A La Carte Business Services serving up expansion in 2012

SALINA  —  A La Carte Business Services is following a recipe for growth this year with a new location and new hiring.

The firm, which offers outsourced office operations such as accounting, bookkeeping, cost analysis, and efficiency evaluations for small businesses, moved into a new home at 916B Old Liverpool Road in the town of Salina at the end of April. It hired one new employee at the time and has another new worker scheduled to start at the beginning of July.

And the hiring won’t stop there, according to the company’s business plan. It calls for mixing in one or two more employees by the end of this year. Those new workers will go toward a long-term goal of sprinkling in four more employees within three years.

If A La Carte Business Services meets that goal, it will have a total of six employees plus its owner, Chris Belna. Although Belna was the firm’s only employee for nearly two years after she founded the business in July 2010, the idea of expanding and hiring has always been simmering in her mind, she says.

“This is a dream of mine for really over 10 years,” she says. “I didn’t really start it because I wanted a paycheck. I started it because I wanted a business.”

Belna declined to share a revenue total for 2011. However, she says she plans to nearly double the company’s revenue in 2012, she says.

Before moving to Old Liverpool Road, Belna ran A La Carte Business Services from her home in Salina. The firm’s new office, which is leased from Michael P. Charles, is 900 square feet, giving it room to hold its new and planned hires.

A La Carte Business Services did not need to perform much work when moving into its new location, according to Belna. The space was ready to hold the business, aside from needing some color in the form of a coat of paint Belna and her new employee applied, she says.

KeyBank recently awarded the company a line of credit for more than $30,000. A La Carte Business Services will tap that line of credit in its first year to support the hiring of its new employee in July, according to Belna. Its business plan calls for it to repay any borrowing within 12 months, she adds.

Belna founded the company after working in operations and business management in the restaurant, investment, and construction fields. Moving between industries showed her that all types of firms need smooth-running office operations, she says.

“It kept proving to me that the basis for running a company, no matter what product you’re selling, is the administration,” Belna says. “What small business wouldn’t want to hire an operations manager who came and knew how to do all the things that I’ve been doing for 20 years? But they can’t always afford the salary of an operations manager.”

A La Carte Business Services typically works with small firms of 10 or fewer employees, particularly when providing accounting services, according to Belna. It has also worked with businesses with more than 10 employees on different projects, she adds.

In addition to providing accounting and bookkeeping services, the business-services firm sometimes trains clients’ staff members and owners to do their own accounting. And it can help business owners on other operations, from bidding for liability insurance to hiring.

A La Carte Business Services currently works with about 25 clients, according to Belna. They range from an interior decorator to a real-estate firm. One of her better-known clients is Patrick Ambron of the Syracuse startup BrandYourself.com, she says.

Belna plans to add new clients through networking and word-of-mouth. Customers are more likely to trust the company if they know someone who is working with the firm, she says.

Expanding A La Carte Business Services’ training offerings is another potential source of growth. Belna is developing a course in QuickBooks software to train staff members at companies with positions dedicated to bookkeeping. She would like to train between 12 and 15 people at one time in the class.

“I think that it’s important for that employer who has those five people who just need to learn more about how to use the software,” she says. “I found so many people use their accounting software as a glorified checkbook. And there are so many things in it that give them tools to help them run their business that people don’t tap into.”  

SALINA  —  A La Carte Business Services is following a recipe for growth this year with a new location and new hiring.

The firm, which offers outsourced office operations such as accounting, bookkeeping, cost analysis, and efficiency evaluations for small businesses, moved into a new home at 916B Old Liverpool Road in the town of Salina at the end of April. It hired one new employee at the time and has another new worker scheduled to start at the beginning of July.

And the hiring won’t stop there, according to the company’s business plan. It calls for mixing in one or two more employees by the end of this year. Those new workers will go toward a long-term goal of sprinkling in four more employees within three years.

If A La Carte Business Services meets that goal, it will have a total of six employees plus its owner, Chris Belna. Although Belna was the firm’s only employee for nearly two years after she founded the business in July 2010, the idea of expanding and hiring has always been simmering in her mind, she says.

“This is a dream of mine for really over 10 years,” she says. “I didn’t really start it because I wanted a paycheck. I started it because I wanted a business.”

Belna declined to share a revenue total for 2011. However, she says she plans to nearly double the company’s revenue in 2012, she says.

Before moving to Old Liverpool Road, Belna ran A La Carte Business Services from her home in Salina. The firm’s new office, which is leased from Michael P. Charles, is 900 square feet, giving it room to hold its new and planned hires.

A La Carte Business Services did not need to perform much work when moving into its new location, according to Belna. The space was ready to hold the business, aside from needing some color in the form of a coat of paint Belna and her new employee applied, she says.

KeyBank recently awarded the company a line of credit for more than $30,000. A La Carte Business Services will tap that line of credit in its first year to support the hiring of its new employee in July, according to Belna. Its business plan calls for it to repay any borrowing within 12 months, she adds.

Belna founded the company after working in operations and business management in the restaurant, investment, and construction fields. Moving between industries showed her that all types of firms need smooth-running office operations, she says.

“It kept proving to me that the basis for running a company, no matter what product you’re selling, is the administration,” Belna says. “What small business wouldn’t want to hire an operations manager who came and knew how to do all the things that I’ve been doing for 20 years? But they can’t always afford the salary of an operations manager.”

A La Carte Business Services typically works with small firms of 10 or fewer employees, particularly when providing accounting services, according to Belna. It has also worked with businesses with more than 10 employees on different projects, she adds.

In addition to providing accounting and bookkeeping services, the business-services firm sometimes trains clients’ staff members and owners to do their own accounting. And it can help business owners on other operations, from bidding for liability insurance to hiring.

A La Carte Business Services currently works with about 25 clients, according to Belna. They range from an interior decorator to a real-estate firm. One of her better-known clients is Patrick Ambron of the Syracuse startup BrandYourself.com, she says.

Belna plans to add new clients through networking and word-of-mouth. Customers are more likely to trust the company if they know someone who is working with the firm, she says.

Expanding A La Carte Business Services’ training offerings is another potential source of growth. Belna is developing a course in QuickBooks software to train staff members at companies with positions dedicated to bookkeeping. She would like to train between 12 and 15 people at one time in the class.

“I think that it’s important for that employer who has those five people who just need to learn more about how to use the software,” she says. “I found so many people use their accounting software as a glorified checkbook. And there are so many things in it that give them tools to help them run their business that people don’t tap into.”