Chantal Nga Eloundou
Counting Parmesan scoops. When Burger Yum owner Milan Naramcic first made the hard call to raise prices, this is what it came to—measuring and costing out the price of every ingredient used to make his burgers and fries.
“We literally broke it down to every single ingredient, including how much the sauce would cost us per bun,” said Naramcic.
As Small Business Saturday approaches, Harrisburg’s small biz community wants you shop local-ers to know that they love you. Plus, running a small business is exacting and draining. Costs? Through the roof. Margins? Razor-thin. But they love what they do and do what they love. With resilience and spunk, they keep quality up and prices down.
Many people dream of the leap from passion to business. They’re experts at brewing beer, roasting coffee or making pottery. But then come “all the things you’re supposed to know,” said Andrea Grove, owner of Elementary Coffee Co. Accounting, budgeting, supply chain, HR, competition, marketing, licensing, taxes, signage, product mix.
“The business aspect always takes people by surprise,” Grove said. “Most people are very shocked by the amount of endless, endless work that’s involved.”
Starting and scaling up a business “takes a different kind of personality,” agreed Jay Jayamohan, executive director of Harrisburg University’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. “It’s not like a job with regular pay. It’s a rollercoaster up and down.”
There are unexpected economic disruptions to manage (pandemic, anyone?), technology to keep pace with, and skilled, reliable people to hire, he said.
Then again, Jayamohan added, small businesses benefit from the trends launched and nurtured by the corporate ecosystem’s big fish—athleisure wear, pumpkin spice.
“You are riding the wave and marketing dollars of somebody big,” he said.
Prices Up, Profits Down
Without prompting, small business owners will share what their basics cost a year or two ago—and what they cost now. Potatoes, from $20 a case to $60. Chicken breasts, from 89 cents a pound to $3.99. Gloves for food handling, from $30 a case to $100. Gloves!
Business owners respond by raising prices, but only when they have to, they say. Otherwise, they’d price themselves out of business.
“We can’t just keep notching it up,” Grove said. “We really try to provide stability with our products and what we offer and what people can rely on, and that includes pricing.”
What’s left, they agree, is absorbing the increases without sacrificing quality.
“The portions never changed,” said Burger Yum’s Naramcic. “I learned that people won’t care if the price is higher, but they’ll notice if the portions are smaller and the prices are higher.”
Supply chain disruptions have turned small business owners into scroungers. Abdul Moosa, owner of 717 Tacos, has had to scramble for paper boats, diced tomatoes and mayonnaise. Any old alternative won’t do because customers expect consistent quality.
“Every day right now, when you go shopping, it’s a challenge,” he said. “You can’t even plan for it. You don’t know if this little cup is going to be there tomorrow. Then you begin hoarding.”
The costs of getting those pricier supplies also skyrocketed.
“My shipping went up 40%,” said Chantal Nga Eloundou, owner of Nyianga Store in Midtown Harrisburg, retailer of African-made and sourced clothing, jewelry, décor and lotions. For the sake of her customers and for sending her stock home with them, she hasn’t increased prices.
“I want people to come in and not just have inventory sitting out,” she said. “What am I going to do if everything is stuck here? I just have to take it in my little profit margin.”
Eloundou spends her days inspecting the quality of fabric samples sent from her supplier in Africa—and these are not flimsy Joann Fabrics cottons. She chooses designs. She coordinates with sewists in Africa who make dazzling skirts, dresses and dashikis. Her niece gathers the finished products and ships them to Harrisburg.
“All the time, I’m on the phone,” said Eloundou with a laugh. “Over there at 6 o’clock in the morning, over here it’s midnight, and that’s when they start their seaming. I love doing it, until I’m tired. I don’t sleep. I don’t get enough of it.”
And unlike restaurants where regulars order the same dish every time, retail must be constantly restocked with new items to entice customers back, she added.
“My mind is constantly thinking of, ‘What next? What next?’ that is a little bit different from what I have now,” said Eloundou.
People Part
People. They cost money to hire and time to manage. In a buyer’s market where job candidates have choices, business owners say that respect is the key to retention.
Moosa gives his staff the autonomy to implement their ideas, because they can “absolutely make a difference” just by streamlining the kitchen layout or serving salsa from a squeeze bottle instead of a tub.
“They take ownership,” he said. “They want to serve a good product.”
Just like the boss, employees want predictable hours and time with family, Moosa noted, so he doesn’t take jobs on most Sundays and Mondays, and holidays are removed from the schedule well in advance.
“That gives them a better quality of life,” he said. “If you talk to anybody in the restaurant business, that’s what they’re looking for.”
At Burger Yum, Naramcic’s staff of 15 includes people who have been with the cozy, comfort-food restaurant since it opened in 2016. Employees are “happy with the pay,” he said, and with the camaraderie he tries to build through events and trips.
“They like the job,” he said. “They like the environment. It’s fun. I try to keep it fun.”
And, he added, “If the employees are happy, the customers will be happy.”
Still, small business owners have their people struggles. Tiny profit margins might not accommodate such perks as health insurance, making state government and healthcare companies hefty competitors for talent.
Eloundou wants to beef up her online sales capabilities, but there’s no room in the budget for a reliable web master.
Grove worries about a future where small business owners simply “wear out.” Jayamohan advises that owners pivot to capitalize on the business trends shifting around them.
“People talk about experience more than buying things,” he said. “Can you create an experience? The keyword I would advise small businesses to think is innovation. How do you compete against a bigger player? The biggest advantage a small business has at the end of the day is they are nimble.”
Here’s what small business owners want you to know.
Supporting small business through a social media shout-out and a friendly greeting is free, said Grove, who maintains a Broad Street Market stand and her North Street shop.
“There’s always the ‘spend your dollar there,’ but I also think a lot of places want to be remembered and recognized,” she said. “At the market, something we all love is when someone comes by and waves hi.”
“It’s all about people,” said Naramcic. “The costs are very high right now. Labor’s worth it 100% because, if it weren’t for the employees, we wouldn’t be here. So, that’s definitely something I’ll never complain about. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, but as long as the customers are happy, it’s worth it.”
The artwork Eloundou commissions for her store depicts happy African families and individuals going about their days, showcasing “that part of African culture I want to take wherever I go and be authentic.” The bills are always coming in, but she loves her work for the business impact, the cultural impact, and “a challenge that comes with a reward.”
Now that the holidays are looming, shop local before you go online, she added.
“Any type of business, support us, support us, support us,” she said. “Harrisburg and the surrounding area, we have enough small business that we can really do amazing things.”
Shopping Local
This holiday season, we urge you to support Harrisburg’s small, independent shops, restaurants and other businesses. The businesses mentioned in this story include the following:
717 Tacos
Various places in central PA
www.717tacos.com
Burger Yum
400 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg
www.burgeryum.com
Elementary Coffee Co.
Broad Street Market and 256 North St., Harrisburg
www.elementarycoffee.co
Nyianga Store
1423 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg
Facebook: Nyianga Store
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