Small Business Feature - Sparrow Collective

Getting Started with an Online Portfolio for Architects, Designers, Builders and Contractors What is your best recent project, and who have you told about it? If you love what you do, and put your time and passion into producing great positive outcomes for your clients - you can benefit greatly by showcasing your work. It's your best sales pitch to win more jobs in your preferred niche.

Niguel Donuts owners, husband and wife team Tony and Mony, overcame enormous hardship to make a new life in the United States and establish their business to provide for their family. Their story of survival, determination and integrity was recently told to us by their daughter, Chhary, who has been running the store with her husband, Jeff, since 2019 when Mony was injured.

Nesh Design and Media suggests 3 important, but easy ways to increase your chance of being found and chosen by your target audience in local searches for small business. We recommend focusing on your mobile website design, Google My Business listing and reviews.

In doing some networking with Orange County Realtors Association, Lisa and I ran into a friend we hadn’t seen in a long time - Daniel Fennell. It was great to see Daniel and catch up, and talk about how we could collaborate to help our clients market their businesses. Since that meeting, we’ve been able to team up and use Daniel’s skills of capturing properties and people in our websites and marketing campaigns. Daniel is the owner of Fennell Media, specializing in videography and photography for real estate.

This week, we're excited to introduce you to James Beard finalist, Chef Justin Carlisle. Justin is the owner and driving force behind @ardentmke . If you haven't been to Ardent, you are missing out on one of the best dining experiences you will ever have. Chef Justin and his wife also own, @redlightramenmke and @thelaughingtacomke . Each restaurant offers authentic flavors that will have you coming back for me. ⠀ ⠀ What inspired you to open Ardent? ⠀ "Five years ago I opened Ardent as a small tasting menu restaurant. Not always the smartest thing to open first. A lot of it was a dream, also an ambition and I was getting to that age to do it and take a risk, or not do it." ⠀ What's your big dream for your Ardent? ⠀ "We have multiple businesses since opening Ardent, including Red Light Ramen, as well as my wife opening Laughing Taco. Hopefully the businesses will provide security for myself and my family later in life. At some point down the road, another dream is to be able to slowly hand over our businesses to partners and employees who have been with us. They can one day create their own visions because those people have helped make the restaurants what they are today."⠀ ⠀ What's your favorite thing about doing business in Milwaukee?⠀ "I like the size of Milwaukee, right around 600,000 people and I think a lot of people in our industry are moving to mid-sized cities. This is largely because it’s a lot more feasible to create the dream here. In Milwaukee, we’re still in a transition stage. I’ve seen it over the past 8 years I’ve been here. It is blue collar but also getting revitalized. It’s great to be a part of that change and giving the public more options." ⠀ Thank you, Chef Justin Carlisle for sharing your story! ⠀