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It’s no secret that the pandemic has made the entire world rethink business. Working from home has spawned a whole new generation of small business owners, many of them women, and many of those, moms. That’s where the Start Something Studio –Small Business Help Center comes in.

“We saw a need,” says Jamie Saam, who launched the women-owned digital marketing company in Batavia in August with Lisa Koivu. Saam has an extensive business background, including co-owner of a plumbing business with her husband for 12 years, former city council member, former executive director of Batavia MainStreet, and co-creator of Batavia Boardwalk Shops, among other positions.

“Through all of that I was seeing that local small business entrepreneurs needed so much assistance,” says Saam.

Jamie

assist with small business development around Batavia

By Diane Krieger Spivak

Saam praised existing business resources but saw a need for a space female owners in particular could “come in, collaborate, bounce ideas off and brainstorm.” She and Koivu, a website designer, work together to help those small businesses. “We thought it would be good to give business owners a space to get friendly, [gain] honest advice and assistance with websites, social media training and accountability partnership.”

Start Something’s clientele includes a plethora of businesses such as small retail, dementia training, realtors, therapists, online businesses, food-based, and nutrition-based businesses. Some even conduct classes at the studio such as healthy cooking, knitter education and life and health coaching.

Growth in the small business community in the Tri-City area has been “huge” in recent years, according to Saam. “That’s kind of what got us started,” she said. “You’re seeing more home-based businesses and a lot of them are female. People want something that they feel is going to be flexible in their schedule and their lifestyle; something that works around kids and family time.”

Start Something’s team offers a free 30-minute consultation which can be booked on their website. “We sit and chit chat. We see what they want to talk about, and we try to send them away with a couple of takeaways,” says Saam. Clients then receive proposals for services based on their needs. There are two membership levels. Based on the level the client chooses, services can include access to space, co-working, scheduling social media, monthly chats, onehour working sessions, SEO and website assistance, networking events and a small business book club.

“We provide the team that most of them don’t have because they are solo entrepreneurs,” says Saam. While Start Something’s target audience is female, the studio does have male clients as well. “We are an everyone-friendly environment, but we saw a strong female camaraderie in Batavia and Aurora,” says Saam. “The women were looking for community, for help, for a femalefocus.”

The community aspect is particularly important, Saam has learned through the years. “We all thrive better in community. We noticed that during the pandemic. Here, we’ve created a positive, friendly environment to walk into,” she says. “We hear it every day. I think the energy we’re sharing, while it is stressful, can be fun and exciting. There’s so much that happens around the table. A lot of tears happen around the table. These women can be vulnerable in a fixed, comfortable, fun, safe environment where they can get it all out and work through things. We know women; that’s what we are.”