Wilson Avenue at Broadway. Aardvark Insurance Agency is a few blocks west at 1228 W. Wilson Ave. Photo: Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Lu DiPaolo’s first business was a video store, and he admits he knew nothing about movies or retail when he took it on. What he did know, from years in banking and finance, was how to clean up a portfolio and manage money. That was enough. He says sales doubled in the first year.
The store is still open. DiPaolo eventually sold it to his longtime assistant manager, turning an employee into a first-time owner.
A sweet spot
After a stint at a major insurance agency, where he learned the business, DiPaolo opened Aardvark Insurance Agency in 2009. The office is at 1228 W. Wilson Ave. in Uptown. His pitch is choice: as an independent agent he shops several carriers and argues there is a right fit for everybody on price, coverage and service.
Getting started was not easy. Financing and capital are hard for any new business to secure, he says, especially in a tight lending climate. He knew that going in. Aardvark grew without bank financing, built instead on careful spending and steady client growth.
Involved in the neighborhood
DiPaolo has been active in local business organizations, serving as vice president of an Uptown business group and chairing its membership committee. As an LGBT business owner on the North Side, he says much of his client base comes from the LGBT community, which he believes big corporations ignored for too long. Early on he joined Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to build connections with other owners and residents.
He has lived in Uptown for about eight years and points to its location near the Red Line and the lake, along with its mix of residents, cultures and businesses. His favorite part of ownership, he says, is that you get out of it what you put in. With passion and the right people around you, growth comes, even if it takes a while.
Marcus Hadley covers business, transit and real estate in Uptown.
