the result of unpaid debts, child support, student loans, personal loans or judgments from a court case.

How Am I Notified About a Garnishment?

You will receive a garnishment notice in the mail, not through email. You have to respond to a writ of garnishment even if it’s in error.

Failing to comply could leave you on the hook for the entire amount of the debt.

Do Garnishment Laws Differ From State to State?

Yes, they do! States’ wage laws differ from each other and from federal law. It’s important to understand the rules of the states in which you operate, so you can accurately calculate garnishment amounts.

Is There a Limit to How Much an Employer is Allowed to Take for a Garnishment?

For ordinary garnishments—those not for support, bankruptcy or any state or federal tax—the weekly amount may not exceed the lesser or two figures: 25 percent of the

employee’s disposable earnings, or the amount by which an employee’s disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage.

When you receive a garnishment notice, the first garnishment must be paid within 10 days of receiving the notice.

Can I Terminate an Employee Who Has a Garnishment?

No, you can’t terminate employees because they have garnishments.

Do I Have to Tell the Employee There Is a Garnishment?

No, you aren’t obligated to tell an employee that you received a garnishment, but it’s still a good idea. Just be sure to do so privately because this could be an uncomfortable conversation for the employee.

What Does a Garnishment Include?

Garnishments are calculated on all earnings, including salary, bonuses, vacation pay and pensions.

When figuring disposable earnings, use the employee’s gross wages minus all mandatory deductions such as federal and state withholding, FICA and Medicare. In some states, health care deductions are not considered mandatory, so the garnishment is calculated without factoring in the health deduction.

How Long Do I Need to Continue the Garnishment?

You need to continue to pay it until you receive a release of order or the garnishment is paid in full. A good practice before you discontinue the garnishment is to call the attorney listed on the garnishment order and find out what the final payoff amount is.

It’s important to get the final figure because

there may be fees and interest that have accrued on the garnishment. The final payoff could be much different from the original garnishment amount.

What Are the Steps If an Employee Leaves Our Company?

Depending on the state in which you operate, there is a form you need to complete that goes to the attorney on the garnishment and the state. If an employee terminates his or her employment with you, it’s wise to have documentation showing how you’ve complied with the garnishment order. Documentation is your best friend!

Be sure to seek advice from an expert who can help you understand the requirements in each state to ensure you are following the rules.

Sean Dawson, CPA, is a shareholder with Mize Houser & Company, PA, a regional accounting, payroll and consulting firm with offices in Overland Park, Lawrence and Topeka. www.mizehouser.com SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

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BIGGER | hr S M A R T

( by Chris Wunder )

S T R AT E G I E S

Could You Find Your Next Employee on Social Media?

How to get started with social recruiting.

I

f you’re planning to hire in 2018 and aren’t using social media to attract terrific job applicants, now’s the time to start “social recruiting.” It’s the use of social media channels such as LinkedIn and Facebook to post job openings, find new talent and create connections.

34 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

Utilize LinkedIn Conversations Follow, take part in and join groups that pertain to their specific industry or sector.

Most of these conversations are about industry trends, yet you will start to see a pattern of potential candidates within these conversations that could be worth a second look.

Prove to industry professionals that you are more than just a recruiter by adding your unique perspective and professional experience on the topics being discussed.

It’s an opportunity for you, the business representative, to prove yourself as an expert in the industry.

Use Social Media to Create Brand Image Legacy brands sometimes have a tougher time adapting in the new age of connecting with potential candidates. Because these guys are slow to the social media game, they can miss out on great candidates. A simple

YouTube video with employees talking about their experience within your company, its culture and why they continue to work there goes a long way. You still want to promote a positive and exciting work culture.

Get Employees Involved Candidates are less likely to listen to HR professionals about how great it is to work for your company because of course they’re going to say it’s an awesome place. If possible, it’s even better to let your other employees spread the good word about your company.

At every level, your employees are the face of your company. Potential employees want to see how proud they are to work there. Encourage employees to keep their LinkedIn and Facebook profiles up to date with photos, detailed job title, skill set and more. Brighten these pages with a short summary about the company and their

responsibilities—stand out and be fun. Sometimes less formal is key. Have a personality.

Complete Your Company LinkedIn Page Create a LinkedIn Business Page so everyone can see your employees, recent news, mission and other important information about your company.

