Follow your dreams of starting a food business with our help. Join Margaret Doherty of The Hatchery and Cheryl Balough of Balough Law Offices as they review:
- State of the Food Industry
- Introduction to Lean Startup Methodology
- Food Business Basics
- Legal Entity Overview
- Personal Impact of Starting a Business
- Commercial Production Space Options
This class is designed as a starting point for those launching a food business in the Chicagoland area and includes post-class resources such as a Licensing & Production Checklist. We’ve leveraged our experience working with hundreds of food businesses to create a high-impact class so that you can learn from common successes and challenges!
This event is free for residents of the West Side communities. Connect with us here(opens in new tab) to redeem your free ticket.
About the Presenters:
Margaret Doherty serves as the Director of Incubator Engagement, where she leads strategy and programming across two business incubators that support entrepreneurs at every stage of growth. She oversees program structure, curriculum planning. Her background includes advising more than one hundred fifty small businesses, securing meaningful program funding, and advancing initiatives that contribute to economic impact and community development. Margaret builds and maintains relationships with industry experts, sponsors, and retail partners to expand the resources available to incubator members. She is committed to creating high quality programming that supports long term business success.
Cheryl Balough is a principal at Balough Law Offices, where she helps clients establish business entities and negotiate and write new contracts as they start ventures and grow their business. She also helps clients buy or sell small businesses. Her clients include food businesses, traditional brick and mortar companies, e-commerce providers, and other ventures. She has served as Chair of the American Bar Association Cyberspace Law Committee and the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women. She was selected as a Super Lawyer® and as a Leading Lawyer® for closely held companies and is a B2B member at ICNC | The Hatchery + Make City.
