MVP: Momentum & Value for People of Color’s Post

Plug and Play Partners attended the Cleveland Impact Program's 20th Small Business Showcase, an entrepreneurial showcase competition sponsored by JumpStart Inc. held at the House of Blues. This year's cohort of five businesses presented their plans for business growth including building brand awareness, staffing, and capital needs. All five entrepreneurs did a great job pitching their needs. Having a good elevator speech, pitch line, and solid financials are all elements that are needed for gaining the attention of investors. Plug and Play Partners can be your team to provide C-level expertise in all areas of business as a TURNKEY partnership. As a business owner, you don't need to search for, onboard, train, and work with a specific consultancy. P&PP works with you on a team approach, plugging-in the specific expertise (finance, marketing, HR) as needed during your company growth path. The JumpStart event was attended by Dale Mesnick and Doug Hitchcock

Making a dream business come true 💼 🚀 We all have this entrepreneurial spirit, a fire burning inside us. We have this one idea, we think might just be the key to our dream business. Let's recognize it - It's not enough to simply have an idea. It takes resilience, strategic thinking and consistency to bring that dream to fruition. So, are you ready to conquer the entrepreneurial world with your innovative idea? Inspire others by sharing your thoughts below. 🚀

Join AARP and Black Girl Ventures on Tuesday, August 22 at 2 pm ET for a virtual discussion on how to craft a compelling pitch. Grants and pitch competitions are a promising strategy to acquire free capital and scale your business, but many business owners and entrepreneurs don't take advantage of these programs.     During this session, you’ll learn the following: The key ingredients of a perfect pitch An example of a compelling pitch that converts passive listeners into investors What makes a pitch ineffective The best practices of a winning pitch What to do next if you don’t win funding

Why I "1MC." 1MC is the nation's entrepreneurial community supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 1MC Susquehanna Valley was founded in 2017 and continues to grow our speaker list and audience regulars. So why do I "1MC?" Here are a few reasons. 1. Big & Small. You're never too big or too small to join 1MC. Egos are checked at the door, and we're all here as entrepreneurial ecosystem builders. That's a good thing. 2. Give & Gain. Some days you give; advice, time, or an ear. Other days you gain; new friends, resources, or personal inspiration. That's a big thing. 3. Diversity & Perspectives. We can stay behind our business's doors and operate as usual or go beyond our walls and those we currently serve to expand our vision. That's a bold thing. That's why I "1MC." How about you? Photo shout out to Steven Stumbris

Big news for all of southern Missouri today 🗞️ if you're imagining something different for your professional life. The U.S. Bank Foundation awarded the Missouri State University Foundation $100,000 over the next three years to extend the reach of the Early-Stage Business Boot Camp. This ensures we'll be able to deliver the boot camps to rural areas of Missouri, virtually and everywhere there's a need - all at no cost to participants through Innovate SOMO. That's the awesome partnership we've built with Codefi to accelerate workforce development, job growth and support the next generation of industry-leading, high-growth companies in southern Missouri. Couldn't think of a better partner, truly - and can't wait to tell you more and more about all that Innovate SOMO will do for making business support more widely available and high-tech job skills more easily accessible. Want to help us make big moves in Missouri? Support Innovate SOMO. Missouri SBDC at Missouri State University https://hubs.li/Q02cG_240

Some families do not encourage their children to go to college if the family didn't have a college grad before (some families didn't even have anyone go to school), but become very proud of them when they succeed... The same scenario applies for entrepreneurial journeys. If your family had no entrepreneurial journey experience or had a bad experience getting a private business setup, it shouldn't be an obstacle for you if you actually know what you're talking about and how you'll go about it... Dream. Visualise. Plan. Prepare. Ready? get set... GO!

The Freedom Point: When the sale of your business would generate enough cash to do whatever, whenever. The business owners who inspire me are the ones who want to: Do the next thing: Either launch Business 2, which will grow bigger, better, and faster because of their experience with Business 1 Or start a private equity firm or family office that starts, buys, and builds multiple businesses. AND spend lots of Free Days with their families. Possibly on the pictured beach. Credits: Freedom Point concept from John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell. Free Days concept from Dan Sullivan, creator of The Entrepreneurial Time System.