Include a basic summary of the company and what your main products and services are. Add pictures and testimonials on why people like working there.

Again, stand out.

What NOT to Do on Social Media If you plan to use your social channels to attract new talent, keep the following things in mind. » Don’t be fake. Don’t post photos of offices that don’t look like your offices, of people who don’t work there and good times that

aren’t being had. If you’re being dishonest just to attract talent, this will hurt your reputation and brand in the long run. Make sure your messages are also authentic and genuine, but have personality. Keep your brand standards intact in everything you do. » When you’re researching potential candidates, it’s easy to judge them based on their photos and what they post. But don’t judge too quickly. Although you might find something silly or off-putting, a candidate’s work experience and ability to benefit your company might outweigh all that.

As always, use discretion and keep an open mind. If you do that, you might just find the right person to add to your team.

Chris Wunder is senior director of recruitment for Global Recruiters Network and director of executive recruitment at Leap Hospitality. He has an extensive background in professional recruitment, talent acquisition, sales and management with a focus on strategic planning and project deployment.

SPONSORED CONTENT

J. H. BROOKS & COMPANY

Dream Becomes More Solid After Entrepreneur Invests in Education His Dream Justin Brooks came from a workingclass family in Kansas City and served in the United States Navy.

Brooks always knew entrepreneurship and real estate would be his path to personal and professional satisfaction. He had dreamed of being an entrepreneur and real estate developer since he was seven years old, even telling his mother, “I’m going to be a real estate mogul.”

Brooks knew he wanted to “own a lot of real estate” and create wealth for his community. He began investing in real estate and quickly grew his portfolio through shear will and brute force. After his first project, Brooks knew this was where he needed to be.

There was no question.

His Struggle In 2012, Brooks bought his first property and proceeded to go on a roller coaster ride of emotions, joy, pain and frustration, all leading up to the offloading of his real estate portfolio in 2015.

Brooks said, “I was deep in debt and not the good kind. I was exhausted both mentally and physically, and I thought there was no other way out. But, thankfully, I had the will to persist.”

From 2012 to 2016, though he was frustrated and in “financial pain,” he continued to pursue his dreams. He knew that without investment in his mind he would not be able to live out his dreams. At that point, he remembered something he had been taught, something that’s been mentioned several times by successful people like Tony Robbins, and the late Jim Rohn. “Successful people invest in themselves, and they invest in their education,” Brooks said.

The Future Today, Justin Brooks is founder and CEO of J.H. Brooks & Company, a successful real estate developer with a growing reputation, determination, and enthusiasm to match.

Contact Information: Founder & CEO: Justin Brooks Address: 412 E. 79th Ter., Kansas City, MO 64131 Email: justinbrooks2552@gmail.com Mobile: (386) 316.2162

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

35

BIGGER | growth S M A R T

( by Elizabeth Usovicz )

S T R AT E G I E S

Mastering the Art of Follow-Through A guide to achieving your annual goals.

W

elcome to 2018! Chances are you’ve started the year with a new set of annual goals for your business.

If you’ve ever fallen short of reaching your goals, you’re not alone. According to Statistic Brain Research Institute, a mind-blowing 36 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

92 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail to achieve them.

On the positive side, 8 percent of people do accomplish their goals. Their secret is no secret: It’s follow-through. Here’s a brief guide to achieving your annual goals and making follow-through doable on a daily basis.

Set Interim Outcomes Let’s say your goal is to increase business revenue by 30 percent in 2018. What might

that look like on a monthly or quarterly basis?

For example, you can set monthly revenue goals for the first quarter of 2018 that are less than a 30 percent increase, so that you can manage your learning curve as you work toward your goals. Setting interim outcomes allows you to succeed through an intentional and gradual process.

Review Your Goals Weekly Knowing where you stand is key to following through. Schedule a recurring weekly appointment with yourself to review your annual goals, assess the past week’s activities and define actions you can take during the coming week. Figure out which day and which time of day you feel most focused, and claim that time as your own. Consider choosing a nonoffice location for your appointment if interruptions or distractions are an issue.

As you build follow-through muscle, keep your goals front and center.

Take Daily Action What can I do—right here, right now— that supports the goals I’ve set? Asking yourself this simple question throughout the day is a powerful way to keep yourself on track. Instead of having lunch with a friend you see regularly, reengaging with a lapsed prospect might be a better use of your goal-focused time.

