CEO Start offers polish, confidence for Open Studio Sewing
When Madee Weisner started teaching people to sew, she loved it. It was working so well that she started thinking about sewing as a business.
“Starting a business wasn't like a lifelong dream, but I always wanted to do something creative as a career,” said Madee. “I saw that people were interested in what I had to offer, and it seemed like a great way to be my own boss and provide a needed service."
She talked to other folks in the industry, worked with some experts and drafted a business plan. Then she joined CEO Start, a cohort from Hennepin County that brings together idea-stage entrepreneurs to learn, connect, and develop their business ideas.
She saw the cohort as an opportunity to polish her business idea before she took “the leap” to start Open Studio Sewing, a fabric store and sewing education hub in St. Louis Park. CEO Start helped her strengthen her plan and work through the final pieces with peers.
Positive and constructive feedback from the group helped her figure things out and overcome some of her fears of launching a business.
“Even though I had written the business plan, I didn’t have any experience,” said Madee. “I was just kind of figuring it out as I went. So, to be able to really learn about those things and then fine tune my plan and my expectations was really helpful.”
Marketing was one area where the program stood out. She had never done marketing, branding or thought much about developing marketing messages. Training in CEO Start helped her turn her big idea into a message to customers.
“There were some exercises focused on target market, mission statement and vision statement,” said Madee. “That helped me put this big grandiose idea into something very specific and succinct. That has been extremely important in our success thus far.”
Today, Madee is celebrating one year in business, she just hired her second employee, and she continues to grow.
She said the CEO Start group continues to be a trusted network of peers. She stays connected with her former cohort members via a text chat to share progress and support. Many even came to her grand opening to check out the new space.
“To have that social support was one of the best parts in my opinion,” said Madee.
She advised others to think hard about their idea and then to work with advisors or join CEO Start to turn their plan into reality.
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