Fall 2016 Newsletter

Advising Corner:
What is Strategy, Anyway?

Once your company has reached a comfortable state of profitability where your bills are getting paid, your customer pipeline is full, products are selling out, or Saturday night is packed, then you might be at the point where it makes sense to think about your long-term strategy.

Perhaps your long-term goal is to double your revenues by one year from today. The first step in achieving a goal is to say it out loud then write it down and tape it above your desk, to your refrigerator, or to the dashboard of your car. You may notice that when you start speaking this goal out loud, you begin thinking about what you would need to do to get there. For example:

• How do I get more customers? Make a new flyer or brochure.
• What resources do I have to put in place? Find a new graphic designer.
• Can my space handle more customers? Buy new tables and chairs.
• Do my customers like coming here? Fix the light in the entry way.

Click here to read the full post and find more tips.

Investing in African American Entrepreneurs

In 2016, in partnership with Wells Fargo’s Diverse Community Capital program, Main Street Launch developed additional programs and services specifically designed to support African American small business owners in Oakland and San Francisco.

San Francisco Small Business Week

Main Street Launch is proud to have partnered with the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce to host the first ever San Francisco Small Business Week event focused on African Americans. We hosted our event at 1300 on Fillmore, an African American-owned business in the Fillmore District, convening over 60 small business owners and community members.

Business Lifecycle Series

Main Street Launch is utilizing Wells Fargo Works, a technology platform, to support and enhance our traditional business education seminars. This integrated approach allows seminar participants to access additional tools that they need to support their business development at every stage. To sign up for upcoming workshops or to learn more about this series, please contact Main Street Senior Vice President Robert Lattimore.

Lending

This program offers capital up to $250,000, with an emphasis on reaching women-owned companies. These loans can support the finances of a small business such as refinancing high-interest small business debt that they’ve acquired through online lenders. Click here to learn more about our recent loan with Brown Sugar Kitchen.

Entrepreneurs in Residence

Our Entrepreneurs in Residence program identifies early stage companies that could benefit from the support of an accelerator program, and we provide the resources, relationships, and advice they need to take their business to the next level.

Follow our blog for more updates about this program and our clients.

Meet Our Clients: Civil Labs

Civil Labs is a social enterprise with a mission to empower young people to make change in their community and to give them the resources to do so. Co-founded by Isaac Buwembo and Graham Gardner, Civil Labs believes that the best place for youth entrepreneurship programming is a space that supports and celebrates established entrepreneurs in a commercially-viable way.

“Throughout our journey starting this business, we have seen a lot of incremental progress. Joining Main Street Launch’s Entrepreneur in Residence program was one of those bigger leaps for our business development,” says Graham.

Click here to read more about Civil Labs. Check out their newest project, True Pops.

Get to Know Rodney Clayton,
Assistant Vice President – Loan Servicing

Get Healthy at Work with Soja Mind / Body

On Thursday, August 25 we were thrilled to have Peter from Soja Mind / Body (one of our clients) at our office to lead us through an afternoon refresher/energizer. Our team spent 30 minutes doing simple movements to help us counteract sitting at our desks all day.

Soja offers affordable corporate and office packages that can help your team stay energized and engaged. Click here to learn more about their services. Tell them we sent you!

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Click here to view more upcoming events to support your business this fall.

We welcome our partners and community to share upcoming events.
We post them on social media and on our website.
Send any upcoming events to katie@mainstreetlaunch.org.

BusinessAdvising.org connects free expert advisors and mentors to entrepreneurs for tailored, hands-on assistance to grow businesses and create new quality jobs in their communities. Click here to sign up at no cost to you.

Townsqd is a closed social network that connects neighborhood small businesses to each other. This platform fosters collaboration among businesses and offers a place to share resources and information. Click here to join at no cost to you.

Localwise connects local people to jobs at local businesses. As small businesses are ready to make their first hire or grow their team, Localwise offers a local job community focused on building talent in small businesses. Click here to post a job.

Welcome to our Newest Clients

For more information about shopping with our clients, please check out our map.