End Each Day With Two Questions The best time to reassess and refocus is during the final moments of your workday.

Set the tone for tomorrow by ending your day with goal-oriented action. These two questions can help: » What did I do today that brought me closer to reaching my goals? » What is one action I can take before I leave today that will contribute to achieving my goals?

Elizabeth Usovicz is principal of WhiteSpace Consulting®, specializing in top-line revenue strategies; business development and coaching for highgrowth companies, new ventures and business units within established companies; market insights and strategy session facilitation. elizabeth@whitespacerevenue.com // (913) 638-8693

Want t

o

m a o n w i n e h the c t eb

r? ente

Add a Second Layer of Follow-Through As you build follow-through muscle, keep your goals front and center. I encourage my clients to use a whiteboard to keep their goals and high-priority business activities visible. If you work best by talking through your goals, consider investing in a business coach. The right coaching relationship can help you to develop a goal-focused mind-set and effective follow-through habits.

The world-renowned British sculptor Henry Moore understood the art of follow-through.

His approach is equally valid for business goals: “I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the year’s.” Today is the ideal day to follow through on yours.

Each month, female business owners come together to help each other troubleshoot issues in a roundtable forum. Be the woman in the center, or be part of our solution team. Join today.

www.NAWBOKC.org nawbokc@gmail.com Sign up for our next Troubleshooting Event on Facebook @NAWBOKC

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

37

BIGGER | law S M A R T

( by Melody Rayl)

S T R AT E G I E S

Four Steps to a Harassment-Free Workplace Safeguard your employees— and your business.

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hat started in July 2016 with Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes has snowballed over the last 18 months into hundreds of similar allegations against politicians, entertainers, media personalities and corporate executives.

Recent admissions have revealed that some organizations’ leaders knowingly allowed workplace harassment to continue unchecked for years. Only now, as terminations and calls for resignations reverberate, have these workplaces begun reevaluating their policies and cultures.

Small businesses are as much at risk for sexual harassment claims as larger companies are. If your company has not already begun examining its organizational environment and policies to ensure a harassment-free workplace, the time is now.

38 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

Creating a Respectful Workplace Establishing a safe and professional workplace for all employees requires commitment to that standard from the top down. The owner and other leaders must both set the example and insist that everyone associated with the company adhere to these ideals.

These additional steps will create a healthy workplace—and also help protect the company against a harassment lawsuit: Have a comprehensive anti-harassment 1 policy in place, and make sure it aligns with the contemporary legal landscape. Recent court decisions have placed greater responsibility on employers for policies that address sexual harassment more realistically and thoughtfully. At a minimum, your policy should state zero tolerance for sexual harassment in any form.

When new employees join the company, 2 distribute the policy as part of the onboarding process, and require them to sign an acknowledgment of receipt. A supervisor or HR representative should describe the

policy and clearly explain the organization’s zero-tolerance philosophy. Over time, remind employees of their rights and responsibilities by distributing the policy in an email or memo from company leadership, posting it in hightraffic areas and referencing it in staff meetings.

Train employees on proper conduct.

3 Company policies are meaningless unless employees understand and abide by them.

Training should include specific examples of conduct that would violate your standards.

Educate managers about how to address 4 any behavior they witness or hear about, even if it appears no harm is occurring.

Victims often pretend to “go along” with the harassment to protect their jobs but will welcome intervention that makes the behavior stop. Managers must not excuse inappropriate behavior as “Joe just being Joe” or look the other way because a friend is the person exhibiting the misconduct.

Investigating a Harassment Report If your company receives a sexual harassment report, assure the reporting employee the

Establishing a safe and professional workplace for all employees requires commitment to that standard from the top down.

company will take the complaint seriously.

Prioritize the investigation. The longer you wait, the more likely the situation is to turn into a lawsuit. If your company does not have a human resources department with expertise to lead the inquiry, consider bringing in a third party who will conduct the probe.

Steps in a sexual harassment investigation: » Ask for a written statement from the victim.

While not mandatory, it can help capture details of the accusation. » Interview the alleged offender and witnesses who work around both the reporting employee and the alleged wrongdoer. Ask witnesses if they’ve ever seen the accused employee do or say something inappropriate. You may learn that witnesses have observed inappropriate

»

» »

»

behaviors over a period of years. That information is relevant to the inquiry.

