Weekly Resource #31 Food Lab Detroit

foodlab logoFoodlab is a Detroit organization that aims to accomplish many food-centric goals. Primarily, their aim is to create an environment among the food entrepreneurs of Detroit that facilitates cooperation in order to streamline the city’s growing good food movement. They accomplish this in many ways and since their establishment in 2011, they have continued to regularly introduce new ways for the community to interact and for new food entrepreneurs to develop their business.

Foodlab had a hand in establishing Kitchen connect, which we’ve already covered in a previous weekly resource, but they also own multiple resources designed to support Detroit’s food entrepreneurs.  Monthly meetings take place every second Monday to discuss topics related to owning a food business in Detroit. Childcare and snacks are provided at these meetings making them accessible to many different lifestyles and personal schedules. Check out their calendar for a full list of events and meeting locations. Weekly office hours are another scheduled resource. Every Friday from 8:00am-10:00am staff and leaders in the Detroit food industry are available at these office hours to answer questions, give advice, and to discuss industry relevant topics.

Another resource provided by Food Lab is their annual “Building your Good Food Business Bootcamp”. This camp focuses on educating food entrepreneurs on how to become a “good food business”. Entrepreneurs who care about community and environmental impact are encouraged to interact and form a broader network of food business experts to strengthen their vision for a thriving enterprise.

Weekly Resouce #30 – Small Business Saturday

small-business-saturday-20122013 will mark the third year of Small Business Saturday. American Express established small business Saturday in 2010 on the day following the infamous Black Friday. The purpose of this day is to promote holiday shopping at small businesses. Support small business in your community by doing your shopping on Small Business Saturday. If you are a Small Business owner, take advantage of the resources that American Express has created to support you and your fellow small business owners in your community.

This year, Small Business Friday falls on November 30th. American Express is giving Card Members exclusive offers redeemable at qualifying American Express Card accepting small merchants that appear on the Small Business Saturday interactive map. Unfortunately, If you are not already on the map, it’s too late to be added but you can still register your business to accept American Express and gain access to free marketing materials that will signify your participation in Small Business Saturday. Be sure to explore the Small Business Saturday website. There are plenty of additional resources like printable signage and email templates that are available for you to utilize.

American Express is not the only company getting in on small business Saturday. Twitter has also pledged $1million in advertising credits for small businesses who have not used twitter to advertise before. qualifying businesses can  receive up to $100 to use towards promoting their tweets to reach a wider audience. Tweeting with the hashtag #shopsmall is also a great way to show your participation and to stay updated on the day’s happenings.

Weekly Resource #28 USPS Every Door Direct Mail

USPS21-300x233Every Door Direct Mail is a new tool from USPS that is designed to make mass mailings cheaper, more effective, and easier to accomplish. A new feature, EDDM is a one stop shop for your mass mail campaigns. This tool will allow business owners to systematically target their audience and deliver mail to every address within the specified carrier routes.

To take advantage of this offer, visit EDDM’s website to get a quote of your mail campaign. This is factored by the area you wish to cover and the number of addresses you wish to send your mail to. In order to determine what areas you would like to focus your mailings in, you can use the EDDM mapping tool. This will allow you to visualize the most effective areas around your business based on demographics that you choose to filter the visualizations with. The next and final step is deciding on a design for your mailings. You can upload a custom design or use a template. Either way, EDDM handles everything from printing to sending your mail.

If utilized properly, targeting audiences can greatly benefit your mail campaigns. This tool can help you with identifying where your targeted demographic resides which can give you vital insight on where to focus your marketing efforts.

 

Weekly Resource #26 – Healthcare Reform and Small Business

healthreformlaw_banner_lg_0Over the past few years, all of us have watched as Health Care Reform, President Obama’s primary running platform, has fought it’s way through the legislative branch. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, dubbed “ObamaCare”, was signed into law by President Obama on March 23rd, 2010. Since then, the bill has continued to be the source of much controversy and recently has been a large catalyst in the stalemate in congress that led to the quagmire of a government shutdown.

What does a healthcare reform of this magnitude mean for small businesses? The U.S.Chamber of Commerce has the answer to this questions. Health Care 101 is a tool created by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to inform small business owners of the changes that could affect them and what they need to do to comply with the changes.

