Starting a Small Business in Lake Saint Louis: Choosing a Business Concept

When you’re considering starting a small business, the first step is to develop a business concept.

Whether you choose to go the potentially safer route and open a franchise or you choose to think outside the box and open a unique business, the first thing you need is a good idea.

Since we recently discussed buying a franchise, we’re going to focus on coming up with your own original business idea. We’re taking a little inspiration from some Lake Saint Louis business owners who shared the different ways they were inspired to start their own businesses.

Organizational Alignment

Lake Saint Louis resident Cammie Cruz runs her own Pampered Chef business from her home office. Cruz has a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Elementary Education, and she said that she chose her Pampered Chef career for some very specific reasons.

“I have always loved the products, loved the mission of the company ‘getting families around the dinner table’ and that it is a Christian organization,” she told Lake Saint Louis Patch editor Tamara Duncan.

Winds of Change

Boulevard Bride owner Deborah Sitze said she didn’t have any experience in the retail bridal-wear industry before she opened her store. She had spent the majority of her career in insurance, but decided to try something new.  

"I was looking for something totally different that was just fun. This opportunity came up and I took it," she told Lake Saint Louis Patch.

Reinventing Herself

Lake Saint Louis resident Sandy Grassmuck had great success in the real-estate industry as an investor who bought and sold houses. Then the market bottomed out, and Grassmuck said she was forced to reinvent herself.

"As long as you're ready to roll with the punches and re-create yourself every couple of years when the market does, you will make it in this business," Grassmuck told Lake Saint Louis Patch.

Grassmuck did just that, opening Grassmuck Realty, a full-service realty company that now boasts more than 10 licensed agents.

A Dream-Changing Experience

Dr. Daniel Roach, owner of Hawk Ridge Family Chiropractic, originally planned to be a medical physician. But after his grandmother was paralyzed by a botched routine spinal surgery, he changed his mind.

“After learning this, I decided that I would rather be in a profession where I could help people with these issues before surgery was necessary, rather than giving them medications to mask the pain,” he told Lake Saint Louis Patch.

Roach became a chiropractor instead, and today, his successful Lake Saint Louis practice’s motto is “getting the sick well and keeping the well from getting sick.”

A Natural Talent

Lake Saint Louis resident and Safety Training and Consultants International (STCI) owner Richard Shoaf said that he started his business right out of college. It was a part-time consulting business at the time, and before long, it grew into the thriving company it is today.

As a natural-born entrepreneur, it just made sense that Shoaf and his company would help other companies grow their own businesses.

“We continue to provide assessments, organizational development, planning efforts, equipment selection and support, exercise design and evaluation,” Shoaf told Lake Saint Louis Patch. “We grew across the years to now include over 100 consultants and patterning agreements that include resources in the thousands.”

Have you always dreamed of starting your own business? Subscribe to our daily newsletter so you won’t miss a single part of this ongoing series! Next week, we’ll discuss writing a business plan.

Do you own your own business in Lake Saint Louis? We want to share your story with the community! Contact Patch reporter Angela Atkinson at angela.atkinson@patch.com to arrange for an interview.