Take notes during interviews, staying focused on objective information. The story being told at any given time can appear to be the most truthful, but no conclusions should be drawn until the investigation is complete.

If the sexual harassment report includes exchanges of photos, texts or emails, secure and review these communications.

To ensure an objective and unbiased decision, involve other management-level employees in reviewing the facts and determining whether the company’s zero-tolerance policy was violated.

If the investigation substantiates the victim’s allegations, take action sufficient to ensure

the behavior is not reasonably likely to occur again. If the complaint involves mild misconduct, it might be enough to give the employee a documented verbal warning with an acknowledged reminder of the sexual harassment policy. In more severe situations, the only reasonable response is termination.

Honestly re-evaluating your company’s culture will ensure you are providing a safe and respectful working environment. While not easy, the process will make your business stronger by freeing every employee to achieve the company’s goals without fear of inappropriate interference.

Melody Rayl is a partner in the Kansas City office of labor and employment firm Fisher Phillips.

(816) 842-8770 // mrayl@fisherphillips.com

Thinking BIGGER? Take your growth-minded small business to the next level of success with Thinking Bigger Business magazine. » $24.99 // one year » $36.99 // two years » $49.99 // three years

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SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

39

SCALEUP! KC

RUNNING WELL STORE

( by Dawn Bormann )

Running With the Big Dogs KATHY GATES IS RUNNING CIRCLES AROUND BIG BOX STORES AND ONLINE RETAILERS.

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hen Kathy Gates walked into a Northland running shop in 2011, the entrepreneur was simply planning to chat about a few products she made on the side.

But, by the time the restless marketing and advertising executive left the store, she and the owner had developed a novel plan for Gates to buy the business. In 2012, Gates took control of what is now The Running Well Store and completely changed its trajectory.

The energized Gates had a laser-like focus on improving the retail business, which offers shoes and other running and walking gear for amateurs and dedicated athletes. Gates narrowed the store’s focus, concentrated on superior customer service, expanded 40 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

community outreach with running clubs and opened a second store in Lee’s Summit.

The changes drastically improved sales.

But even with the store’s enormous success, Gates knew she needed help if her niche retail business was going to grow and compete with big box retailers and Amazon. It’s why she applied to ScaleUP! Kansas City.

The free program, which is offered by the UMKC Innovation Center with support from the Kauffman Foundation, offers classes, peer mentoring, professional guidance and more.

It’s open to small business owners like Gates who operate in a market capable of supporting more than $1 million in annual sales and who want to rapidly grow their business.

‘I REALIZED THAT WAS A TRAINING ISSUE’

ScaleUP! experts showed Gates how tweaking daily processes at her store would allow her to achieve her long-term growth goals.

One of the first major changes Gates made was to create well-documented manuals for how the store should run. ScaleUP! experts pointed out that if Gates wants to grow the business, she needs to make sure any new locations run as smoothly as if she were at the helm leading the employees. She can’t be everywhere at once, so all of her strategies and philosophies need to be in writing.

It’s essential, Gates pointed out, because the store sets itself apart from the competition with customer service. The store offers a free

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THE POWER OF REPEAT BUSINESS

ScaleUP! also forced Gates to start zeroing in on repeat customers.

“I can constantly be chasing new customers, but to really scale and really grow my business, it’s best to keep my customers and get new customers,” she said.

Gates’ employees are experts at winning over first-time customers. But then customers would use that information to go online and buy their second shoe even though Gates could offer price matches, a rewards program and a one-on-one fitting.

Let’s say a customer simply wanted to buy the same model of shoe they bought first at one of Gates’ stores. If they go to Zappos, they might even see that older style is available at a discount—without realizing that Running Well offered the exact same price as the bigger retailers.

The problem is the customer didn’t know that because The Running Well Store’s website doesn’t have an easy way to search for that model.

Gates knew it was a problem, but she overlooked it until ScaleUP! experts explained how vital repeat business is for growth.

WHEN DEBT MAKES SENSE (AND DOLLARS)

stride analysis to determine a customer’ biomechanics. Staff use that information to find the ideal shoe for each customer.

It’s the kind of approach that Amazon can’t compete with. And, Gates said, it shows in her return rate.

“I know that online (return) rates are 30 percent, and we’re at 4 percent,” she said.

So when she discovered a new employee fitting a shoe incorrectly, she took it very seriously.

