Small Business as Community Building
Lessons from bagels, entrepreneurship, and Maine’s business ecosystem
I am one of the lucky ones. While not originally from Maine, my love of this state was forged over twenty years ago, and a bit farther out than most. Way down east in Washington County a fifth generation Mainer introduced me to her part of the world, and I have been trying to find a way to be here ever since.
Now, in my role as a business advisor focused on supporting our Food and Agriculture clients, I realize it took every episode of the past two decades to land me in Ellsworth supporting small businesses. Not the least of those being the co-founding and operating of Bottoms Up Bagels (BUB), a small-batch bagel business born out of a love for the simple, fast, customizable and filling treat I grew up with in northern NJ.
My partner and I started the business in our home kitchen out of a devotion to this ‘every man’s food’. We were living in Baltimore, MD for a decade at that point, and could count on one hand the number of times we’d intentionally had bagels in the Mid-Atlantic. We also knew from years of office jobs and sub-par catered breakfast offerings that there was demand for a better bagel – and the bagel shop experience that came with it.
Like many aspiring food entrepreneurs, we worked tirelessly to test our recipe, feed our friends, and find ways to take the leap into a full-fledged business that customers and our community could count on. We grew into community and church kitchens, a commissary, eventually our beloved brick and mortar, the BUB Hub, along with several Roadshow stints in various parts of the United States.
We built a team and an incredible network of other food businesses, vendors, partners and customers (lovingly called BUBalas)! We expanded and collapsed our menu and offerings over time – wholesale, catering, pop-ups – riding the roller coaster that is small business the whole way through.
When it came time to transition out of the business, we developed Proofing Stage, a podcast that took listeners behind the scenes of our business highlighting these highs and lows – wins, setbacks, cringe and elation. We realized that in sharing our story and interviewing other underrepresented founders we could share insights and lessons and feel a lot less alone in what is often the isolation of entrepreneurship.
I found myself reaching for this hive mind more and more. Asking questions of business owners, I wish I had asked, or been asked earlier in my journey, or even knew were questions at all. I grew increasingly interested in the places that do entrepreneurship well. By that I mean, not just spitting out the next business that will go public, but places where small business is the backbone of its communities, and where that is recognized and supported in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Maine’s commitment to a resource-rich ecosystem that supports not only small business growth, but the well-being of the total people behind those businesses is what had me at (to use a Jerry McGuire reference) “hello.”
So much of the work I’ve been doing with small businesses is about helping them define their own definition of success – for themselves, their families and their communities. Terms like impact, growth, sustainability, resilience all take on a different meaning when we allow for our various perspectives and experiences to shape those definitions.
I wish I had more of this view when I was running BUB. It was a struggle to balance what I knew was best for the business with all the noise within and outside of the industry. With customer expectations and payroll and health codes and whether two colors were enough for our BUB merch onesies. And yet, there are few things I would change. Bagel-making for me was always about having a vehicle to connect with people – “you gotta, eat,” after all. It was a vehicle in which to pour passion, creativity- and yes, blood, sweat and tears- and receive feedback, support and yes, money.
The lessons I’ve learned from running BUB and Proofing Stage continue to influence the way I think about small business as an extension of community development. I see this at play as I move about Hancock and Washington counties, here in downtown Ellsworth, and down to Brunswick, where CEI’s headquarters is based.
I’m excited and profoundly grateful to be a part of the business journey of so many people shaping the future of Maine’s economy. Admittedly, it can be its own roller-coaster ride – especially in uncertain times. But, if entrepreneurship teaches you anything, it is that every day is a mixed bag, and if you can get up each day prepared to give it another try you are doing something right.
Michelle Bond is a Business Advisor with Coastal Enterprises Inc. (CEI) and maintains an office at the Union River Center for Innovation (URCI) where she not only meets with clients but is a valued asset as she supports the effort to foster and innovation and entrepreneurship at the center.
Michelle is presenting a 4-week workshop series called The Business of Food beginning on February 18th at URCI. The workshop series will take participants through the various stages of launching a business in the food industry from the dream phase through best practices once the business is operational. The Business of Food is being offered for free, but registration is required. Visit the URCI website for more information and to register.