Meeting small businesses where they are: Technical assistance models that work in an increasingly complex landscape
The technical support entrepreneurs need to launch and grow their businesses can vary widely. Additionally, there is an increasingly diverse range of technical assistance models, making it challenging to provide the right information to the right entrepreneur at the right time. This article highlights where leading technical assistance providers are focusing to help more entrepreneurs succeed.
Dr. Penny and Kenneth Mickey, the husband and wife team behind Memphis’ small-batch gourmet popcorn brand, Mickey’s Popcorn, found themselves at a turning point in their business shortly after launching in 2020. They had invested in a 3-in-1 popcorn popper, tumbler, and caramel cooker, as well as the rest of the tools required to start popping in their church’s commercial kitchen. However, they had no way to reach potential customers during the height of the pandemic. They knew an e-commerce strategy was vital at a time when online purchasing dominated the market, but they had no idea how to find information on expanding into online sales, or the tools to implement such a strategy. What they lacked was a technical assistance delivery or small business capacity building program that would provide the know-how to launch an online revenue stream.
“We literally had the framework of a website, but you couldn’t actually make any purchases or do any business on our website, so we knew at that point we needed support to be able to launch fully into an e-commerce channel to be able to sell our gourmet popcorn,” said Dr. Mickey.
Mickey applied to Accion Opportunity Fund’s FedEX E-Commerce Learning Lab program after seeing one of FedEx’s posts on LinkedIn promoting the five-month program, which offers technical assistance to small-business entrepreneurs, primarily women and people of color. They were accepted into the five-month program, and used the education, networking, and operational support it provided to help scale the e-commerce component of the business.
Technical assistance, such as that offered by Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), addresses needs that support marketing, business operations, and sales for a new business, and goes hand-in-hand with the financial piece of the puzzle for start-ups.
Technical assistance can come in many forms, and as the pace of technology quickens, the complexity of what it provides is ever-increasing. The topics run the gamut, from advising brick-and-mortars on how to go digital and along with it, implement e-commerce platforms, social-media plans and a digital marketing strategy, to questions concerning cybersecurity — data breaches can be one one of the most crippling downfalls for a small business — or how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence or crypto currencies can impact business.
Like similar programs, the immersive Learning Lab program includes e-commerce courses and workshops covering topics such as legal, operations, finance, social media marketing, digital marketing strategy, coaching from industry experts, networking opportunities with fellow entrepreneurs, online sales support, and order fulfillment assistance.
Through the mentorship and the hands-on learning offered by the e-commerce accelerator, the Mickeys gained the knowledge, tools, and confidence to elevate their digital business — they received guidance on setting up and maintaining a virtual store, how to most effectively market their popcorn online, executing on compelling product photography and managing promotions, customer service, orders, and fulfillment. As they learned how to ramp up their digital marketing, they were able to invest the revenue it generated into broader plans to develop multiple sales channels. Today, they operate from a 5,000 square-foot commercial factory in Tennessee as the world’s first and only licensed manufacturer of Tennessee Whiskey Caramel Popcorn.
“The Learning Lab was the fire that sparked our success,” Dr. Mickey said. “It helped us understand what we needed to be customer-facing and our back-end support needs like customer care services and shipping strategies. It gave us a scalable plan that accelerated our growth into e-commerce and beyond.”
AOF is one of several organizations focused on technical assistance supported by Mastercard Strive USA as part of its mission to help small businesses to overcome three common roadblocks to success: getting capital, going digital, and growing their networks and know-how. There is no one-size-fits-all technical assistance solution — the needs are as diverse as the types of businesses themselves. As such, there are many organizations providing a range of technical assistance and programming to small businesses, aiming to bridge the traditionally wide gap between business concept and launch to scaling and profitability.