“I realized that was a training issue,” she said. “He doesn’t have the same view on footwear and injury prevention as the store.”

Gates knew she needed to update the store’s training process so the problem wouldn’t be repeated by any of her 20 employees and ultimately hurt her brand.

“A non-ScaleUP! business might have wanted to be more hands-on with that individual employee instead of setting up processes,” she said.

ScaleUP! advisers convinced Gates that taking out a loan can make sense. Until now, Gates has operated without outside financing.

It’s a point of pride for her.

But ScaleUP! experts noted that a retail store makes an immediate first impression with clients. The location needs to have a certain look and feel. It has a direct impact on the bottom line.

Gates now realizes her folly. She can see how additional financing would have helped her boost the bottom line faster. It’s one of many mistakes that, thanks to ScaleUP!, she doesn’t intend to make again—Gates said she would be less hesitant to take out a loan in the future.

IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN

Longtime employee Rita Truelove said Gates is up for the enormous task of competing with the Amazons of the world. Truelove points out that Gates made impactful changes from Day One of taking over the store.

When Gates first stepped into the business, the previous owner had competing missions to be a shoe store but also cater to sports

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The Running Well Store (816) 741-8800 www.therunningwellstore.com The Running Well store offers stride analysis to determine a customer’s biomechanics in order to recommend the perfect shoe.

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medicine sales. It sold braces and other medical equipment alongside shoes. The store’s name, Sports Medicine Metro Walk and Run, also confused potential customers who thought it was a medical equipment business.

When Gates first took over management of the store in May 2012, the agreement was that she would try to grow it to a point where she could live off the business. Gates changed the name, focused more on shoes and hit her goal in November. She purchased the store from the previous owner and charged forward.

Truelove credits Gates’ background in marketing with much of her success. But, she said, the owner also is personable and knows how to connect and energize with young and old employees.

Just how determined is Gates to make Running Well a success? Truelove said Gates once went door to door to convince homeowners in a North Kansas City neighborhood to decorate their houses for what has become an annual Christmas light run. The run, which is sponsored by the store, has gone from 30 to 2,000 runners in just a few years.

“Her vision was, How can I take a store of this size and give it some personality and make it into this premier running store?”

Truelove said.

Dawn Bormann is a freelance writer in the Kansas City area.

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

41

IN FOCUS

Construction ( by Katie Bean )

2018

AS KANSAS CITY BUILDS UP, SO MUST ITS WORKFORCE OF SKILLED LABORERS.

Construction at a Crossroads C

ontractors nationwide are experiencing a shortage of

skilled labor in construction, according to a recent survey. Those same contractors expect strong demand for construction services in the next 12 to 24 months—setting the industry up for a potential bottleneck.

The 2017 Q4 Commercial Construction Index, an undertaking by USG Corp. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, took the temperature of large, midsize and small contractors in the 42 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

readiness. Contractors need employees with safety, technical and communications skills,” the report said. “However, only 11 percent have a formal skills development program, and just 23 percent require employee training on a regular basis.”

KC FOLLOWS TRENDS

In the Kansas City metro area, companies are seeing the same trends: strong demand for construction with a shortage of skilled labor.

Jay Lucas, vice president of construction operations with McCownGordon Construction, said his company commercial and institutional has seen a substantial increase sectors. The results showed in both the number and optimism about the future, scale of projects it has tempered with worked on in the past hiring concerns. three to four years. The The CCI analyzes Kansas City-based conquarterly surveys in struction management order to follow trends firm focuses on a variety in construction. In the of commercial projects, fourth quarter of 2017, Jay Lucas including corporate, K-12 and 57 percent of contractors higher education, science and reported an intention to hire technology, as well as health care. workers in the next six months.

Kansas City’s overall construction market “We found that over 90 percent of has been hot, too. contractors are concerned about workforce

“It looks like over the last three years it’s been on the rise, and I really don’t see an end in that growth in sight right now,” Lucas said.

“All the building trades are busy, and the contractors are busy. So it’s putting a little bit of stress on finding qualified tradesmen to staff projects across the board.”

It’s not one or two skilled trades that are suffering the most, Lucas said shortages are across the board. It affects McCownGordon both in direct hiring and in its trade partners’ ability to scale up, he said.

“We’re seeing it from foundation through the finish of the project—all those trades in between have been impacted,” Lucas said.

