Located in Petoskey, Michigan, Sunrise Bliss has created a niche in the homegoods corner of the haircare industry. By offering organic, cotton T-shirt hair towels to its customers, Sunrise Bliss is quite literally saving our hairs, one strand at a time.

Sunrise Bliss founder, Pam Colby, began her relationship with the Michigan Small Business Development Center (MI-SBDC) before her business even started. With the help of the MI-SBDC’s trained and qualified business consultants, Colby was able to bring her business idea to life.

A couple years ago, Petoskey put on their annual small business competition, peaking Colby’s interest. Colby wasn’t sure she could win, but her MI-SBDC consultant, Samantha McDonald, knew there was a will, so there had to be a way.

“I kept seeing it pop-up on my local chamber’s newsletter, and thought it would be a great opportunity to win some money, and get some exposure for the business,” said Colby. “But it wasn’t until Samantha sent me an email, really encouraging to pursue it, that I finally signed up!”

With their partnership, Colby got the help she needed to fine-tune her speech, put together a presentation, and make sure everything was ready for her pitch. Colby placed 2nd in the county and placed 1st in the People’s Choice award.

In late 2020, amidst the strains of the Covid-19 pandemic, McDonald made her aware of the CARES Act services available for small businesses.

“Sunrise Bliss had a website, and it definitely helped us launch and get started with things, but it wasn’t as dialed-in as we needed it to be,” Colby said. “Because of the CARES services, we were able to have better social media management to help our online presence and traffic.”

McDonald also walked Colby through an SEO report, which was offered by the SBDC and Grand Valley State University, and helped her select a website solution to solve her business plan hiccups today and for the future of the business.

“I really don’t think I would’ve stuck myself out there, if it wasn’t for Samantha,” said Colby. “She has done so much for me and Sunrise Bliss– I’m so grateful!”

To learn more about Sunrise Bliss, please visit: www.sunrisebliss.com.

Published: February 10, 2021