Colorado entrepreneur builds a thriving business by helping other small businesses

Although Jessi Burg loved her career in seasonal industries like environmental education, outdoor guiding and agriculture, she faced a big problem.

“I wanted to make a living wage,” she said. 

With that goal in mind, the future Colorado entrepreneur thought about the small business owners she knew. They seemed to have more control over their wages, work schedule and life. This realization led her to found a landscaping business, Pears to Perennials, in 2016.

As her business thrived, Jessi began speaking about her experience as an entrepreneur. Other small business owners wanted advice on how to navigate bureaucracy and deal with high staff turnover in seasonal industries. She found that she loved talking to people about “how you run your business in a way that works for you, your family and your lifestyle,” she said. 

When the pandemic hit, many potential entrepreneurs needed additional help as they wanted to launch small businesses. This need led Jessi to found Outgrow Your Garage, a business learning community that provides new entrepreneurs with a flexible online curriculum that explains different aspects of running a business. As a logistically minded person, she enjoys figuring out how to break concepts down so they make sense to other small businesses and meet them where they’re at. 

In addition to her online curriculum, Outgrow Your Garage also partners with community organizations like libraries and non-profits for in-person events. These partnerships work well because local organizations do in-person outreach and know what their community needs, and then Jessi provides the organizations with curricula so they don’t have to spend time and resources creating it themselves. Furthermore, this provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to “make other business owner friends even if it’s scary or uncomfortable” and build a supportive small business community, Jessi said. 

Jessi’s focus is on newer microbusinesses with less than five employees because it’s where the need is greatest. She said: “Those business owners know a lot about what they do but not a lot about how to run a business.” In addition to knowledge gaps, many part-time entrepreneurs have a hard time making the transition to full-time entrepreneurship as they have to figure out how to pay their personal bills. High costs for housing, childcare, healthcare and expenses like groceries pose a barrier for many entrepreneurs to expand or start businesses. The financial stakes are high: If their business fails, some risk losing their home or car.

To have the best chance of success, Jessi advises new entrepreneurs to “only focus on the things you have to do today. What is the thing that will bring money into your business? Focus on the bottomline first and get paid, so then later you can expand.”