McCownGordon intends to staff up in the next six months, Lucas said. It’s not only construction associates that McCownGordon is looking to hire. He said the Kansas City-based construction manager also needs professional staff, such as project managers, estimators and safety personnel.

CONSTRUCTION IN DEMAND USG Corp. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce surveyed contractors nationwide for the 2017 Q4 Commercial Construction Index about expectations for demand and revenue over the next one to two years.

99% 34% 49%

Contractors feeling confident in the demand for new commercial construction in the next 12 months Respondents overall expecting the market will provide strong opportunities for the next 24 months Midwest respondents who were very confident the U.S. market would provide sufficient new business opportunities in the next 12 months

98% 62% 98% 35%

Contractors expecting revenue to stay the same or increase in the next 12 months Contractors expecting revenue increases of 4 percent or more in the next 12 months Contractors expecting profit margins to stay the same or increase in the next year Contractors expecting profit margins to increase in the next year

continued

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SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

43

IN FOCUS

Construction

2018

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS

McCownGordon has long-range strategic growth plans that map out its desired course, Lucas said. In the past few years, the company has become selective in the projects it takes on and has focused on early-stage planning to

maximize its limited resources, he said. That includes communicating with trade partners early to get everyone one the same page about expectations and deadlines.

But that planning can be affected by market forces.

“We try to have measured growth, but you also have to go with what the market is giving you. Because if the market in Kansas City is up, somebody’s going to do that work. … So it might as well be us,” Lucas said.

To keep up with demand, Lucas said the contractor has partnered with minority-owned and women-owned businesses to help educate high school and disadvantaged students about the benefits of working in construction. Those include having a new challenge each day and not being tied to a desk, he said.

Apprenticeship programs have been ramping up over the past 10 to 15 years in anticipation of the building boom, Lucas said, but those haven’t completely filled the worker pipeline. McCownGordon will hire people with the interest to learn skilled trades, he said, if they fit the company culture.

“If you’re a good person, if you have a work ethic and desire, together we can learn how to do anything,” Lucas said.

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

The nationwide uptick in construction has made it challenging to recruit workers from other cities, Lucas said, because there’s building

1

2

3

1. Diagnostic Imaging Centers was completed in May 2017 at 6650 West 110th St., Overland Park. McCownGordon was construction manager, and Finkle Williams Architecture was the architect. They worked with client VanTrust Real Estate on the $12 million project. (Photo courtesy of McCown Gordon Construction) 2 . Church of the Resurrection is under

construction at 17th and Grand in downtown Kansas City. A.L. Huber Construction along with subcontractor International Builders & Consultants Inc. are at work on the project. IBC is completing the interior finish on the church. (Photo courtesy of International Builders & Consultants Inc.) 3. Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center, a renovation of King Louie bowling alley, was a $16 million project for Johnson County. The repurposed building at 8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, opened in April 2017. Construction manager was McCownGordon Construction and architect was SFS Architecture. (Photo courtesy of McCown Gordon Construction) 44 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

WE PARTNER Bringing your vision to life requires more than a blueprint and a gilded shovel. It takes a deep understanding of how your building will impact those who occupy it. And collaborative leadership to get the job done right.

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That’s what makes us McCownGordon. mccowngordon.com

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IN FOCUS

Construction

2018

NOW HIRING USG Corp. and U.S. Chamber of Commerce surveyed contractors nationwide about hiring expectations for the 2017 Q4 Commercial Construction Index.

57%

Contractors expecting to hire in the next six months

92%

Contractors expressing concern about the skill level of the workforce

56%

Contractors reporting challenges in finding skilled workers

going on everywhere. However, he said Midwesterners are a valuable resource.

“One thing we sometimes forget here in the Midwest is that we have the best people,” Lucas said. “In Kansas City and the surrounding area, we have good, smart people that have work ethic.”

Kansas City also can claim a steadier stream of work than some boom-and-bust regions, Lucas said.

“We don’t have extreme high highs and we don’t have the extreme low lows of other areas.

We’re typically less roller-coaster-ish than other regions, so it is a really good place to have a career, be able to raise a family and do good things for the community,” he said.

The shortage of construction workers naturally causes wages to rise, which Lucas said is a benefit for workers and the local economy. However, that also can create challenges for companies that need to hire. According to the CCI, 37 percent of

contractors expressed concern about the cost of skilled labor; small firms were even more worried—49 percent of contractors with less than $10 million in revenue said they were concerned about labor costs.

