Putting your small business back on a growth footing doesn’t have to take months. In fact, a couple of hours might be all you need to get started.

The Kansas Economic Gardening Network—a program operated by the nonprofit NetWork Kansas—has been providing free growth advice to the state’s entrepreneurs since 2010.

A team of highly trained experts can provide sales leads, marketing guidance and other research after a couple of meetings with a company’s owner. The initial time investment is only a few hours, said Steve Radley, the president and CEO of NetWork Kansas.

“The real work begins once they get the information,” he said.

What Is Economic Gardening?

Economic gardening is an approach to economic development that focuses on established, “second stage” businesses.

Instead of trying to attract large corporations or brand new startups to a community, economic gardening offers help—primarily with research—to companies that are already based there.

The concept originated in Littleton, Colo., where the number of jobs doubled from 15,000 to 30,000 over the course of 20 years of economic gardening. The city didn’t have to recruit outside businesses
or offer any tax breaks.

In Kansas, companies that received help from the Kansas Economic Gardening Network saw their revenues increase by 16.1 percent between 2010 and 2012, the most recent years for which data is available.

During that same period, the average growth for Kansas businesses was 2.5 percent. The national average was 0.5 percent.

How Does It Work?

Companies usually apply to the Kansas Economic Gardening Network after they’re referred by one of NetWork Kansas’ 500-plus resource partners. Here in Kansas City, many of the introductions come from the Small Business Development Center at Johnson County Community College.

After the business is accepted into the economic gardening program, the owner usually takes part in two 60-minute phone calls with a team of researchers.

“The goal for the researchers is for them to learn about the business and identify the research and types of needs the business may have,” Radley said.

The researchers are certified experts in search engine optimization, geographic information systems, marketing and other fields. These experts usually come from the National Center for Economic Gardening, though NetWork Kansas often works with nationally certified specialists from Wichita State University.

There might be a few follow-up emails, but after the calls, the experts will spend a couple of weeks gathering research and identifying targeted growth opportunities. The final report can be massive.

“What we do is try to get (the owners)connected with a resource partner in our network,” Radley said.

That way, the owners can ask follow-up questions of a live person at a small business center or chamber of commerce.

Is It Right for You?

The Kansas Economic Gardening Network generally assists companies with sales revenues between $600,000 and $50 million per year and five to 100 employees.

The program especially likes to work with companies that have regional, national or even international customers, Radley said.

“They’re high-impact clients,” he said, “because if they grow, they can really impact the local economy.”

Most of the network’s clients have been manufacturers, though not all. A good example is the Porch Swing, which sells home and garden décor both online and at its store in Marysville, Kan.

The economic gardening experts helped the owner choose better keywords for her search ads. They gave her advice on reorganizing her website to encourage sales. They pointed out that most of the online sales were coming from the East Coast, which led the Porch Swing to modify its ad buys.

As a result, the Porch Swing’s marketing costs dropped by 60 percent and its revenue grew by 40 percent. The next year, its revenues hit $1 million for the first time. The Porch Swing has had to increase the size of its physical store, too.

The most important quality for economic-gardening businesses might be a simple desire to get bigger and better.

“One of the things we look for is businesses where the CEO has a mindset for growth,” Radley said. “If a CEO doesn’t want to grow, they’re probably not a good candidate for this program.”

For more information about the Kansas Economic Gardening Network, visit www.networkkansas.com.