Dec. 27, 2023

This paid piece is sponsored by Startup Sioux Falls.

Kurt Loudenback knows what it’s like to be a small-business owner looking to scale – and what it takes to do so.

In his early years as CEO of Grand Prairie Foods, he participated in a CEO roundtable that was “filled with successful people,” he said. “And I learned a lot from them as I built my business. They inspired me to excel and held me accountable to business plans and actions.”

Now, Loudenback is paying it forward in a big way. He’s serving as facilitator for first cohort of Growco, a new yearlong program offered through Startup Sioux Falls designed for operating-stage founders and startups ready to grow stable and sustainable businesses.

“I want to play a role in helping other young businesses gain a jump-start to building successful enterprises that contribute to the economy of the future in Sioux Falls,” Loundenback said.

The Growco program is geared toward business leaders who:

• Are solopreneurs experiencing growth and looking to hire employees.
• Have been in business at least three years and want to grow and/or are experiencing a plateau.
• Own an established business but are looking to make substantial changes.

Beginning in February, the cohort will meet monthly for about four hours each session and be supported by a board of strategic advisers comprised of business leaders.

“We see Growco as a natural extension of our programming for startups, building on the success of our accelerator CO.STARTERS but also allowing us to reach a new group of entrepreneurs who might not otherwise have a connection to us,” said Brienne Maner, president of Startup Sioux Falls.

“To have an established entrepreneur like Kurt Loudenback leading this cohort brings an exceptional level of expertise and mentorship, and we’re excited for our founders to be able to take advantage of it.”

We sat down with Loudenback to learn more about the program and what participants can expect.

How would you describe the purpose/goal of Growco? What’s the essence of the program all about?

Growco will force these small-business enterprises, often sole proprietors, to form some structure around their business development. Rather than flying by the seat of their pants with a “hope” strategy like many startups do, they will learn proven techniques that will increase the likelihood of success. It’s a well-known fact that more than half of all new businesses fail, and it can normally be attributed to poor planning or poor execution. Growco will provide some structure to aid in the planning part, and the peer group and advisory board structure will provide accountability to these new business owners to help with the execution part.

Who would you consider the sort of founder who is a good fit for this?

This is not a program for a business that was just founded yesterday. However, they will be in the early stages of development and may need an extra push to get to the next level. A new phase may be hiring their first employee or expanding the business into a new space after bootstrapping at home.

What kind of programming and resources can participants expect?

The monthly agenda will allow for check-in — highs and lows since the last meeting — formal discussion of the GrowthWheel, which is the tool that will serve as the business plan guide, one individual in the “hot seat,” i.e. allowing more time to review the state of their business and gaining feedback from the group, and a guest speaker who will augment the “book” learning with “been there, done that” sharing.

Additionally, we will have board of advisers, made up of seasoned local business professionals, who once per quarter will hear a 10- to 15-minute presentation from each entrepreneur and provide candid feedback on what they like about the status of the business development or what improvement they suggest. This will be a powerful opportunity to gain one-on-one feedback from some of our community’s brightest business folks.

What sort of investment should participants be prepared to make? Both time and financially?

The program is an investment of $5,000 upfront or $5,500 if paid monthly. Each person selected for the inaugural cohort will receive a $1,800 scholarship. There are monthly meetings, and in order to build an intimate group of entrepreneurs, we are limiting participation to no more than eight businesses, so make sure and apply soon.

Register today

Thinking about participating in the program but want to learn more? Information sessions will be held Jan. 4 and 5. Click below to register.

Growco Business Program Information Session 1

Growco Business Program Information Session 2

The deadline to register for Growco is Jan. 14. To learn more and apply, click here.