Small Business Majority teams up with Univision to show Latino business owners that anything is possible

Posible2019

Every year, Univision hosts POSiBLE LA, a special event in Los Angeles, for Latino entrepreneurs and small business owners to come together and learn about the resources available to help them grow and thrive as business owners. This year we’re sharing a recap of the event and some key takeaways for Latino entrepreneurs. 
 
For the past two years, Small Business Majority has had the honor of participating in the full-day conference to share our education and resources with attendees. This year, California Deputy Director and National Latino Outreach Manager Xiomara Peña and Southern California Outreach Manager Claudia Moreno were excited to participate in the day’s events.
 
In preparation for the conference, the Univision production team invited Xiomara and Claudia to be featured on a Facebook Live interview to discuss the challenges and opportunities Latino entrepreneurs face and talk about how Small Business Majority helps elevate the voices of underrepresented small business owners. 
 
On the day of the event, Small Business Majority participated in three sessions. Xiomara kicked things off with a presentation to a room of 360 entrepreneurs where she shared information about how to start a business from home and a new law in California that support entrepreneurs' home-based businesses. Next, Claudia presented on crowdfunding to showcase a new and growing way to obtain capital through social media platforms. Finally, Xiomara joined Efrain Cornejo, Strategic Partnerships Manager for Covered California, to discuss the new healthcare laws in the state of California and how they differ from federal laws. Efrain and Xiomara shared information about the Covered California marketplace, tax credits open enrollment and how Covered California supports entrepreneurs.

To close out the day, we hosted a networking event with Tito’s Vodka to facilitate conversations and connections among participants. We were joined by 45 small business owners and entrepreneurs in a lively exchange of business cards and stories of successes and failures. 

Through our conversations with small business owners and participation in the day’s events, we came away with some key lessons that all Southern California Latino business owners can learn from:

  1. Latino business owners are very interested in home-based businesses: Xiomara’s session on starting home-based business highlighted the increasing interest of Latino entrepreneurs in starting their business from their home. The audience was actively interested in learning about new legislation and hearing home-based business success stories
  2. There are many resources available in Spanish: Hearing from all our partners and fellow small business advocates, it is clear that there is an abundance of resources for Spanish speakers in Southern California. Don't hesitate to reach out; we can connect you to the right folks! 
  3. Networks are key to small business success: Entrepreneurs would benefit tremendously by being connected to their small business ecosystem. Everyone who participated in this year’s event came away with new and valuable connections to small business organizations, lenders and fellow small business owners. These connections will carry them far as they continue on their entrepreneurial journey. 

We had so much fun meeting and re-connecting with small business owners in the L.A. area. With the largest Latino population being in Southern California, POSiBLE LA is such a unique and important event that ensures we are building an inclusive economy.

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