Startup Monday, sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, is a weekly column highlighting Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proud to present 1515 Wilson Blvd located in Rosslyn.
Last week, 15 entrepreneurs trained for two days at a business “bootcamp” hosted by the Arlington Economic Development Department’s BizLaunch team.
They come from Arlington and the surrounding DC area to learn how to use software to streamline business operations, file taxes and learn how to market their products or services, among many other skills that entrepreneurs must master on their own.
Realtor and Arlington resident Miranda Carter comes to hone her business value proposition. She’s getting ready to start a business building net-zero emissions, sustainably finished accessory dwelling units that may have a small footprint but don’t sacrifice luxury.
“For me, it’s great at clarifying and filling in the gaps in things that I haven’t thought through,” Carter said. “I knew I needed discipline, and it would force me to come back in two days with a plan that worked. I knew I was one of those people who had a great idea but wouldn’t act on it. It forced me to act, not make a plan. Five-year plan. I hope this will work.”
Carter, who has shown homes to potential buyers for years and made environmentally sustainable home renovations, said the program helped her identify target customers, improve her elevator pitch and learn how to track metrics.
Another attendee, Yvonne Tazem, spent 20 years selling cosmetics before deciding to launch a vitamin C serum for her sensitive skin. It’s been featured in Vogue since then, and she’s now working on a full line. She signed up to learn more about internet marketing and also got some software that she could use to simplify the way she tracked online sales.
“I love the ability to give women the choice to wear makeup or not,” she said. “Makeup should be an option. You should be able to have beautiful, healthy, radiant skin without it.”
Carter and Tazem are examples of subject matter experts who need help running their businesses, said AED’s small business manager and event organizer Alex Held.
“They come to us because they don’t know what they don’t know,” he said. “We help them avoid costly mistakes and start with the right foundation.”
AED spokeswoman Cara O’Donnell said registrations for the free event “sold out in minutes” due to the number of people who had recently quit their jobs to start their own businesses and were part of an ongoing economic trend known as the “Great Resignation”. Spent”. This is the first time in 15 years that an AED has offered this service.
The two-day conference is funded by the American Rescue Act, but the plan is to make it a permanent AED offering twice a year. The economic development unit partnered with Boston-based Revby, which works with municipal and state governments across the country to help small businesses with marketing, online presence and finances.
Most small entrepreneurs can’t afford the services themselves, said Michael Aparicio, Revby’s founder. Revby works with small business owners for six to eight weeks, he added.
“We’re very focused on someone’s experience with us, not just the deliverables,” because running a small business “has a lot of emotion,” he says.
Revby has been working with Helen Jackson Waldron to create a website for her company, Sew Time, through which she teaches sewing to children and adults. Now, she teaches adults through Arlington Public Schools, but her goal is to have her own actual location.
Waldron said she comes to AED’s office at 1100 Ballston N. Glebe Road “all the time” because of the variety of services it provides to small businesses.
“This place is amazing,” she said. “Kara and Alex are there when you need them. A lot of people, they don’t realize it’s here.”
O’Donnell said people are often surprised that learning AED programming and servicing is free for users. An added bonus of this type of program is that people outside of Arlington may decide to do business here.
Tazem, for example, lives in Maryland but is often in Arlington as she expands her skincare line.
“Some businesses have come to us and said, ‘I don’t want to start in Maryland, I want to start in Arlington because there are more resources,'” Held said.