five:02 PM | Thursday, March 16, 2023

A Brooklyn Park woman’s balloon small business has genuinely taken off thanks in element to a Hennepin County system.

Erin Aarestad is a benefactor of the system named Elevate Hennepin, which connects regional entrepreneurs to sources and advisors for totally free.

The guidance Aarestad’s received has helped turn her dream and hobby into a complete-fledged small business.

Erin Aarestad Owner/Balloon Stylist at Balloon Fancy in Brooklyn Park.

Identified as “The Balloon Lady,” Aarestad spends her week preparing balloons for her creations that grace graduation parties, child showers, big group events and all the things in in between.

“It’s a fairly very good bang for your buck, in the sense that balloons take up a lot of space and add a lot of colour to a space,” stated Aarestad. 

Aarestad got into the balloon small business following realizing there was a niche that required to be filled.

“It was my daughter’s 7th birthday at the time,” stated Aarestad, “And I saw a balloon arrangement on Pinterest and loved it. And I named, and I couldn’t discover any person locally to make it, so I stated okay, let me give it a attempt.”

Quickly she was acquiring lots of calls for her creations.

“It just has snowballed,” stated Aarestad. 

Aarestad at function in her Brooklyn Park workplace.

When she realized that her side-hustle was blowing up, she was prepared for a profession-modify, but not certain about all the logistics to beginning a small business.

“I was a mortgage lender, so that is very the jump,” stated Aarestad.

That is exactly where Elevate Hennepin came in to support.

“People come to Elevate, and I support them as a WomenVenture small business consultant,” stated Tammy Dahlvang, “And they usually come with a genuinely very good notion. And they could or could not have a small business strategy, but they have the passion, or they have anything that they want to do. So, I support them design and style a small business strategy.” 

Along with acquiring support constructing a small business strategy, Aarestad also worked with other advisors that offered tax and legal know-how.

With the support, Aarestad has been capable to soar to new heights quicker.

She went complete-time this year with her small business, Balloon Fancy, thanks to the assistance.

“All of framework they are offering me with is placing me way ahead of exactly where I would be with no them,” stated Aarestad. 

Aarestad would like to open up a warehouse to shop the balloons and space exactly where men and women can choose up right here arrangements.

She is hunting forward to continuing her partnership with Elevate Hennepin as Balloon Fancy grows.

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