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America’s SBDC Blog

A “Forbes 100 Best Websites for Entrepreneurs”

Happy #SBDCDay!

March 15, 2023

As small business owners navigate an ever-changing landscape, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) continue to support and elevate their clients through innovative at-cost training programs and free advising strategies. Nearly 1,000 SBDCs can be found across the United States and its territories, serving clients virtually and from their centers in host institutions like universities and chambers. Whether SBDCs are serving rural America, addressing a solution in fintech, or helping a millennial woman-owned business expand to global exporting, SBDCs are at the forefront, assisting their clients at every step. Don’t miss the new America’s SBDC Annual Report to read about hundreds of small businesses and how their small businesses thrived with the help of their local SBDC.

SMB Hacks: Five tips for finding the right digital payments solution

March 9, 2023

Want to grow your business? Think outside the cash box.

Freedom, work satisfaction and flexibility are just a few of the many reasons small business owners take the leap to follow a dream. Rachelle Gonzalez, founder of Taco Shelly’s in Bethlehem, PA, had reached a turning point in her restaurant career. Her role in management left her feeling dissatisfied, often frustrated. She missed the camaraderie of the bar and being responsible for her own work ethic vs. that of others.

13 Things I’ve Learned From Building a Startup

December 20, 2022

By Ken So

Though Silicon Valley startups are often treated as separate from Main Street small businesses, the basic tenets of starting and growing a business are the same no matter what you’re building. As the founder of a business that serves both enterprise and everyday businesses, plus a mentor to new startups, it’s been a special privilege to be able to observe and learn from business owners from all backgrounds and walks of life. Here’s advice I find myself giving a lot to new founders that I think all entrepreneurs can learn from.

Pattern Inspires Mother-Daughter Entrepreneurs

December 13, 2022

By Amanda Kuhnert

Mother-daughter business duo, Sophia Manzi and Gail Borden, are both artists. Sophia is a painter and Gail is a quilter. Their company, Vivace Vermont, is the intersection of these two disciplines. They produce clothing and home accessories using colorful, one-of-a-kind fabrics.

The plan was hatched on a 2019 trip to New York City. “We visited Mood Fabrics in the Garment District and it left us reeling with ideas,” Sophia said. “At a diner, we started brainstorming what became Vivace Vermont.”

Sophia and Gail have always been inspired by each other’s work. “Growing up, I’d be painting and she’d be quilting in the same room, and we’d ask each other for tips and advice when we’d run into a problem,” Sophia said. On that memorable trip to New York, the two were able to pinpoint the common denominator in both of their practices—pattern.

What do we mean by “Underserved Communities”?

April 26, 2022

By: Tyler Demars.

While entrepreneurs can come from any demographic, life experience, or situational background, there are trends and common challenges related to identified population groups or communities that limit access to small business ownership. Folks from these communities are both underrepresented in entrepreneurship ranks in our state and underserved by the benefits of entrepreneurship which include wealth creation, job creation, community development, and increased community sovereignty. Wealth creation is the primary benefit of entrepreneurship for a community, other benefits flow primarily from this wealth creation. According to a report from our US Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency, business owners “represent roughly 10 percent of the workforce, but hold nearly 40 percent of the total U.S. wealth.” When we talk about underserved communities, we are talking about communities underserved by the benefits of entrepreneurship.

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