The following are (partial/fully) state-funded or fed-funded orgs whose teams help you start a business, boost your business, certify or qualify for more business, and get help for your business. Honestly, I didn’t know about these orgs until 2016-ish!
It doesn’t matter if you own a tattoo shop, copy editing service, summer camp for kids, a hair salon, an online education membership, a karaoke bar, accounting firm, sewage management firm, woodworking,… If you are a small business registered with your state, you should be able to take advantage of the resources below.
- CalOSBA – CA Office of Small Business Administration. Not to be confused with SBA, the Small Business Administration. They also offer free or low-cost trainings!
- SBDC – Small Business Development Centers – Here’s the one in LA (Pasadena). There are many across the state – find one closest to you. Each location offers free workshops from beginner to intermediate business 101; and each location has their team of business advisors who can help you start a business. I pointed an old colleague to them; he’d never heard of them and he’s been a creative agency owner for decades.
- Veterans Business Outreach Centers – funded by the SBA (Small Business Administration)
- MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency) – There are state MBDA agencies – they are funded by the US Dept of Commerce and they’re solely dedicated to the growth and global competitiveness of minority business enterprises. The only reason why I found out about these guys was through an interview a few months ago.
- Community Navigator Program – there are 51 organizations across the country that have been funded to work with hundreds of local community groups to improve access to SBA and government resources for entrepreneurs
- California Women’s Business Centers – WTF. Yeah I didn’t even know these existed until a few years ago. I couldn’t tell if they were physical locations or adopted in by existing organizations.
Each of these organizations has branches or different locations so check for your area! There are free resources and people you can talk to. In fact, the business advisors who work with 10KSB scholars are business advisors by trade! Some of them have worked at SBDCs or led them. (This is the same with the other 10KSB sites around the country.) Get to know some of my favorite people.
If you are not in California, look up these phrases on Google and you’ll get your state’s version:
- Economic Development Center
- Small Business Resource Center
- Small Business Development
- Supplier Diversity
- Procurement Training
- Minority Supplier Development
- Veteran Business Resources
- Veteran Business Owner Certification
- Women/Minority Business Owner Certification
- Disabled Veteran Enterprise
Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list but these are some of the big ones that should be on your radar as a small business owner.
If you have an organization or program that needs to be added to this list, please let me know.
