Bomes business looks to help entrepreneurs

Island woman turns space into a multi-purpose incubator unit



Live & Learn offers numerous items for sale from area residents, such as crayons, candles, soap and food.

Live & Learn offers numerous items for sale from area residents, such as crayons, candles, soap and food.

A business to drum up business for other businesses is open for business.

Live & Learn, an incubator for startup companies, has opened its doors at the front of the Bomes Theatre. The Narragansett Avenue company acts as a hub for entrepreneurs, providing advice, marketing expertise and retail space. The goal is to ease the transition from idea to reality for upstart companies by promoting products and furnishing a prime storefront without the inflated overhead. By helping these future mangers establish foundations for a successful career, owner Gina Malloy said, the downtown economy of rural Rhode Island can stay vital.

A one-stop shop

Malloy got the idea for Live & Learn through causal conversations. Some of her neighbors expressed interest in starting a business, but costs and inexperience prevented them from taking the next step. By having a one-stop shop, these entrepreneurs could learn the trade while curbing expenses, Malloy said. The cost is either a rental fee for the space or a percentage of sales.

There also is a children’s corner with books, educational toys and games.

There also is a children’s corner with books, educational toys and games.

“You can try out your idea or try to grow an idea that you already have,” she said. “You’re not paying for rent, electricity or marketing.”

The company is not the first time Malloy has headed an organization aimed at others. While living in Washington, D.C., she was an executive for two nonprofit organizations and founded a pro-bono bar association. She moved to Jamestown seven years ago with her husband, Liam, an economics professor at the University of Rhode Island, and their three daughters, Maeve 13, Brenna 9, and Fenella, 5.

Along with her incubation services, Malloy offers consultations to aspiring entrepreneurs. That’s just an option, however. Startups don’t have to use her consulting services to incubate through Live & Learn.

“I try to keep it so people can get what they want out of it,” she said. “If you then want to proceed and need some advice, I’m available to help.”

Also a retail outlet

Most of the company’s space in the Bomes is devoted to the retail side. The shop currently offers products crafted along Narragansett Bay, such as crayons, candles, soap, children’s books, educational toys, games and food. These items are not typically found anywhere else in town.

“I didn’t want to duplicate what’s already being done,” she said. “I observed that those kinds of toys and books are not common on the island.”

Live & Learn operates through “dynamic retail,” Malloy said, which means the store’s inventory is not intended to be its permanent stock. It will change based on operations at the facility. For example, if Live & Learn had 10 clients who were artists, then the retail selection would accommodate that theme. The store’s products even can change during a single day.

“If I have artists demonstrating and selling their work in the morning, but I have kids in the afternoon, then the retail will change to compliment the incubation of services,” she said.

The incubator could also, hypothetically, rent out the store — or a portion of it — for an event or demonstration.

“I try to keep it flexible so that people get what they need,” Malloy said. “If there was a company that wanted to take over the whole store for some period of time in order to do a larger task, that would be fine. We’d just have to work out the details.”

Community space available

Affordability also is on Malloy’s radar. While she was researching incubators, Malloy learned islanders often had to shop off island to find basic household items or gifts at a bargain.

“I’m trying to create a retail space where you can have an affordable gift to stop in and buy,” she said.

Live & Learn already stocks products from several of its clients. Several entrepreneurs are operating anonymously to pilot their product in a retail setting without their names being attached.

Aside from being an incubator for startups and a retail space for new companies, Malloy wants Live & Learn to be a “community enrichment center.” The space can be reserved for birthday parties, rented out for classes or used for product demonstrations.

“The idea is to create a place where people want to come, that being a service on its own, but also as part of putting people in front of the products and services that are incubated here,” she said.

As an example, Malloy currently offers a “Friday Fun Night.” Parents drop off their elementary children for an evening of educational projects that revolve around entrepreneurship.

Although the incubator design is new to town, Live & Learn has been enjoying steady foot traffic and visitors are curious, Malloy said.

“I get a lot of traffic from people wanting to know what the heck a business incubator is,” she said. “I’ve invested a lot of time in what we’re doing in the community. People seem very interested and encouraging in the idea. As the schedule cements over time, it will become clearer to the community what we’re doing.”