NC REAL A Big Help For Shop Owner
By LARRY DALE
Daily Courier Staff Writer
RUTHERFORDTON — Entrepreneurship and small business creation are the main focuses of NC REAL, and Angie Grohwin’s business is one of the program’s success stories.
Grohwin opened The Coffee Place in May 2007. This June, she moved the shop to a larger facility next to the courthouse. Grohwin went through the NC REAL program at Isothermal Community College and recommends it to anyone who would like to start a business.
NC REAL is Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning. The program’s Web site says, “The NC REAL vision for the people and communities of North Carolina is a healthy, vibrant economy in which small business and successful entrepreneurial activity plays a vital role, where people develop the skills they need for productive participation, and where all people with entrepreneurial interests and aspirations have access to high quality entrepreneurship education.”
“We went twice a week for six weeks,” Grohwin said Monday. “They tell you how to write a marketing plan to present to lenders to get your capital.“They helped me figure out how to do a profit and loss statement and track sales. From A to Z in running a business, they did it.”
She said the course was challenging but worthwhile. “It was a lot of numbers,” she noted. “For those of us who are not mathematically inclined, it proved to be challenging, but it was fun. I certainly would recommend it for anybody who wants to start a business. It’s a good preparation.”
The move from 178 Main St. to nearby 123 W. Second St. was made to give room to grow the business. Grohwin said customers had urged her to serve a breakfast menu, but that was not practical at the Main Street location.
Now, in the new location, she offers a full breakfast and lunch menu, in addition to doughnuts, lattes and cappuccinos. The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Grohwin said the previous tenant, also a restaurant, had done so well at the Second Street location that she decided to “venture bigger” and make the move when the location became available.
One of the aims of the NC REAL program is job creation. The Coffee Place provides 12 jobs.
Grohwin and her mother, Barbara Sambroski, run the business together. Grohwin said her mother, a North Carolina native, returned to the state from New York City two years ago and the two of them decided to start a business together.
Since the REAL program began in 1985, more than 12,000 entrepreneurs have received training, the Web site reports. For more information about NC REAL, contact ICC or Foothills Connect Business & Technology Center, whose mission is to support the development and growth of small businesses and entrepreneurship in Rutherford County.
Contact Dale via e-mail at ldale@thedigitalcourier.com