Determining whether or not you’re in the right spot for your business is important, and entails a few essential questions. You can help answer them by examining both your business needs and the current environment.
Looking for the common measures across different studies can also help, especially if you are a minority business owner who wants to meet certain certifications or tap into the best funding resources out there.
As a way to improve your business, consider some of these as the signs that you’ve found a good place to develop your venture.
- Diverse business options: You might not need a location with several thriving industries to serve. On the other hand, seeing this could be evidence of a strong economy and serve as an incentive to stay. After all, your venture could end up evolving and your business needs with it.
- Government contracting involvement: The state you work in should have a system for assisting owners. For a local example, look to the Ohio Department of Administrative Services and its Equal Opportunity Division to learn about diversity in state and government jobs, as well as networking opportunities like its recent May expo.
- Strong minority presence in startup culture: It’s not only a good, supportive environment you’re looking for, but also one with proven rates of success for minority entrepreneurs. That’s part of how Expert Market determined the ranking of 10 cities in a recent infographic, using not just evidence of dense startup presence but opportunities for minorities as well.
Minority owners who want to expand the profile of their businesses can also look for specific sources of funding in their communities to let them match competitors and support necessary projects.
Opportunities in Ohio
There are Ohio small business loans which can help supplement current your business’ finances and keep in line with your current expectations. For Growth Capital, this includes the Ohio 166 Regional Loan Program, which has a distinct connection to the state and also offers numerous possible applications for your enterprise. Entrepreneurs from economically distressed areas can gain from low-interest rates, while the loan itself can reach as high as half of the project, with the chance to create jobs in the process.
Minority business owners can look for certain signals that their community is a healthy one to grow a business in.In 2016, Growth Capital established 14 Ohio 166 loans out of a total portfolio of 321. In addition, this type of loan was responsible for more than $2.5 million in outstanding dollars as of Sept. 30. Our work with businesses operating in disadvantaged markets yielded $21.7 million, and 28 percent of these were woman-, minority- or veteran-owned, showing our interest in supporting Ohio’s different communities.
You can see these figures for yourself in the report here, or sign up with our mailing list for more information.