After being laid off from her factory job, Carol Mortimer approached the Southeastern Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Burlington for assistance in starting her own business. Carol had noticed there was no place in Keokuk to buy party supplies, except for a few plates, napkins and streamers at Hy-Vee and Walmart, and saw an entrepreneural opportunity. Working with SBDC regional director Janine Clover, Carol developed her initial business plan and used it to secure a start-up loan. With a $20,000 personal investment, and a $40,000 loan from KSB Bank in Keokuk, Carol was able to open The Party Supply Inc. in the Keosippi Mall in Keokuk in 2004.

The Party Supply Inc. was locatedat the Keosippi Mall for six years before Carol decided she needed to increase her sales and public exposure by moving her business to Keokuk’s Main Street and creating a web presence, with future plans for an online store. Carol also wanted to learn QuickBooks Financial to better keep her financial records in sync with her QuickBooks Point Of Sale system. With so many new projects and goals developing, Carol once again called on Janine at the Southeastern Small Business Development Center for advice and assistance.

Janine traveled to Keokuk weekly to assist Carol with her goals. After a month of meetings, Carol had a much better understanding of how to input data and extract reports in QuickBooks, to help her make good business decisions. The second phase of the new project was to move the store to a new location. Janine and others from the SBDC office helped Carol pack up her store and move it. SBDC personnel also helped design the store’s floor layout and placement of products for maximum exposure and sales. The third phase of the project was to create a very simple web page in order to give the store some web exposure. The SBDC helped Carol set-up the store’s one-page website and make sure it was active.

While getting ready to move, Carol also decided to pay off her business credit cards. Her bank was not able to lend her additional funds, so Carol applied for a loan from the Iowa Microloan program. Janine helped Carol put together her loan package, financial projections, and business plan and Carol was awarded $33,000 from the Iowa Microloan program.

Most recently, Carol submitted her business plan to the Lee County Business Plan Competition in hopes of winning grant funding, which would be used for marketing purposes. Carol won $6,000 in grant funding from Lee County Economic Development Corporation via the competition and used the funds to purchase a new lighted sign for her business.

The Party Supply Inc. is now located on Main Street in Keokuk and Carol is also selling her merchandise online using her store’s specific link to the Weddingstar.com website and its products. Throughout the store’s move and improvements three jobs were retained, and this unique business that serves a niche market was saved from closing as a result of SBDC mentoring and counseling, and perhaps the packing of a few boxes!

Carol says, “I have been working with Janine a lot over the last few months and it has proven to be very beneficial. I was not using QuickBooks to its fullest potential and she helped me set up the financial side and understand how it worked. I had several goals I wanted to obtain and Janine has helped me in reaching those goals. SBDC is an excellent resource for any small business.”

Be sure to check out the store’s website at www.shoppartysupply.com.