Register now for the Small Business Academy and attend free workshops to start or grow your business.

women business

Sustaining Family-Owned Businesses in Downtown

Whether a business begins when a husband-and-wife team goes into business together, or with a parent-child partnership, family-owned businesses often have close ties to the community and can be powerful advocates on behalf of the community. However, 70 percent of all privately owned businesses will change hands in the coming decade as Baby Boomers retire, and only one-third of family businesses successfully make this transition. Businesses can significantly improve their odds by undertaking three critical initiatives. Read More

2017-12-21T02:12:47-06:00June 19, 2017|Places, Small Business|

Communities Have a Role to Play in Supporting Entrepreneurs

In addition to growing economic success, women-owned businesses contribute greatly to the community: more than 60 percent of women businesses owners identified in the Main Street survey were actively involved in the community. Given this community involvement, it makes sense that women-owned businesses tend to be successful at crowdfunding efforts: 70 percent of Kickstarter projects launched by women were funded, compared to 61 percent of male projects. The Kiva Zip program, new to Wisconsin in 2016, matches entrepreneurs with community funders to provide zero-percent loans of up to $5,000 to small businesses. Read More

2017-12-12T03:30:16-06:00June 12, 2017|Community Engagement, Places, Small Business|

Downtown: hotbed of entrepreneurship

Downtown provides a cost-effective and scalable location for businesses to start and grow. Not only were downtowns the first live/work communities (a cost- and time-saving advantage that many entrepreneurs still take advantage of), but historic buildings also offer passive income potential in the form of rental of upper floor spaces, as well as future expansion opportunities. Read More

2017-12-21T02:13:41-06:00June 6, 2017|Preservation, Small Business|

Profiles of Wisconsin’s women entrepreneurs

Women entrepreneurs make up a large, growing and vital part of the downtown business landscape. Women business owners and managers – who make up 40 percent of all downtown businesses owned in Wisconsin - find the downtown environment to be a supportive place to start and grow a business, offering convenient marketing, built-in foot traffic, and a community of other entrepreneurs to collaborate with. This network of like-minded business owners bodes well for future business growth. Read More

2017-12-21T02:14:22-06:00May 30, 2017|Places, Small Business|