Back of the Napkin Explores the Big Journeys of Small Business Owners
Back of the Napkin unfolds the ideas and innovations that help small business owners drive customer loyalty, develop, and retain employees and grow revenue—as told by the people who risked it all to chase their dream. Hosts Karen Stoychoff from SurePayroll and entrepreneur Dusty Weis talk with small business owners from across the country about their inspiration, success, hard knocks, lessons learned and relentless entrepreneurial spirit. The insights shared by the small business owners featured on Back of the Napkin are especially important as the number of new business start-ups are increasing dramatically across the U.S. According to a recent report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, new business applications from the second half of 2020 through May 2021 mark the greatest on record since 2004. At SurePayroll, we empower the dreams of small business. From online payroll, health insurance, 401(k), workers’ comp, pre-employment screening, and more, SurePayroll makes it easier for small business owners to focus less on payroll and taxes and spend more time doing what they love and do best. Subscribe to Back of the Napkin on your favorite podcast app.
Episodes
December 17, 2021 • 11 mins
Renata and Andrei Stoica from tinyB Chocolate in San Francisco, started a business based on the brigadeiro, a Brazilian confection. A brigadeiro is similar to – yet distinctly different from – fudge, ganache, truffles, or bonbons. The sweet, creamy, intensely flavored bite is perfect to scoop from a jar (spoons optional), gently shape into a ball, and roll in a variety of sweet or savory toppings.
The Stoica’s leveraged their pass...
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Cities across the globe delight with tasty treats unique to their culture and geography. Wisconsin churns cheese. Illinois delivers Chicago deep-dish pizza. Michigan plates up the Detroit Coney. Brazil, the largest country in South America, rolls with the brigadeiro.
A brigadeiro is similar to – yet distinctly different from – fudge, ganache, a truffle, or a bonbon. The sweet, creamy, intensely flavored bite is perfect to scoop fro...
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November 19, 2021 • 11 mins
When Paulo Hutson Solórzano from A Medida Communications in Chattanooga, TN, started his business, he decided “more is good,” and embraced any project that came his way. His mentor advised a different approach.
While he toiled away building small websites and picking up random projects, she recommended Solórzano instead focus on his core skills. She encouraged him to gradually build a portfolio that differentiated him in the market...
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November 3, 2021 • 29 mins
In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Paulo Hutson Solórzano, owner of A Medida Communications in Chattanooga, TN, talks the importance of cross-cultural inclusion, overcoming self-imposed barriers to networking, and the power of tooting your own horn.
From superheroes to how couples fell in love to the inspiration behind a small business, many people find origin stories fascinating. For Paulo Hutson Solórzano, owner of ...
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October 22, 2021 • 10 mins
It seems like everything is on the fast track for Licia Accardo and Tony Spatara, owners of Cafe L'Appetito in Chicago. The siblings assumed ownership of the family restaurant in 2010 after their dad, Anthony Spatara, passed away. The restaurant turns 40 this year, a feat very few small business owners achieve, let alone those run by the second generation. In addition to the Gold Coast and West Loop locations, Accardo and Spatara h...
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October 6, 2021 • 31 mins
Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, and Microsoft. Companies that started as small businesses and changed the landscape in their respective industries. Yet only Apple and Microsoft predate the restaurant started by Anthony Spatara in a small grocery store in 1981 in Chicago's vibrant Italian enclave on the city's Northwest Side. Now owned and operated by siblings Licia Accardo and Tony Spatara, Café L’Appetito ...
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September 24, 2021 • 9 mins
In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor & Mika’s Bakery, discuss owning and operating the first and only vegan establishment in Polk County, FL, and how sometimes finding the perfect recipe requires you to fail again and again.
It took a pandemic, the resulting economic slowdown, and a new ally for Mika Altidor and Victor Munoz, owners of Victor & Mika’s Bakery, to acknowledge...
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September 9, 2021 • 34 mins
It seems unfathomable to the meat and potato crowd that people enjoy a meal filled with only vegetables, grains, legumes, fruit, nuts and seeds. But for some, a whole-foods plant-based diet helps mitigate a variety of food allergies and health issues. For others it can simply express a taste preference, especially if they’re fans of Victor & Mika’s Bakery.
Mika Altidor was an in-demand professional stylist and jewelry designer; V...
