A key theme of yesterday’s guest speaker presentation and class discussion in Midwest Entrepreneurs class was “love what you do and do what you love.” This is not the first time we have heard such advice from our guest speakers this semester.
The latest purveyor of this theme was Susan Schuytema of Market Alley Wines (located here in downtown Monmouth, IL). Links to the thriving company’s webpage and Facebook page are provided below.
https://www.facebook.com/marketalleywines
Susan loves wine and she loves people and channels her love of the two into a unique wine-centered consumption experience. Class member Mackenzie Notestein addresses this and other aspects of the ongoing entrepreneurial journey of Susan Schuytema and Market Alley Wines below.
Prof. Gabel
————————————————————————————————————–
This past Thursday, we had a guest speaker, Susan Schuytema, who came to share her entrepreneurial journey and how she turned her love for wine into a business. Susan is originally from Galva, Illinois. She attended Western University to pursue a career in journalism.
One of the most interesting parts of Susan’s journey is the many different jobs and places that she had worked at before becoming an entrepreneur. The last job she had was in marketing and she realized that she didn’t enjoy it at all. Then she asked herself: “What do I want to do with my life?”
While thinking of what she wanted to do next, her husband had encouraged her to take the entrepreneurial route. Then she realized that she always loved wine and thought about opening a wine shop in Monmouth, Illinois.
She based her original business plan on some research sponsored by the City of Monmouth that suggested there was high demand for a wine bar (because local residents were spending a lot of money on wine outside of Monmouth). With a lot of support from her family and financial help from her mom, she was able to turn her dreams and passion for opening a wine shop into a reality. Market Alley Wines officially opened in June of 2011.
Market Alley Wines is located downtown Monmouth, Illinois. It is a small profitable business which means that whatever is made goes back into the business. We discussed this approach to self-funding the operations of the business as “bootstrapping.”
Susan’s upscale shop sells wine, craft and local beers, wine tools, glassware, and home décor. Market Alley Wines carries over 300 types of wine from twenty different distributors. Currently, she has five employees and she said that they are a great staff. “They are reliable and they really care about the store,” Susan said. Having a good staff that cares about the store and gets along with the customers well is good business. A lot of the customers who come to Market Alley Wines are middle-aged women but she welcomes everyone! Susan said she wanted Market Alley Wines to be a place where people can come in and hang out; calling it a “third place” (in addition to one’s home and place of work). She also wanted women to be able to feel comfortable coming to Market Alley Wines by themselves.
Not only do people hang out and drink wine but they can enjoy some live music as well. Susan loves music and she wanted to be able to bring that to her business. Market Alley Wines now has live music weekly and “open mic” once a month. Susan is always trying to keep her business interesting for her customers. She frequently change things around with regard to retail merchandise sold as well as hosting new and exciting events. Some events may include wine tastings and different types of classes.
One of the most important things Susan told us is: “I love my job. I love going to work every day. It’s my business. It’s my baby and I am not going to let it go.”
Thank you Susan for being our guest speaker!
Mackenzie Notestein
