When Raj Selvaraj opened his first Pizza Karma restaurant in Eden Prairie in 2018, he had never run a business.
In the seven years since the first location opened, Selvaraj, who had worked in information technology, has opened additional Pizza Karma restaurants in Maple Grove, Apple Valley and, most recently, Minneapolis near the University of Minnesota. He also operates a food truck for catering events.
Selvaraj, 44, said he wanted support as Pizza Karma grew.
So he applied to Hennepin County’s CEO Now program to work with a community of other local business owners and experts as they navigate owning and operating their businesses, Selvaraj said.
CEO Now is offered through the county’s Elevate Hennepin program, the second in a series of three programs targeted to business owners at different stages of their enterprises, said Brandon Bell, CEO Now’s program manager.
The program works with entrepreneurs looking to grow, Bell said. The requirements to participate include having a business that is at least two years old, grosses between $250,000 and $2 million annually, and has one to 10 employees.
“It’s usually a growth point of, if you’re a brick-and-mortar store, you’re trying to increase the amount of stores you have,” Bell said. “Or if you’re a service business, maybe you’re looking to take on more clients, hire more employees.”
Elevate Hennepin also offers the CEO Start program, aimed at entrepreneurs looking to turn an idea into a business, and CEO Next, for business owners who are more established and want to further expand, Bell said. Participants are encouraged to return for the next program to continue learning and growing.
CEO Now is an eight-month, 13-session course that helps entrepreneurs create a three- to five-year plan, which they refine throughout the program, Bell said. Sessions include presentations from guest experts, modules on finances and marketing, and meetings with advisers from Elevate Hennepin.
Peer learning is also prioritized, Bell said. Participants discuss ideas and experiences to learn from each other.
“Part of what we try and do is you’re not just there to learn in our classes, others are there to learn from you as well as you share your problems, your solutions, your experiences, your stories, and all of that together really creates this community that once our graduates leave, they typically stay in the close-knit group and stay in contact,” Bell said.
The program is free, and participants only need to dedicate their time, said Lily Shaw, the county’s economic development manager.
“We really commend the business owners for taking … that step to really go to the next level,” Shaw said. “We’re so excited that we can do this investment in our community to be able to help these small businesses move forward.”
Elevate Hennepin started in 2020 to address the needs of small business owners, Shaw said. After creating an advisory board, the Elevate Hennepin team found business owners were looking for a one-stop shop when searching for resources.
Shaw said the CEO Now program started in the second half of 2023 as a response to those needs.
Both the CEO Now and CEO Next programs have regional partnerships with Ramsey County, with several spots open for entrepreneurs in surrounding areas, Shaw said.
“We really are trying to reach across regions to support businesses as well,” Shaw said. “The predominant amount of businesses in our CEO Now program are (in) Hennepin County, but we do work collaboratively with other counties.”
Eden Prairie and 18 other cities in the county help the county fund Elevate Hennepin and its programs, Shaw said.
Selvaraj said CEO Now helped him understand how to prioritize when problems arise. His first reaction is to fix problems as they come up, but through the sessions he attended at CEO Now, he learned how to prioritize according to the urgency of a problem.
“There are things that …, once you prioritize, you know you have to do it right now or that can wait for two days from now, that can wait till next week,” Selvaraj said. “I was able to … shuffle things around so that you focus only on the priority things.”
The curriculum helped Selvaraj develop elevator pitches for his business, depending on the audience, he said.
Pizza Karma offers a mixture of global flavors in its pizza, using tandoor-fired crust as a base for toppings inspired by a variety of cuisines, Selvaraj said. He uses tandoor-fired crusts, derived from an ancient technique dating back to the Indus Valley civilization, where dough is cooked on the inside of a cylindrical clay oven, for a lighter, less greasy crust.
Pizza Karma is the first restaurant to use a tandoor-fired crust, Selvaraj said. Learning how to best pitch his business to consumers or investors, based on the way he makes pizza, was a game changer.
“Explaining who you are changes based on who you talk to. How do you align and change your pitch based on who you’re talking to?” Selvaraj said. “It’s an eye opener.”
Selvaraj said he knew where he wanted to get to with his business, but not the route to take. CEO Now helped him determine how to get to the place he wants to be. He wants to open more Pizza Karma locations in the future.
“This platform gets you to the first stage right now, and also provides you with an opportunity to see how you can take the next step,” Selvaraj said.
Registration for the 2026 CEO Now cohort opens early next year, Shaw said. Potential attendees may fill out an interest form to be notified when applications open.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect the proper name of CEO Now’s program manager, Brandon Bell.