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August 27, 2021 • 13 mins
In this Back of the Napkin Friday Fail, Jeff Arce and Web Eby, owners of CrossFit Arlington Heights, compare a “safe fail” in strength training to the obstacles faced by small business owners. Plus, they describe how gym members rallied on behalf of the entire training community during the state-mandated COVID-19 closure that hit just a few months after they assumed ownership.
Failure is sometimes due to your own actions—misplaci...
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August 18, 2021 • 44 mins
In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Jeff Arce and Web Eby, owners of CrossFit Arlington Heights (CFAH) in suburban Chicago, discuss how they came to own and expand an already successful small business, and how “community” provides the lift to everything they do.
From the moment you walk into CrossFit Arlington Heights, you’re enveloped by what owners Jeff Arce and Web Eby painstakingly curate with every decision they ma...
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August 6, 2021 • 14 mins
In this Back of the Napkin Friday Fail, Kelly O’Neill, owner of Fusion of Iron and Earth, talks about intrinsic value, knowing your worth and tooting your horn. Plus, Kelly reveals her favorite Detroit Coney.
It is hard to imagine Kelly O’Neill, owner of Fusion of Iron and Earth, ever failing. Especially given her in-depth knowledge of the Detroit Coney (think chili dog, but with a different kind of chili topping found only in Det...
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July 21, 2021 • 35 mins
In this season 3 episode of Back of the Napkin, Kelly O'Neill, owner of Fusion of Iron and Earth, shares the inspiring story of her transition from the corporate world to starting a small business from little more than clay, scrap metal, sheer determination, and the passion to honor her father's legacy. Plus she talks about small business branding, Art on the Grand, Funky Ferndale Art Fair, ArtPrize and Mint Artist Guild. Read more...
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July 9, 2021 • 14 mins
As small business entrepreneurs, there's a lot we can learn from the world of big business.
And so in this Friday Fail, we chat with Ben Deutsch, who worked as Vice President of Communication at Coca-Cola prior to his retirement.
He candidly shares the stories of some mistakes he made early in his tenure at Coke, and parses some important lessons about the power of words, the importance of focusing on your core value proposition, a...
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June 23, 2021 • 33 mins
Jon Snyder got the inside scoop on running a small business from an early age; he got a taste for the entrepreneur's life working at his grandfather's Carvel ice cream stand, and he founded his first gelato business at the young age of 19.
When he sold that first operation to finish school, he never imagined he would be back in the ice cream business ever again. As an unconventional student with real-world business experience, he q...
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June 11, 2021 • 10 mins
Rarely do you hear a small business owner describe their passion as “making sure I file my payroll and taxes without triggering a visit from the IRS.”
Most small business owners learn the ins and outs of payroll and taxes by trial and error, a practice that can sometimes lead to costly mistakes.
In this season 2 episode of Back of the Napkin | Friday Fails, Cory Hershman, Associate Product Manager, SurePayroll, details how to preve...
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Aisha Chottani has been meditating for years. Despite that, she was still finding herself lacking creativity and focus come afternoon time.
Aisha revisited her roots, thinking about what has helped her build good habits and feel better, and came up with her idea for Moment, a beverage that would help you rebalance and de-stress. Moment incorporates adaptogens, ingredients that have been used for hundreds of thousands of years for t...
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May 14, 2021 • 12 mins
Hiran Patel, the owner of the Indian restaurant Naansense, remembers a time early in his small business journey that he experienced a failure in business. Hiran's story is interesting because his fail is one that you might not think of when talking about business fails.
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April 28, 2021 • 28 mins
Hiran Patel has always had a passion for cooking, and after a chat with his father where he was reminded how important it is to follow your dreams, he decided to pursue his fortune in the kitchen.
Hiran got his start in the Chicago restaurant scene and after a few years decided it was time to open his own business. NaanSense is an Indian street food restaurant that serves up delicious Indian food to customers in Chicago. Since ope...
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April 16, 2021 • 13 mins
Rachel Doyle, the founder and CEO of the nonprofit GlamourGals, shared a time early in her business when she failed. Nonprofits can have different requirements than for-profit businesses, especially when it comes to how donations are accepted and reported. Rachel's Friday Fail is very relatable for more than one reason.
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March 31, 2021 • 37 mins
Rachel Doyle founded GlamourGals, a nonprofit in New York City, when she was just 17 years old. The mission of GlamourGals focuses on providing support to isolated seniors who live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, and for 20 years, the nonprofit’s key volunteer activity has been providing makeovers to seniors. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 60% of seniors in these living situations were facing elder isolation, and s...
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