INSIDE DISH: Patachou Inc. has full plate with expansion plans
Founder Martha Hoover expects to open two new restaurants by the end of the year and as many as six more by 2020, including eateries outside central Indiana.
Small Business
Articles
New hardware store tries to carve out niche near downtown
In a city and industry dominated by big-box home-improvement chains, North Meridian Hardware owner Keith Payne hopes his independent store can build a loyal following among downtown’s denizens.
N.K. Hurst’s unsexy beans fill bottom shelf, bottom line
N.K. Hurst Co. Inc. sells roughly 20 million packages of dried beans and bean soup mixes a year, from the West McCarty Street packaging plant it has operated since 1938. It has only about 50 employees, but its products are ubiquitous in the grocery industry.
Entrepreneurs see early success with new liqueur
Blue MF is a vodka-and-rum-based liqueur concocted by three Indiana University fraternity brothers turned entrepreneurs. Their firm, Indianapolis-based More Fun Liqueur, launched its signature drink in October and now is seeking investors to help fund expansion.
Popular barbershop gets makeover from community
Whiteland residents have rallied around a beloved barber who has been cutting hair in the Johnson County community for more than four decades by helping him remodel his shop.
Motorsports marketing firm launches strategy division
The move by Zionsville-based Just Marketing International reflects growing client demand for measuring return on investment from motorsports sponsorships.
What’s New: Grateful Pet
Melissa Kelly and Zach Pierson, who opened delivery service Grateful Pet LLC in July and are bootstrapping the business through Kelly’s day job.
Local graphics firm Pratt acquired by Minnesota company
Pratt Corp., a 66-year-old Indianapolis-based retail graphics firm that saw ambitious expansion plans come up short during the recession, has been acquired by Vomela Group of St. Paul, Minn.
Angel investors love health care deals
Health care venture capital has become scarcer in Indiana the past two years, but there are indications that angel investors are picking up some of the slack.
SBA lenders optimistic about year’s loan output
Volume nevertheless is expected to fall short of last year’s record numbers
LEADING QUESTIONS: Ad exec boils down rules for success
Bruce Bryant founded Promotus Advertising with little experience as an entrepreneur. Through mentors, biblical scripture and hard-won experience, he has culled several tenets for staying solvent and keeping a clear head.
Lockhart Automotive moves Cadillac dealership to Fishers
The car retailer, rebounding from the discontinuation of some of its brands, is repurposing its former Hummer dealership.
Local associations emerging to nurture small tech firms
Hamilton County and Bloomington are among places that are nurturing small technology firms in their own back yard. Local tech-focused organizations like theirs could stoke competition among Hoosier communities vying for coveted jobs.
What’s New: PatentStatus
This week, meet James Burnes, who launched virtual patent-marking service PatentStatus LLC in January and spent the first weekend of February hobnobbing with corporate bigwigs in town for Super Bowl XLVI.
WOJTOWICZ: Temporary program helps refinance commercial mortgages
A recent study from Credit Suisse found that over $15 billion of small commercial mortgages (under $5 million) are coming due in the next few years.
Forget the glass ceiling … how about the ‘pink ghetto’?
What do you make of the criticism that there’s a "pink ghetto" of women-owned firms somehow less worthy than the myriad male-led tech startups that garner so much attention and praise?
INSIDE DISH: Gastropub owners get aggressive after big first year
The Local Eatery and Pub in Westfield streaked past break-even point in its first 12 months, leading its relieved but exhausted owners to plan new projects.
Serial entrepreneur builds more than business
Westfield resident Jenn Kampmeier is a CEO—that’s “chief everything officer” in the get-it-done world of startups—who prefers an even-loftier title: Mom.
Angie’s List expected to continue financial losses
The Indianapolis-based company should post a loss of 11 cents per share when it reports its first earnings as a public company on Wednesday afternoon. But at least one analyst is upbeat about its long-term prospects.
Marketer applies engineering skills to lead creative firm
Kathy Cabello left a lucrative IT career to start Cabello Associates Inc., a marketing consultancy celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.