But for Lucas, who has worked in construction for his entire career, the benefits of working in the industry go beyond the earning potential.

“There’s a lot of young people out there that don’t get excited about sitting in an office or putting together widgets. They like to work with their hands. They like to see something get accomplished every day,” he said. “And construction gives that to you — it gives you a sense of purpose and accomplishment. You can visually look at what you accomplished and feel good about it.”

Katie Bean is the Executive Vice President at Thinking Bigger Business Media.

(913) 432-6690 // kbean@ithinkbigger.com

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48 THINKING BIGGER BUSINESS // January 2018

BIG | talk

» The BIG thinkers

behind the BIG ideas. »

Daniel Burrus Futurist, entrepreneur, author, speaker

KELLY » What is the

anticipatory organization?

DANIEL »

I’m teaching the “great missing competency”—the ability to accurately anticipate problems before you have them so you can pre-solve them and not have them in the first place, and to anticipate disruptions before they disrupt, which allows you to turn disruptions into a choice.

Turning disruption into a choice allows you to create positive disruption and provides much more control. With the pace of change accelerating at an exponential rate, if all we’re doing is being agile—which is reacting quickly to disruption and problems after they happen— the advantage of being agile slips quickly behind us. We need to get out ahead of these changes.

KELLY » How do you identify

disruptions and then get out ahead of them?

DANIEL »

We live in a world filled with uncertainty. Strategy based on uncertainty has high risks.

On the other hand, strategy based on certainty has low risk and high rewards. You can learn to be certain about thousands of things. That’s what I teach in my new book.

I’ve developed a methodology of separating all trends into either Hard Trends and Soft Trends.

Hard trends will happen, guaranteed.

They’re based on future facts that

cannot be changed. The advantage is that you can see them coming before they happen. Soft Trends are based on assumptions about the future. They’re not a future fact. The advantage of a Soft Trends is that if you don’t like them, you can change them.

There are three categories of Hard Trends: demographics, technology and government regulations. Let’s take demographics, for example. In this country, there are 78 million baby boomers.

The Hard Trend is they are going to get older. That future fact allows us to pinpoint some amazing low-risk opportunities that are untapped.

One of the principles I teach is: If it can be done, it will be done— and if you don’t do it, someone else will. This understanding about Hard Trends allows you to identify innovative strategies that will have low risk.

KELLY » Tell us some more about

Soft Trends.

DANIEL »

Soft Trends are based on assumptions about the future, not

a future fact. The problem is that many of us think certain things can’t be changed, but they can because it is an assumption that appears to be a future fact. For example, I was recently speaking to 2,000 CEOs in the health care industry. They assumed, like the rest of us, that the trend of increasing health care costs is unstoppable. Once I pointed out that increasing health care costs represents a Soft Trend that can be changed, the CEOs began to see many new opportunities that were invisible to them moments before.

KELLY » How do you determine

whether something’s a Hard Trend or a Soft Trend?

Daniel Burrus is one of the world’s leading futurists on global trends and innovations. He’s a strategic adviser who has guided executives from Fortune 500 companies, as well as small and mediumsize businesses, to develop paradigm-shifting strategies for capitalizing on amazing untapped opportunities. Burrus himself has started six companies—four were national leaders in the first year, and five were profitable in year one. He is the author of seven books, including The New York Times Bestseller “Flash Foresight”.

His latest book, “The Anticipatory Organization”, is already number one on Amazon’s Hot New Books.

The reason I wrote “The Anticipatory Organization” is that if all we do is react to disruptions and problems after they happen, we will not be happy campers on planet Earth. We all need to learn how to be anticipatory and identify and solve problems before they happen, and learn to use rapid change as a force to shape a better tomorrow for ourselves, our families and our businesses.

DANIEL »

Ask yourself: Is it impossible to change the trend? If it’s impossible to change it, then it’s a Hard Trend. If it can be changed, it’s Soft. For example, we have a long-running trend of increasing obesity in this country. Is this trend impossible to change? No! It is highly likely to continue, but it’s not a certainty.

To listen to the full interview, scan the QR code or visit theRadio Archives of www.iThinkBigger.com

SMART COMPANIES THINKING BIGGER®

49

BIG | shots

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