Two Small Businesses are Thriving and Surviving

Celebrating a year in business is a huge milestone for any new small business. Thriving or merely surviving during and after a global pandemic make the accomplishment even more impressive.

Although it’s not Small Business Saturday (that’s in November), ELi likes to highlight and celebrate year-round the unique small businesses that make up the East Lansing community. We spoke with two owners and operators of newer downtown businesses to hear how they’ve grown and the obstacles they’ve overcome to get where they are today.

RISKY STUDIOS

ELi last spoke with the owners of Risky Studios in March 2022, a week or so after the grand opening of the Black-owned, creative, co-working multimedia production studio. The space, at 301 M.A.C. Avenue, then in Suite 106, provides equipment rentals for podcasters, music production, photography and videography.

Drawn to the downtown East Lansing community for its prime location, co-owners Alicia and Joshua Southern wanted to provide dreamers and doers with a starting point and incubator for their unique endeavors.

Alicia said since opening in 2022, the City of East Lansing’s staff, officials, residents and fellow small business owners have been very welcoming. That support has led to substantial growth for the studio.

“Since opening, we have moved to a larger suite, added services and developed partnerships with other businesses and organizations,” Alicia said. “Opening Risky Studios has allowed us to work on larger-scale projects and qualified us to participate in LEAP’s Elevate program for Black business owners. We have been able to connect with MSU [Michigan State University] and LCC [Lansing Community College] and provide internships for current students and build a great team.”

Over the last year, Risky Studios has also taken the stage at the East Lansing Art Festival in May and hosted the Greater Lansing Area Moms GLAM Jam event in June.

“We have been able to build another community similar to the neighborhood we live in,” Alicia said. “We take every opportunity to support the community by patronizing other small/local businesses, volunteering for events and participating in local initiatives.

“Coming up this fall, we plan to have  ‘Risky in the City’ days where our team participates collectively in community service days to support local organizations and the city’s environmental stewardship program,” she said.

Risky moves pay off and lead to the business expanding to a bigger space.

The community response has been positive to the studio’s wide-ranging menu of services, including on-location videography/live streaming, music video production and event hosting. Although still located in the same building, Alicia said they quickly outgrew the original suite and are now located in Suite 103, a much larger space.

Looking ahead, the Southerns hope to grow even more, expanding their services, upgrading equipment and moving to an even larger standalone space. The next goal is to have multiple suites and a sound stage in-house.

“We would love to grow our relationships with the cities of Lansing and East Lansing, MSU, and other businesses and organizations,” Alicia said.

She provided some tips for other entrepreneurs looking to start a small business in East Lansing.

“Patronize other businesses,” Alicia said. “Get to know the community members, take advantage of business support, get involved in the community events and initiatives, and learn and prepare for what it means to be a business owner in a college town.”

You can stay up to date with Risky news, events & specials on social media: @riskystudioslansing. Also, ELi readers can save $15 on a session by mentioning this article.

CAMPBELL’S MARKET BASKET

Small, family-owned grocery stores, although vital, don’t always live to see the next day in business. Especially when larger corporations pop up next door.

But by offering unique gift baskets and providing a spot where local residents, students, staff and professionals can find grab-and-go lunch options, healthy fruits and veggies, and unique items, Campbell’s Market Basket is coming up on its fifth year in business.

The grocery store, located at 547 E. Grand River Ave., opened March 2019, a year before the COVID pandemic.

Owner Ken Campbell worked in the grocery and farm market industry for more than 12 years, and had dreams of running his own store.

“Growing up and living in East Lansing for most of my life, I knew there was an opportunity and an untapped market,” Campbell said.

Since opening, Campbell’s business has been welcomed into the community by friends, family and strangers alike.

“I think people were very excited to see something new and different, fresh and healthy right downtown,” he said.

While the business model has remained the same, Campbell said much has also changed with the store.

“We have changed almost every menu option, gone through hundreds of new items and SKU’s in our grocery and produce, changed our layout and flow of traffic, displays and equipment,” he said. “Not to mention enduring the entirety of a global pandemic, a closed university, stay-at-home orders, and widespread shortage of products, supplies and labor.”

Campbell’s might be different, but the owner thinks the market is better.

The statistics are not kind to new businesses. According to the U.S. Board of Labor and Statistics, 18% of small businesses fail within their first year, while 50% fail after five years and approximately 65% by their 10th year in business. But throw in all the additional hurdles the pandemic created and entrepreneurs had a potential plan for disaster.

Although the going was tough, Campbell said the grocery store is different from when it started pre-pandemic, but also better.

“The biggest support came during the peak of the pandemic,” he said. “We lost our MSU customers, essentially the livelihood of most downtown businesses. We were forced to switch gears quickly, start a new website, one that customers could order from for delivery or contact-free pickup.

“Our employees stayed busy packing and shipping out orders for our loyal and regular customers,” Campbell said. “All of East Lansing stepped up and supported our small business.”

Campbell is grateful to the many neighborhood customers of Lansing, East Lansing and Okemos for helping keep his business afloat.

“We would not be here today without them,” he said. ”We would not have made it through six months of the pandemic without the support and loyalty of our local customers.”

After receiving so much, Campbell’s plans to give back to its community.

Campbell’s Market Basket is quick to support the supportive community of customers. Whether it’s partnering with the East Lansing Public School system, working closely with MSU fraternities and sororities, the support is full-circle, Campbell said.

“It makes a big difference and truly shows the community support full-circle when we see those friendly faces in the shop that we have engaged with and worked with,” he said. “We know they are on the other side supporting our business in return.”

And now, at almost five years in, the market is planning to expand.

Although still at the same location on Grand River Avenue, Campbell said the market has exciting news regarding an expansion.

“We are excited to announce that we will be moving into the former Evergreen Bike shop right next door. We will be gaining more floor space for grocery, produce, beer, wine and more,” he said. “Stay tuned for more updates on our expansion very soon. We will be starting our buildout very soon, and aiming to open the space this fall.”

With the additional space, Campbell’s will be able to carry more highly-requested products, increase their offerings, and take care of loyal shoppers and attract new shoppers.

“Longterm, I would love the opportunity to open another store or two in a similar neighborhood or town,” Campbell said. “I think we have created a nice niche with our neighborhood market, a small footprint that caters to the hyper-local residents, daily commuters through downtown and campus, and the everyday pedestrian traffic.”