Different models For different needs
Technical assistance programs are increasingly specialized as most entrepreneurs have specific needs at specific times that a generalist approach cannot effectively address. A few of these models include:
Digital learning and coaching support. By design, AOF’s offerings are broad. It has a lending arm, focuses on educational resources and coaching, and offers support networks in both English and Spanish. Its website hosts a free digital library filled with hundreds of webinars and articles designed to help small business owners find the specific information they need no matter where they are in their business journey. The site includes interactive courses that cover such subjects as how to pitch a business, access capital, style products for photography, or develop a social media playbook. Over 30 years, the California-based AOF reports that it has helped create some 50,000 jobs spurring $1 billion in economic activity, while serving a client base that’s 90 percent women, people of color, or of low to moderate income.
Serving the whole business. Others, like Atlanta-based Our Village United (OVU), have a core belief that communities prosper economically and holistically when you serve the whole business, which they do via five unique incubator programs crafted to meet the different needs of small businesses. OVU focuses on both the health of the business as well as the health of the business owner, helping solopreneurs and microbusinesses to achieve specific goals. Their work includes partnering with licensed wellness coaches and mental health practitioners who serve as mentors to small businesses, ensuringfounders receive essential support for success.
Placed-based business support hubs. In another model, the St. Louis Development Corporation, an independent economic development agency serving the city of St. Louis, Missouri, launched the Northside Economic Empowerment Center, a strategic and centralized center to serve several historic Black neighborhoods that have been under-resourced for decades. The center’s mission is to promote business empowerment, capacity building and workforce development to both businesses and residents. Its in-person and online service include back-office support, technical assistance programs for certification, licensing, marketing and other professional services, access to capital in the form of lending and grant opportunities and a network of other resources. For example, a hub tailored to local contractors includes a bidding and estimating academy, conversations with contractors, certification services and workshop for minority and women-owned business enterprises followed by a meet and greet for those newly certified and a headcount information session.
Government funding as an accelerant for technical learning
Currently, the majority of federal investments in small businesses aim to enhance access to affordable capital for entrepreneurs. However, now more than ever, there’s a notable shift towards allocating more funding to technical assistance. For example, within the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), a significant $200 million is earmarked solely for technical assistance. This initiative is part of the broader $10 billion American Rescue Plan of 2021 led by the Department of the Treasury. Those dollars were earmarked for states, the District of Columbia, territories, and Tribal Governments to expand access to capital and critical support, such as technical assistance, for small businesses emerging from the pandemic, administered through loan participation and guarantee programs, collateral support programs, capital access programs, and through equity and venture capital programs.
Another program that will expand access to more specialized technical assistance is the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which mobilizes private capital to address the climate crisis and provide disadvantaged communities with the tools to invest in clean energy projects in their own neighborhoods. The $7 billion Solar For All program, for example, which is part of GGRF, could result in millions of dollars for workforce development to train contractors to install both residential and community rooftop solar and the associated storage
Additional funding for technical assistance could be available for projects that focus on decarbonization of existing buildings, decarbonization of transportation and distributed power generation stemming from the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund. That fund will provide grants to support national clean financing institutions so they can partner with the private sector to provide accessible, affordable financing for tens of thousands of clean technology projects. At least 40 percent of these funds are dedicated to low-income and disadvantaged communities, including rural, energy or Tribal communities, those with environmental justice concerns or persistent poverty counties. The $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator allocates funds to train contractors to retrofit homes to be highly efficient or help small businesses learn how to electrify their delivery fleets to shift to a zero-emissions model.
Government funding is being awarded to various stakeholders including NGOs who will undoubtedly be helping to usher in the next generation of U.S. entrepreneurs, as well as potentially arming those business owners to continue paying it forward.
Re-investing in other entrepreneurs
Soon after they tapped into the Learning Lab to jumpstart their e-commerce platform, the Mickeys started a nonprofit arm, called The GradUS Project, to provide a work-based learning program for domestic violence survivors and autistic kids in Tennessee. Through a three-month on-the-job training program at the Mickey’s Popcorn factory, participants get the skills-based training they need for longer-term job placements in manufacturing, supply chain and distribution. And maybe, one day, the confidence to start their own businesses.
