Sprouting into Small Biz Success

On Tuesday, March 14, the Kansas Small Business Development Center honored 17 Kansas small businesses for their 2017 Existing, Emerging and Exporting business awards.

Among those honored includes Topeka’s own Sprout Communications, taking home the title as the Washburn University SBDC Emerging Business of the Year.

“It was such an honor to be recognized at the statehouse as an emerging entrepreneur,” said Caleb Asher, President and CEO of Sprout Communications. “As a business owner, nothing makes me happier than connecting with other businesses. There’s so much to learn from each other, and you just never know how our paths might cross down the road.”

One of the challenges you face as a business owner is how to grow a business that is highly dependent upon your own unique talents when there is only one of you.

This is especially true when you’re trying to grow a marketing firm.

In 2013 when Caleb Asher was already busy growing Sprout Communications, Asher began talking to his local SBDC team to identify opportunities to effectively scale his company. He and his advisors developed benchmarks he could use to make decisions at critical points in his growth. Scaling up has required finding a good balance between employees and contractors – something Asher has been able to work with the SBDC to do successfully over time.

In 2016, just a few short years after starting, growth for Sprout has included adding four full-time employees and the purchase of a building for the business in the heart of downtown Topeka revitalization area.

From all of us at the Washburn SBDC, we want to say congratulations! It has been an honor working with you!

Mindy Lee
Advisor/Marketing Coordinator
Washburn University
America’s SBDC