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Editor’s note: Addelyn Wachter is listed on the company’s website as WoMa Bazaar’s content manager and event coordinator.
GRAND HAVEN — 2020 Grand Haven High School graduate Erin Malkovich always wanted to be a business owner. But she had no intention of owning two businesses by age 22, she told the Grand Haven Tribune.
Markovic co-founded WoMa Bazaar, which officially launched in May 2022, to provide an “incubator space” to help launch other new businesses. Through WoMa Bazaar, new entrepreneurs who are still in university are given short-term leases to test out their business ideas and receive consulting.
Markovich’s second business, Eventified, launched in October 2023. The idea came about after Markovic organized a festival to raise funds for his WoMa bazaar. The festival featured a variety of stalls, local artists and activities for children.
One of the challenges in finding available vendors was convincing them that she and her festival were authentic.
“There’s a big problem, at least right now, in many cases with people getting scammed,” Markovich said. “In my experience, when I hosted a festival in September, people took screenshots of my Instagram and said they were the only ones charging for vendor booths. Because when you host an event, you often have to pay a fee to sell your products and set up a booth. ”
Markovich said people may create fake events and websites to persuade entrepreneurs to fund them. Her new business verifies events and “streamlines the event management process through applications, invoicing and communications.”
Markovich is a full-time student at Central Michigan University, majoring in business administration. CMU has provided financial assistance to both WMa Bazaar and Eventified through awards and scholarships.
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Markovic has attended workshops and boot camps and received instruction. She said it can be difficult to stay motivated at times, but her passion for helping others succeed keeps her going.
After Markovic graduates in May, she plans to continue building her business while working as a district manager for Aldi.
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