Small Business Majority's blog

After more than 45 years of business, Dante Hamilton, owner of Internet Webpages Newspaper Inc., has found himself in a resource renaissance thanks to the newly prevalent online tools that have been available since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Small Business Majority’s Outreach Team advocates for entrepreneurs on two fronts: It supports policies that benefit small firms and it offers workshops and events that help small business owners grow their companies. We have found this work to be even more important as small businesses experience rising inflation, supply chain disruptions and workforce challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.

This week we are spotlighting Tasha Brown, Small Business Majority’s Midwest Director, to let small business owners know how our team members can assist them.

During lockdown, New Mexico transplant Skylar Shafer found herself homesick for the flavors of her New England childhood. Looking to connect herself back to her roots and find a distraction from her emotionally intensive day job as a community support worker, she started Sky’s Sweets, a bakery that specializes in Jewish and Brazilian desserts. Skylar’s role as a small business has helped her feel connected to her New Mexico community while her baking connects her to the community she left behind on the East Coast.

In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we co-hosted a Twitter chat with Women's Business Development Center (WBDC), Support Latino Businesses and America’s Small Business Development Center (ASBDC) to share opportunities and challenges facing Hispanic and Latino small business owners. 

Below is a brief recap of the questions and a sample of the great tips and information shared during the chat. 

Full-time health policy advocate and part-time doula Knetta Adkins is striving to make the Georgia healthcare system more accessible for everyone–especially families of color.
 
Knetta started practicing as a doula three years ago in Alabama, but soon after she relocated to Georgia and started her own practice, Douwella, where she supports parents through their pre and postpartum journey.
 
She says, “It’s important to me that I ensure that the families I work with have agency over their birthing story.”

The CalSavers Retirement Savings Program is a portable workplace retirement savings program for private sector workers whose employers do not have a retirement savings program. CalSavers is run by the state and funded by modest employee contributions, so it involves minimal requirements for employers. 

Although Shirley Modlin plans on giving her manufacturing business, located in Powhatan, Virginia, over to her son in the next two years, she is nowhere near retirement. In fact, she is handing over her current business so she can start a new one and open a vocational center in the rural area of her town. 

During this Pride Month, Joanis Duran and other LGBTQ small business owners in Florida are fighting to be heard as their state policymakers enact anti-LGBTQ legislation.

“We feel that we have a government that is trying to remove us.”

Former finance professional Howard Konishi always dreamed of owning his own gym and making a difference in his community. After turning 30, Howard finally decided to trade his suit and tie for climbing shoes and a harness full time. 

The rock climber put his degree in economics to good use and started doing market research on where to open Top Out Climbing Gym. Finally, he decided on Santa Clarita, a smaller city north of Los Angeles, without a rock climbing facility. 

As a business owner, not asking the right questions in the beginning stages of your business can lead to years of financial repercussions. Georgia entrepreneur Markela Taylor knows this well. 

Markela was happy at her nine-to-five job until a family emergency pulled her away from the office. After believing her job would be safe while she traveled to be with her family, she was surprised when she got an email saying her job was in jeopardy.