Want to connect with the government’s largest source of grant funding for innovative early-stage small businesses in technology or the sciences? Here’s your chance. The Small Business Administration’s National SBIR Road Tour is coming to Miami, and you’re invited to attend. Representatives of 12 federal agencies that award SBIR/STTR grants […]
Growth Stages
A trio of reports sheds light on the state of women-led small businesses
For National Women’s Small Business Month, we look at a trio of new studies with some enlightening findings about U.S. female entrepreneurs – their outlook, their impact and their challenges. First up is the 2019 Bank of America Women Business Owner Spotlight, which sheds light on the experiences of female […]
FIU College of Business shares the secrets of “unicorn entrepreneurs” in new program.
Florida International University’s College of Business (FIU Business) will launch a first-of-its kind program, Developing High-Potential Ventures with Skills – Not Venture Capital. Designed for South Florida entrepreneurs, technologists and students, the program will benefit those in the region who want to create and control wealth by starting and scaling […]
Start here: 12 PR tips for small businesses
What are some ways to tell your company’s story and generate exposure for your small business? We’re diving into public relations this week, and in a previous post we explored what PR is and isn’t and ways to begin formulating a PR strategy and incorporating some best practices into your […]
PR is not just for the big guys. Here are ways to tell your story
What is public relations? “It starts with understanding the purpose of the company and then defining how the company communicates, with customers and with journalists,” said Nile Kirec, a consultant at Florida SBDC at FIU, the small business development center within FIU’s College of Business, who specializes in marketing, PR […]
This entrepreneur’s success started with knowing his market and owning his brand
Before he opened his retail store, Eric Wooden designed his own line of urban graphic t-shirts on nights and weekends and sold them from the trunk of his car. On weekends, Wooden attended trade shows and knocked on a lot of doors of Miami retailers, finally winning his first wholesaling […]
A small business dream was almost blown away. With Accion’s help, this story takes a sweet turn
When Corina Jimenez’s doctor in Venezuela urged her to cut dairy from her diet, she explored options for satisfying her sweet tooth. She didn’t like what she found out there – eating healthy shouldn’t mean sacrificing taste, she believed. So Jimenez did what others in her entrepreneurial family would do: […]
If you want your company to fly, make sure you have industry expertise on your team
Setting up a new business to soar starts with the right team on the ground. Never underestimate the value of industry expertise and complementary strengths. When Maria Esther Martinez, an engineer, set out to develop Aerosens, a Miami-based technology startup serving the aviation industry, she had corporate and startup experience. […]
Chaos reigns – but does it always have to?
Chaotic periods can destabilize a small business, and sometimes it doesn’t take much. Some of it is just part of the company’s growing pains. Isn’t this a familiar scenario? Your sales are coming in fast and furiously but you don’t have the staff to handle it. Perhaps your sales cycle […]
A strategic growth plan is not that thing you look at once a year. Here’s how to get started.
Goals, goals, goals – we all have them, but did your company hit them last year? How about for the first quarter of 2019? What are your growth goals for Q2 for all of your function areas and does everyone in your company know what they are? If your company […]