Rivendell Education Center

Arawyn Madu taught toddlers for nine years before deciding to open her own center. Three of those were at the Campbell Center at Fort Lewis College. She attended night school for seven years to accumulate the credits required to become a Director of an Early Childhood Education Center in the State of Colorado.

When she had the state requirements satisfied, she took the Leading Edge for Entrepreneurs Class, “to learn the business side,” she explains.

Her comprehensive and well-thought out Business Plan earned her Third Place among graduates who started the class in January of 2014. One of the most valuable skills she learned was how to budget. “Balancing income with expenses, saving for payroll taxes and understanding what it realistically costs to be in business were huge!”

Included in the equation was the need to shop around for locations to lease where the square foot price was affordable. Then, she determined what her monthly fee per student would be and how many she needed to cover overhead, salaries, etc. The class also emphasized the importance of hiring an agency to handle payroll, taxes, and file reports – something she finds invaluable. “It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

The Market Research section of the course encouraged her to examine local competition and what they were charging. She gained a good perspective on what the market would bare and calculated a competitive price for the quality service she would offer. The research also confirmed that there was room in the market for another center offering services to children six weeks to 36 months.

Formulating a Mission Statement and business philosophy were integral in her success. “I knew what my heart wanted to do, but I had to look at the numbers to know if I could actually create my dream. I could have opened two years earlier but I took the class because I wanted to do it right so I would succeed.”

Arawyn marketed her new school through ads in the Herald and “a useful and interactive webpage and Facebook page. I posted flyers and told friends. This is really a word of mouth community,” she explains.
After graduation, she also met with advisor, Tom Holcomb who reviewed her budget and projections. “He found a glitch that could have been devastating if it had not been discovered. It was so helpful to have another set of eyes on the numbers.”

Rivendell Early Education Center has been open since August 3, 2015. Arawyn says “the most exciting part is getting to implement my ideas and policies and incorporate things I learned in nine years of teaching.”
The Center now employs four full-time and three part-time teachers and “runs smoothly.”

Enterprise Bar & Grill

Have you heard the story about the entrepreneur who bought a business because she was looking for a job?  Seriously.  She bought a bar and grill in Rico, CO, with no previous business experience.  A year and a half into it she sought assistance from the Small Business Development Center.  This woman took a class designed for entrepreneurs, implemented the suggested practices, became business savvy, and now has a goal to buy the property her bar and grill operates

Read More »
Finn’s Wurst Sausage

            Greg and Finn Hopkins are a father and son team that created Finn’s Wurst Sausage.  Finn came up with the idea to sell authentic German bratwurst from a New York City styled hot dog cart during a brainstorming session with his dad.  The purpose of the business is to advance Finn from employee to owner.  Finn is autistic.  His experience in the food service industry has been as a dishwasher, prep cook and busser. 

Read More »
Cedar Enterprises Wildfire Mitigation and Landscaping

In just over two years, Cedar Enterprises went from a one-man show with a pickup truck to a team of employees executing government contracts. How was all this possible? Owner Bryan Wendt credits the supportive team at Southwest Colorado SBDC. Cedar Enterprises specializes in landscaping and fire mitigation. For his first five years in business, Bryan was the sole owner and operator and focused on small residential projects. In 2020, the company was awarded a

Read More »
San Juan Trading Post

By Malia Durbano Ryan, Tom and Ellen Beavers are all partners in San Juan Trading Post, a new business that opened in Pagosa Springs in October of 2013. Parents Tom and Ellen live in Pagosa and develop properties there. Son Ryan was managing a pawn shop in Ohio. When Tom and Ellen looked around, they realized there wasn’t a pawn shop in Pagosa and thought it might be a good place to open one. Ryan

Read More »
Durango Diner: Taking on a New Type of Adventure

Last year, while quarantined in his basement, Greg Mauger had an epiphany. He was bored stiff, and he realized that he would rather work himself to death than be that bored. So, after more than a decade of working off and on at the Durango Diner, he decided to buy it. He began looking for funding and quickly realized that his adventurous lifestyle didn’t lend itself to easy loan approval from banks. He looked for

Read More »
Bookcase and Barber

The Bookcase and the Barber celebrated their six-month anniversary on June 5, 2016. Without even realizing it, Partners Beau Black and Thomas Gibson, opened their “speakeasy” drinking establishment on December 5. In 1933, on that date the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was ratified that repealed prohibition. The partners modeled their business after those in the era of prohibition. Thus, when you walk into the barbershop, you enter the “speakeasy” through a secret door disguised

Read More »
Skip to content