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Starting a company often feels like chicken and egg. You need money to make money, but how do you get the money to make that money? How do you even get started when your budget = $0?
This is a common question I get, so I wanted to share a couple of resources available to entrepreneurs getting started:
The SBDC is the SBA’s largest service program and provides high quality business & economic development assistance to small businesses & entrepreneurs. We provide no-cost business advising and low-cost training to existing and new businesses.
I came across the SBDC myself ten years ago when starting a marketing agency. They helped us secure an SBA loan and coached us through writing a business plan. If you're interested in learning more, please reach out to Don Loewel at sbdc@pasadena.edu.
In case you didn't know, TechSparks hosts a regular happy hour every second Thursday of each month. The purpose of this happy hour is to provide entrepreneurs a casual, fun environment to network with one another as well as with service providers (like us!). Service providers like TechSparks who specialize in startups realize that you may not be in a position to pay us - yet. Our consultants are entrepreneurs themselves and open to creative arrangements (equity, deferred comp, etc.) to help startups we find promising.
The event is free, but BYOB (buy your own beer). Also, we're trying out a Tip Jar on our website. If you've benefited from our past events, we suggest you pay it forward by donating to our Tip Jar. Any proceeds from the Tip Jar will go towards buying pizzas and beers to share with everyone at our Informal Office Hours.
If there's a will, there's a way. Don't give up!
Best regards,
Jennifer Chang
Managing Partner, TechSparks
Jennifer Chang
Managing Partner, TechSparks