YES tour engages young entrepreneurs
All across the country there are young men and women dreaming of opening their own business. Some are looking to start the next social media phenomenon, while others are focused on a business idea that fills an important niche on their campuses or in their communities.
The Small Business Administration has the tools and resources these entrepreneurs need to succeed. We know that young entrepreneurs are a valuable source of American innovation and long-term growth.
To assist more young entrepreneurs, we launched our Young Entrepreneur Series (YES). It allows young entrepreneurs to hear from SBA leadership about best practices in building their companies, and it gives them resources to help navigate the start-up and growth of their companies.
I recently hosted two YES events: one at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and one at the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Development in Kansas City.
These events gave us an opportunity to hear from young entrepreneurs, who shared their stories with us, other young adults and experienced business owners. One young entrepreneur, Jeff Slobotski, who runs a trendy, techy website called Silicon Prairie News, said, “People want to support you and your business, but they can’t help you unless you show up.”
Addressing different needs
The SBA knows young entrepreneurs have different sorts of needs. They’re starting different kinds of businesses, some even working out of cafes or dorm rooms. We’ve launched a new set of tools with links to resources and Internet courses geared specifically for them at http://www.sba.gov/content/young-entrepreneurs. Also, SBA’s new online community puts articles and advice at your fingertips at www.sba.gov/community.
Additionally, we offer many other tools to address what we call our “Three Cs”: capital, contracting and counseling.
To increase small businesses’ access to capital, SBA provides a government guarantee on loans from banks and credit unions, and we work with nonprofit organizations by providing lending grants. One example is SBA’s microloan program, which provides low-cost, low-dollar loans for a small monetary infusion to start or expand a business.
SBA also scouts small-business opportunities in federal contracting. And we offer counseling and training to more than a million aspiring entrepreneurs each year through SBA-funded resource partners like SCORE, small-business development centers and women’s business centers. These partners provide mentoring and coaching and they can help in a variety of ways, including writing a business plan.
The SBA is dedicated to educating and connecting young entrepreneurs. You can get in touch with your closest SBA district office or resource partner at www.sba.gov/direct.