What Resources Should Be Available for Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses?

     

    “Quality programs to help individuals and companies get their businesses off on the right track.”

    This is a more specific question than the others and, not surprisingly, money rose to the top in terms of the number of responses. But there were other categories of responses as well: networking, support, mentoring, marketing, and education.

     

     

    Education

    • Alternative education programs
    • Good schools
    • Scholarships for small business owners/employees

    Marketing

    • Marketing
    • Marketing (not social media)
    • Publicity
    • Web design help (Facebook would be fine)

    Mentoring

    • Mentors/mentoring/mentorship (3 responses)
    • Mentoring and support

    Money/Finance

    • Access to capital
    • Connections to angel investors
    • Finances/financial (2 responses)
    • Funding support guidance
    • Funding/grants. Free business plan prep, incubator.
    • Grants/grant assistance (4 responses)
    • Helping with funding
    • Loans
    • Seed money
    • Money mentorship
    • Small business loans
    • Start up funds for entrepreneur/ small business
    • Start up incentives
    • Waive tap fees
    • Help with startup, utilities, and taxes (property sales) for 1st 3-5 years

    Networking

    • A place to gather regularly with a speaker (education or business owner)
    • Meetings such as the one tonight. Workshops that have smaller groups and can hear the program.
    • Peer support groups
    • Sense of community

    Support

    • A real small business incubator
    • An understanding by local government of the risks small businesses face and how badly we need them to do their job
    • Business incubation mode
    • Community and city leadership support
    • Embracing
    • Incentives (2 responses)
    • Incubation for business
    • Incubator and training
    • Incubators, Information resources, coworking spaces
    • More accessibility for knowledge of small businesses
    • Reduced business license
    • Space
    • Support
    • The resource programs would turn dreams into an economy
    • Support from elected officials
    • To become more reliable
    • We need to pull people to and start a program such as start:me