With FAQs, videos, and charts galore, Health Care 101 should be able to answer most questions that small business owners have regarding the new Healthcare laws. It’s penalty calculator will help you determine whether you (as the employer) are required to offer coverage and what the penalty might be based on the number of full-time employees. This chart will help you determine whether you must pay penalties per employee or not. The Interactive Timeline plots the dates that key provisions will take effect. Check out the website and be sure to explore the plethora of information listed there.

Keep in mind, the materials shown on the website were developed for educational purposes. It is recommended that you speak with a attorney or benefit consultant to understand your legal obligations under the law.

Weekly Resource #25 – Five Keys to Using Financial Statements

ID-100182407Having well maintained financial records of your business is important in order to run it successfully. Financial statements are the windows into your business’ fiscal workings. Knowing how to analyze them is key to budgeting and pinpointed areas of waste.

On October 23rd, the MI-SBTDC will be conducting a class centered around the financial statement and how to mine the most useful information from it. It is intended for business owners and key staff who want to obtain a better understanding of how to use their financial statements. Ideally, Participants should have 2-3 years of financial records. Those of you who are seeking financing or are having challenges with cash flow would benefit the most from this class.

This class will cover a myriad of topics centered around financial statements. You will be instructed on how to use your balance sheet and income statement to manage your business. You will us break even analysis to improve your decision making, find the source of cash flow inefficiencies, and increase the cash flow to your business.

This event is free to Fifth Third Bank clients. You can find registration here.

Image courtesy of gualberto107  / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Weekly Resource #24 – MMIC Boost!

CaptureBoost! is a pitch contest for entrepreneurs that has generated over $2 Million in investments. Join the 100+ companies that have competed in the Boost! competition in the past!

This competition is available to any entrepreneur in the early and developing phases of business development. Each participant is allowed 2 minuets to pitch their business. Those who win a local event will gain access to MMIC’s network of Angel Investors. Winners will also win the opportunity to pitch their idea in front of investors. The first and second place winners will gain membership to MMIC for a year and assistance in acquiring targeted funding that fits their venture.

This is a Free event that will take place on October 15th. Although its free and open to all, participants and attendees are advised to register in advance. For more information, visit MMIC’s website.

Weekly Resource #23 – MMIC Crowd Camp: Ann Arbor

image_FormHeaderCrowdCampOver the past few years, crowd funding has proven to be a viable alternative to traditional loans. With $2.7 Billion raised in 2012 through crowd funded campaigns, they are not something that should be ignored. However, it being a relatively new method of funding procurement, many people don’t know much about them and they know even less about how they can start a campaign themselves.

The Mid Michigan Innovation Center has the perfect event for those of you looking to try your hand at crowd funding but know nothing about it. Starting October 12th, The MMIC, partnered with Ann Arbor SPARK, A&E networks, and the founders of RocketHub, will be conducting a two day workshop that will walk you through all of the steps involved in starting a crowd funding campaign.

The 2 day course will begin with breakfast and an introduction presentation that will describe the types of things that successful crowd funding campaigns do right and how “A&E’s project start-up” works. As the day continues, attendees will have time to work on their campaign. They will shoot the video description of their crowd funding idea that will be used in their final campaign profile. The event will wrap up on day 2 with finalization of projects and a launch party.

Attendees are encouraged to bring all of the video equipment they will need to shoot their video. This includes cameras, tripods, and laptops. Whether attendees have a project planned already or not, This event is great for anyone interested in crowd funding. Attendees do not even need to launch their campaign at the end of the event. They can come to simply learn and build a mock campaign.

Registration can be found here. Be sure to register soon because spots are limited.

Weekly Resource #22 – Build a Website

grand_circus-9959b0102656d9de1fe745a56e7f26e1Grand Circus Detroit, a brand new co-working, event and training center for tech startups in the heart of downtown Detroit, is hosting a 10 week course, beginning September 30th, on how to Build a Dynamic Website.

In this course you will get a thorough introduction to the technologies necessary to build modern, standards compliant websites. Through hands on exercises and projects you will practice and perfect your front-end development skills.

At the end of this 10-week course, you will:

  • Have a thorough, hands-on understanding of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery and how to use those technologies to build modern websites
  • Understand different hosting options, the mechanics of web servers and the internet as relevant and important to a front end developer
  • Know how to use JS and jQuery to dynamically manipulate the DOM
  • Know how to interact in real-time with RESTful web services APIs for sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest, as well custom web services for your own projects
  • Know how to identify, find, and integrate with third-party JavaScript frameworks and libraries
  • Know how to write your own simple JavaScript and jQuery plugins

For more details on the course, the prerequisites, or the application process, click here.

