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Starting a business is a demanding but rewarding undertaking. There is so much to think about, from robust planning, market research, and acquiring knowledge in areas you never thought of before. To be a successful entrepreneur, you want to make sure you prepare thoroughly before launching your business. In this article, we focus on fiveRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  What to know As the nation recovers from the pandemic, the strategic lens for small business support will shift from averting destruction to making strategic investments in entrepreneurship ecosystems and smallRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  What to Know In normal times, small businesses are constantly being created and destroyed. This churn makes entrepreneurship a risky journey for individual business owner, but can be a good thingRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  “Small business” is an unhelpfully broad segment. This brief focuses on small businesses with fewer than 100 employees, with the acknowledgement that smaller businesses have experienced particular challenges during the economicRead more

This post is part of a five-part series called Relief to Recovery, an analysis done by Joseph Parilla and Sifan Liu of Brookings Institute.  With vaccine rates increasing and the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) delivering flexible resources to localities and states, small business support remains a key priority for local leaders as theyRead more

Amazon is the largest online store and hosts products from some of the biggest brands in the world. They are also known for large inventories and discounts, so competing based on price can be a tall order for local startups. Interestingly, about 50% of the products you encounter at Amazon in the United States areRead more

As the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks concentrated in remote rural towns this fall, the geographic isolation once thought to shield them from the pandemic swiftly transitioned into a severe disadvantage. Rural communities and the small businesses and residents within them faced overlapping, systemic challenges entering this crisis. Rural residents—particularly Black, Native American, and Latino orRead more

Months of dispersion throughout the northeast and southern United States has finally seen the COVID outbreak concentrating in rural areas, surging in remote, sparsely populated towns and inflicting a toll on all communities within them. Alongside this rural surge comes doomsday queries: Will rural America be able to survive this storm? Can rural small businesses-theRead more

“Why should I start my own business?” For nearly every business that exists or has existed, this is the question that is asked at the beginning. Maybe you are tired of the full-time, 9 to 5 work day, working for someone else style of life. Or maybe you have a wonderful idea that just hasRead more

The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster loans are the primary form of Federal assistance for the repair and rebuilding of non-farm, private sector disaster losses. The disaster loan program is the only form of SBA assistance not limited to small businesses. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) can provide up to $2 million ofRead more