SALINA — A La Carte Business Services is moving to a new location across the highway from the office where it has operated since April 2012. The business is moving from 916B Old Liverpool Rd. in Salina to the Lakeshore Office Building across the highway at 913 Old Liverpool Rd. It’ll be one of several […]
SALINA — A La Carte Business Services is moving to a new location across the highway from the office where it has operated since April 2012.
The business is moving from 916B Old Liverpool Rd. in Salina to the Lakeshore Office Building across the highway at 913 Old Liverpool Rd. It’ll be one of several tenants in the building that also includes Pinnacle Dental Group and CCPlus, Inc., a computer-technology firm.
A La Carte Business Services specializes in office operations for small to medium-sized businesses, including outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services, office systems, cost analysis, and payroll services.
It also offers a training course on the use of QuickBooks software for companies and organizations with staff members focused on bookkeeping.
“We are moving our desks the Monday before Thanksgiving [Nov. 25] and we will officially open the doors Dec. 2,” says Chris Belna, president and owner of A La Carte Business Services.
Belna is hoping to take advantage of the “slowness” of that week to get established in the new space, she says.
A La Carte Business Services is moving from its current, 900-square-foot space, on the second floor of a building that also houses Edward Jones financial advisor Jim Henty. Its new space in the Lakeshore Office Building is about 850 square feet, Belna says.
“It’s about the same amount of space that we have now but reconfigured to better suit us,” she adds.
A La Carte’s current space can accommodate up to six people, and the company currently employs four full-time workers, including Belna.
Its new location can accommodate up to eight people, she adds. The firm also has the right to expand to an adjacent 450-square-foot space, if it’s available
The new office space will provide first-floor access, additional parking, and space available to place a sign for drivers and passersby to see.
“A lot of people drive down Old Liverpool Road every day,” Belna says.
The entrance to the company’s current space is a side door that includes A La Carte’s name and logo, consisting of four interconnected puzzle pieces.
A La Carte rents its current space from Michael Charles. That space has allowed the company to grow its client base.
The company now works with 55 clients and has grown its revenue 140 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year, Belna says, declining to disclose specific figures.
“I love this space, but to get out in front of the building where we’re a little bit easier to find and [offers] a little bit more reconfigured space was really key for us.” Belna says.
A La Carte signed a lease with Dr. James Richardson, a dentist at the Pinnacle Dental Group and the landlord at the Lakeshore Office Building.
Belna’s boyfriend, Nicholas Montanaro, designed the space, and Richardson handled the build out of the space, which is financed through the lease agreement, Belna says.
As a resident of Liverpool, Belna had always liked the Lakeshore Office Building as a possible location for her company.
“It’s just kind of quaint and sitting there and [provides] easy access,” she says.
However, when she was looking for space after starting her business, the price per square footage was too expensive, Belna says, so she opted for the space where it has operated since April 2012.
But Belna kept her eye on the building. When she noticed that Pinnacle was moving into the structure Belna did some investigating and learned the building had new ownership.
Richardson had reduced the square footage price to attact new tenants, she says.
“So, we started a negotiation with the new owner to see if I could get what we needed over there at the price they were offering and we were able to do it,” she says.
It’ll be A La Carte’s second office in three years of operation, which initially began in Belna’s home in Salina.
Prior to starting A La Carte Businesses Services, Belna spent more than two decades in operations and business management in the restaurant, investment, and construction fields.
Along the way, Belna discovered that the operating a company is the same “no matter what your product is,” knowledge that inspired her to launch her own company focused on business operations.