Small Business Study Hall
Next event: Thursday, October 15th, 6pm to 8pm (Full 2026 schedule below.)
October 2026
Sweeten the Deal: How to Price, Package & Dress Up Your Offers
Are you charging for what your product or service costs you—or for what it’s actually worth to your customer? In this fun, practical, Halloween-themed business session, Jennifer will share lessons learned from building and repositioning her dessert businesses to demonstrate how pricing, packaging, bundling, and presentation can dramatically change the way customers perceive an offer. Using real-world examples from the special-events industry, mobile ice cream catering, and high-end corporate experiences, we’ll explore why customers aren’t simply buying the “candy”—they’re buying the themed experience, convenience, solution, and value wrapped around it.
You’ll leave with practical ideas you can apply to almost any business, including how to create packages instead of selling individual pieces, develop good-better-best options, sell experiences with prestige and “dress up” an ordinary service to make it feel more valuable. We’ll also use the Trick-or-Treat Test to help you rethink your own offer: What’s the treat? What problem are you solving? What can you bundle? How can you dress it up? And what would your “sweetest” premium version look like? Just like your favorite Halloween Candy. Come ready to rethink what you sell—and leave with a clearer vision for making your offer more tempting and addictive to your clients to keep them coming back for more!
Presented by: Jennifer Cook
Owner of: Cook’s Ice Cream, Sprinkles & Dot, and CelebRAEtion Collective
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What we're about
SBSH (Small Business Study Hall) is our monthly series for small businesses, start-ups, entrepreneurs and freelancers. Each month is a different topic or interactive theme. Each meetup also includes 30+ minutes of networking and meet and greet with like-minded entrepreneurs from Elgin and the northwest suburbs.
We meet in the 3rd week of the month, on Thursdays.
“Each one, reach one.” We also encourage you to invite a fellow entrepreneur!
Although named “Entrepreneurs” meetup, this is a group for anybody looking for ideas, inspiration, mentors, or resources to assist you on your journey.
We welcome:
– Students and recent grads looking to make connections,
– Creatives needing help to market their skills,
– Corporate employees looking to build their leadership skills,
– Founders who need to improve their communication skills,
but most importantly,
– Cool and interesting people who want to share ideas, collaborate, learn and grow together.
Brought to you by The Expo Experts, ETC Coworking and HadlBran Digital Marketing.
Tidbits and other Information
REGISTRATION SUGGESTED. This event is free, but please use the form on this page to register or one of our social media pages. This in an in-person event. Light snacks and refreshments to be provided (usually pizza and wings). We meet at ETC Coworking, at 11 Douglas Ave, 2nd Floor. When you arrive, we have two entrances — when using the the main entrance, take the elevator to the second floor, when using the staircase entrance, the stairs lead to the second floor. Street parking is available, there is a city surface lot at Highland and Douglas (1/4 block away), and a city parking garage on Spring Street between Chicago St. & Highland Ave. (1 block away). All parking is free.
2026 SBSH Schedule
January | We take this month off
Thur Feb 19 | Your Relationship With Your Business
Thur Mar 19 | Let’s Discuss
Thur Apr 16 | Let’s Discuss
Thur May 21 | Stress Management
Thur Jun 18 | Value System
Thur Jul 16 | Let’s Discuss
Thur Aug 20 | Unlock Financial Vault
Thur Sept 17 | Starting Your Business
Thur Oct 15 | Bundling Packages
Thur Nov 19
Thur Dec 17 | Holiday Social