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