HARSHAW - Starting a business from scratch can be a tough undertaking. But how about saving a business that has already gone under.

More than a year ago Leanne Chaney and David Burkeland took over the Minocqua Feed Store and a twice foreclosed on Equestrian Center called A Rising Phoenix.

The odds were against them.

But one, Leanne Chaney, grew up loving horses from an early age, and later developed essential business skills. "Do a little bit of research to find out what caused that business to thrive and fail."



The other, David Burkeland, a former police officer who grew up on a dairy farm, knew a thing or two about customer service. Burkeland says, "Being able to go out and market. Talk to the people and answer their questions. If you don't have an answer research it, find out the answer, and get back to them. But don't drop the ball."

With Chaney's twenty years of helping businesses succeed and Burkeland's passion, they took on both projects for themselves. Chaney describes their unique opportunity, "It was something that neither of us had done but we both had business experience and customer service experience, so we figured we'd take those former experiences and put them to a good use.

According to Burkeland, "Within the first six months of taking occupancy of the building we were in we outgrew it."

So they went bigger.

Now their new 32-hundred square feet feed store is running out of room.

The key to their success, doing everything and anything they can for their customers. "As your customers start to come in to the business then you start to look to see what those customers are actually looking for." Says Chaney, "How you can best help those customers. And that's where both of our strengths have melded together to make and grow a business that will continue to thrive." »

Story By: Ryan Michaels