Weekly Resource #21 University of Michigan-Flint Incubator

The University of Michigan- Flint campus is larger than just faculty, staff, and classrooms. The campus stretches north of the Flint River and includes the Northbank Center, which contains the dance studio, University Outreach and the Innovation Incubator, also known as [IN], located on the building’s second floor.

The following is a top ten list of opportunities and activities available at [IN] Monday through Friday, nine a.m. to five p.m. for any stage entrepreneur:

 

10) Fun

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Use the foam cubes to create a desk, fort, throne, tower, podium and any other cool configuration you can think of for maximum productivity or relaxation.

 

 

 

9) Hang Out

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Lounge on the blue couch and watch cable television on the wall-mounted flat screen. The 54” smart television is also connected to the internet and can be used for Skype or just catching up on sports and world news.

 

 

8) Research

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[IN] has a large reference library of business- related books and magazines available for browsing.

Sections labeled “Sales and Marketing,” “Legal,” “Budget and Finance,” “Start ups,” “Leadership and Management” and many more cover the full spectrum of business development and document templates.

A selection of current and back issues from various Michigan and business magazines also fill the shelves including: Fast Company, Wired, dBusiness, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Yes!, FCW, Crain’s Detroit Business and Inc.

7) Co-work

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The co-working space, NBK 207, is open to both students and community members. It can hold meetings of between 4 and 24 people and is the perfect downtown location for startup businesses looking to meet with perspective clients in a professional setting. It is also a great place to work with other entrepreneurs and develop the next great idea!

Space may be reserved through the staff working in the incubator.

 

6) Surf

Bring your laptop! [IN] offers WiFi through the university’s MWireless and has plenty of Herman Miller ergonomic Caper chairs to help create a productive atmosphere for guests.

 

5) Rehydrate

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Have a drink! The space also provides a selection of Keurig coffees, hot chocolates and teas, soda pop and a water cooler. Guests are welcome to help themselves to a drink, although there is a suggested donation of .50 cents per item for additional drinks to allow the staff to purchase more items when the stock runs out.

 

4) Learn

Stay for a workshop, [IN] provides a free series of business- related workshops during the academic year to support students and the community.

Past workshops have included accounting skills, social innovation, women entrepreneurs and many more topics from speakers with years of experience. Registration is recommended as space is limited.

 

3) Mail

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[IN] is able to provide a downtown mailing address to student businesses to give them a secure professional setting to receive letters and packages and send mail from.

 

 

 

2) Plan

One of the most important services the Innovation Incubator offers to start up organizations is business plan development assistance.

Utilizing the business model canvas (taken from the Business Model Generation book by A. Osterwalder and Y. Pigneur, which is available in the reference library) businesses work with [IN] staff to storyboard their target goals, audiences and products allowing them to better realize how to make their business ventures financially successful.

 

1) Ask

All prospective businesses should first go online and fill out the 20 Questions about your business form, which is sent to an [IN] staff member. Staff will contact applicants for a one-on-one meeting so the business’s space and technical support needs can be identified.

The Innovation Incubator provides physical office space to University students with start-up ventures. Co-working space is available to community members for creating and collaborating. University students and the community can take advantage of free resources and consultancy services to support experiential learning. These include workshops that focus on elements of organizational management and an annual conference dedicated to social entrepreneurship. All efforts are focused on assisting clients in their learning processes as they develop the capacity for leadership and accomplishment.

Weekly Resource #20 – Great Lakes Women’s Business Conference

Business conferenceFor 12 years the Annual Great Lakes Women’s Business Conference has been bringing business women from across the state together to interact and establish connections with one another.  Woman from many different industries will attend this 2 day networking event starting Tuesday, September 24th and ending the evening of Wednesday the 25th.

Educational workshops, seminars, and networking opportunities will make up the schedule of events. The seminars will be presented by keynote speakers Cynthia Kay and Susan Bari.  During the convention, attendees will have many opportunities to network with 75 certified women owned businesses displaying in the conference center.

The workshops will cover topics designed to help entrepreneurs grow their business, including marketing strategies, networking tips, leadership training, and others.

Registration can be found here.