Entrepreneurship

We often hear from small business owners that they feel like their voices are not heard on key issues that impact their small businesses. That’s why we brought 150 small business owners to D.C. for our second annual Small Business Leadership Summit. With its theme, “Recognizing the Power of the Small Business Economy,” this year’s Summit discussed how the small business case is too often misunderstood and misrepresented in the media, at the public policy table and at the ballot box.

During National Small Business Week, Small Business Majority is recognizing small business owners who strive to give back to their communities. Bryce Smith, owner of the Adel Family Fun Center in Adel, Iowa, is certainly one of them.

This is a guest post from Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). This blog originally appeared on the SBA’s website.

Fresh Kutz opened its doors in North Hollywood in 2008 with the goal of offering all customers premium services by top-level barbers in a modern barbershop. Since its inception, owner Brian Portillo knew he would face several challenges as the community has a crime rate above the national average.  Not only did he want to open his business in the community in which he grew up, but he wanted to create positive social impact while running his business.

Steve Katsaros has always been an innovator. He began inventing products for the ski industry in his late teens, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Purdue University so he could follow his dream of creating new technologies to improve the world. In the early 2000s, Katsaros came up with his first big invention: the RevoPower, an efficient motorized wheel designed to travel up to 20 miles per hour at over 100 miles per gallon.

For many small businesses, addressing HR, legal and compliance needs can be a challenge. Many lack the resources to hire a full-time HR professional who can draft employee policies and handbooks, design HR strategies that help move the company forward or secure legal services for HR-related necessities – like employment contracts or separation agreements.

While working towards an engineering degree in college, Matthew Hollis quickly realized his real interest wasn’t in memorizing equations or the laws of thermodynamics, but rather in entrepreneurship and how to turn problem solving into a business. He connected with Alan Dillman, who ran a business incubator on Hollis’ college campus. The two quickly realized there was room for innovation and sustainability in the waste collection business, which inspired them to launch Elytus, a waste management company based in Columbus, Ohio.

Access to capital is a major challenge for small business owners. Without adequate funding or access to reasonable loans, small businesses can’t grow and thrive – or even get off the ground in many cases. To help ensure entrepreneurs secure the funding they need to be successful, Small Business Majority has partnered with the VEDC in Los Angeles County to launch a new program providing access to capital education to small business owners.