Small Business Resources to Assist You in the New Year

A new year brings new goals for any small business owner. Maybe you want to increase sales (doesn’t everybody?) or start offering your products and services online. Maybe you’re ready to hire your first employee or expand to an additional location. Maybe you’ll be looking for capital or take that leap into government contracting. Whatever goal you have for your small business in 2018, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and its resource partners can help you achieve them.

National Reach

Our nationwide network of Resource Partners provides entrepreneurs with free, on-one-one business counseling and advice in a wide range of areas. Whether it’s with one of the more typical areas of need such as financial assistance or business planning, or whether it’s guidance in special areas of focus, such as disaster preparedness and recovery, veterans’ business assistance, green business technology, technology transfer and regulatory compliance, the SBA and it’s network is here to help.

Training Increases

During fiscal year 2017, there were 1.4 million entrepreneurs and small business owners who were counseled or trained. These numbers speak for themselves.

•  counseled and trained over 430,000 clients
•  provided assistance to nearly 150,000 clients
• SCORE counseled and trained more than 645,000 clients
•  provided online training to more than 200,000 entrepreneurs

Our resource partners have made many great contributions to the growth and sustainability of America’s small businesses through one-on-one mentoring, consulting and training to help small businesses compete in the global marketplace. They’ve literally helped millions of small business owners just like you.

Resource partners active here in central Iowa include the Des Moines SCORE Chapter, America’s SBDC Iowa, the Iowa Women’s Business Center at the Iowa Center for Economic Success and the Veterans Business Outreach Center.

I encourage you to contact any of these resources to see how they can help you meet your small business goals for the New Year.

Stay connected to the small business community in Greater Des Moines (DSM). Learn about events and networking opportunities in The Partnership’s Small Business Resources Hub or sign up for the Small Business Resources newsletter for information about upcoming events, other resources and the latest announcements in the DSM small business community.