Social media can make the life of an entrepreneur look glamourous. Images of cute cars, big houses, and frequent travel decorate the pages of successful founders. Truth is, success comes after hard work. For the new entrepreneur, it is important to learn how to work smarter. That includes working on the overall business venture and not just making a good product or service.
Recently, small and midsized cities across the United States have elevated the priority of building startup ecosystems that grow business talent from within the local community. In Little Rock, Arkansas, new energy around startups has spurred three intensive training programs that teach and mentor the area’s early-stage entrepreneurs.
1. Spark!
Spark! is a pre-accelerator program that was announced on August 13, 2019, as a partnership between The Venture Center and Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. The fourteen-week program will train up to eight entrepreneurs in various areas of running a business. This program seeks businesses that already have customers and full-time founders. One of several perk offered to participants is free office space at the Venture Center’s workspace in downtown Little Rock.
The deadline to apply for Spark is September 4, 2019.
2. Startup Business Academy
Remix Ideas and FORGE collaborated to launch their Startup Business Academy on August 3, 2019. The twelve-week training program is housed at Philander Smith College, a local historically black college in the heart of Little Rock. Its first cohort includes fifteen entrepreneurs in various stages of developing their businesses. Remix Ideas and FORGE expect that the Startup Business Academy will give talented aspiring entrepreneurs the business tools required for long term success. Their shared goal is to transform the community through entrepreneurship.
3. Momentum
Earlier in 2019, The Arkansas Women’s Business Center at Winrock International produced Momentum, a five-week business accelerator targeting minority women in Arkansas. Momentum provided ten minority woman-owned businesses with training, mentorship and $500 in seed funding for business development.
Honorable Mention
While these three new programs focus on devloping local talent, a discussion about training programs in Little Rock is not complete without mention of two startup accelerators that reach entrepreneurs across the world. According to the Venture Center, the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator and the FIS Fintech Accelerator have raised more than $57 million in private equity and generated more than $50 million in revenue since 2014.
As Little Rock focuses new energy on local entrepreneurship, 2020 may bring even more support for residents with dreams of being their own boss.
