No Time To Start A Business?
Bergen County entrepreneurs haven’t let the pandemic stop them from launching new ventures. Here’s how you can join their ranks—and succeed.
In a space that used to house a five-and-dime, Chris Alepa is working on his dream. Where the previous owner sold toys and trinkets, Alepa plans to proffer craft beer. His Five Dimes Brewery should be up and running in Westwood by the time this article is published, but Alepa knows that supply-chain problems, which bedeviled the renovation of his space from the beginning, could put off the opening by a couple of weeks.
When he created the business plan for Five Dimes, Alepa didn’t factor in supply-chain delays and inflated prices for just about everything. He also didn’t factor in a pandemic that would change the face of retail business across the U.S. and, in COVID’s early days, hit Bergen County particularly hard. But he is going forward with his plans, partly because he believes in the business and partly because he doesn’t have all that much choice. “We had so much time and money invested in this,” he says, “we felt the best thing would be to just push through.”
If the county’s current business climate is any indication, Alepa may have made the right decision. New businesses are opening in Bergen at a healthy pace, in spite of the pandemic. And, though it might seem counterintuitive, restaurants—which suffered disproportionately during the height of COVID—are opening at a particularly rapid clip. Joanne Cimiluca, executive director of Bergen County’s Division of Economic Development, attributes that trend, in part, to the county’s financial support of its restaurants through the federal stimulus bill known as the CARES Act. It may also stem from pent-up demand: Bergenites, after all, have always loved eating out.
Eateries aren’t the only businesses opening up in Bergen. Thanks to the pandemic boost in e-commerce, the warehouse business is booming here. Abandoned industrial spaces and brownfields—previously developed, possibly contaminated land—now represent prime real estate that’s easily convertible to warehouse space, Cimiluca says.
Make no mistake—business success has never been a sure thing, and the continuing pandemic has made the economic landscape even more uncertain. Never has it been more important for a potential business owner to proceed with caution and due diligence. Carol Rauscher, president of the North New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, advises all would-be entrepreneurs to “do your homework.”
Consider The Climate
Before you pour your heart and soul—not to mention your time and savings—into a new venture, make sure it’s the type of business that can thrive in a pandemic. Restaurants set up for takeout, for instance, have a clear advantage over those that aren’t. Kurt Biroc is the owner of Freakin’ Vegan, which, in its original Prospect Park location, prepared food for festivals and other large gatherings. When COVID essentially shut those gatherings down, he pivoted to takeout. The business was doing so well, he says, that he opened a new location in Cliffside Park.
Another pandemic natural is healthcare. Rauscher notes that businesses in the healthcare realm are opening up in considerable numbers in Bergen, including urgent care centers such as CityMD in Edgewater and Englewood Health in Englewood. Health- adjacent businesses are also doing well. In late 2021, for instance, Amanda Caperton, a registered nurse, took over the Bergen franchise of Let Mommy Sleep, which provides overnight care to newborns and a welcome respite to their beleaguered parents. While Caperton believes that COVID is putting a small crimp in the endeavor—which, of course, requires a nurse to work in a client’s home—she says nevertheless that things have been going well, and she’s looking to expand her territory in New Jersey as COVID recedes.
The pandemic has actually helped Ridgewood resident Kristina Phillips’ interior design business, which she launched in February 2021. “The demand was high for interior designers for obvious reasons,” she says. “Everybody was hunkering at home, working from home.” Not only did they want to make the experience of hunkering more pleasant, they also needed better working spaces. And young couples moving from the city to the suburbs to escape the worst of the pandemic often arrived with very little in the way of furnishings. “I hit the ground running,” Phillips says, “and I’m very busy.”
The Right Location—Or None
Location has always been a critical consideration for new business owners, and never more so than during the pandemic, when foot traffic for businesses of any kind has declined precipitously. Anastasia Baker opened her floral business, RSVP by Anastasia, in December 2020 in The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack. Being in a space with other businesses helped draw customers to her shop and increased customer awareness of her brand, which specializes in organically preserved roses that can last up to two years. And thanks to the pandemic, she was able to secure a discounted rent for a fully furnished, 3,500-square-footspace that formerly housed the luxury goods company Salvatore Ferragamo. “We grew into the space,” she says, an indication of how the company has prospered in a year.
Even with foot traffic temporarily down, walkable downtowns retain their appeal. Biroc chose to open his second vegan restaurant on Cliffside Park’s Anderson Avenue. “It runs through the heart of town,” he says, “and it’s a very populated, very popular strip.” He notes that there’s a new high-rise apartment building directly across the street from the restaurant, which offers a built-in customer base.
On the other hand, companies with a strong online presence, or those that do all of their business online, have prospered during COVID as well, especially if they occupy a desirable niche. In 2020, Mayer Koenig founded TIPXY.com, an online marketplace for wines and spirits, which he operates out of an office in Hackensack. Koenig recognized that there was an untapped online market for alcohol, which he says was “one of the last very, very large categories to shift in a significant way to the online space.” The site is prospering: In July 2021, its first actual month doing business, the company earned $18,000 in revenue; in the first month of 2022 it earned $65,000.
Modern Mom Style Box, a clothing rental company, is another business that’s benefiting from online-only status. When Tara Clark launched the venture from her Closter home in September 2021, it looked as if the pandemic was on the wane and that, consequently, women would soon be returning to office life. So she marketed the venture as a way to suit up for work. When it became clear that, thanks to the Omicron variant, most of us would still be working from home, she changed her marketing plans, stressing maternity clothes and outfits designed to boost customers’ spirits.
Research, Then Research Some More
No matter what the business climate, says Vincent Vicari, a lack of preparation can doom an enterprise from the start. Vicari is the regional director of the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at Ramapo College, and he and his colleagues help potential owners develop business plans that take into account the economic climate, the competition, the market for a service or product and the owner’s ability to deliver it.
Seasoned entrepreneurs may not be fazed by the idea of working up a business plan, but those just entering the arena can find it daunting. Luckily, Bergen County can help. Expected to launch this month, the Bergen County Resource Network (BRN) will offer business owners, new or established, what Cimiluca calls “one-stop shopping.” The new website will allow owners to contact a “support specialist,” who can then connect them with the county agencies offering the specific help they require, at no cost. If a business is looking for employees, for instance, the support specialist can direct it to the Bergen County Job Center. If owners need help with a business plan, they’ll likely be connected with the Small Business Development Center.
The BRN will also offer a data intelligence tool it’s calling SizeUp. Owners and potential owners can enter indicators of performance, including costs, location, size and annual revenue (or projected revenue) to see how they fare compared with their competitors. “It will give them a benchmark to see where they are,” says Cimiluca, “and determine where they need help.” It can also help businesses learn who their competitors are and where they can find suppliers and customers— the latter particularly helpful in the planning of marketing campaigns. (To find out more about the BRN and SizeUp, including when the site will be up and running, interested business owners can contact Joanne Cimiluca at 201.336.7336.)
Even in a pandemic, you don’t need to put off your dream of opening a business. But it’s essential, Vicari warns, “to connect your dream to truth.” What he means by truth is an understanding of the economic realities that can cause a business to thrive or fail. “You have to match skill set, investment, passion, sweat equity and an unwavering commitment to building community, from which loyal customers come,” he advises. Luckily for entrepreneurs in Bergen, the county is ready to help them do just that.
By Leslie Garisto Pfaff
