Starting A Food Business - The Hatchery

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 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, and curriculum planning for ICNC. 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 businesses and individuals protect their ideas, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets as they start new ventures or grow existing businesses. She also helps clients with their business set-up and contract needs. She has served as Chair of the American Bar Association Cyberspace Law Committee and the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women. She teaches copyright law at Chicago-Kent College of Law and is a Branch Network member at The Hatchery.