The Elon Law Small Business and Entrepreneurship Clinic offers great services for local entrepreneurs and businesspeople to help those who are in need of legal services relating to starting their businesses–but, for an entrepreneur just starting out, one may have questions about a business plan, if an idea is worthwhile, how to make a valid business plan, etc. The assistance that we can provide here at the clinic comes towards the end of this process, as people are ready to actually go pursue those businesses and opportunities.
If you are just beginning the entrepreneurial process with a new idea and are still trying to figure things out, you may be wondering how to take those first (and often times scary) steps.
Luckily, the small business clinic is just one of many resources available here in Guilford County and the triad. There are a number of no cost organizations that are available to both educate you and help you as you develop your idea. While some people may be familiar with these opportunities, others may not know that they exist, and could benefit from their services. Since knowledge around these services may not be widely known in the community, we thought it would be beneficial to tell you about some of these opportunities available to individuals who are in the beginning stages of developing an idea.
Triad Navigator Website
The best place for a small business owner or an entrepreneur to start their search, especially if they really have no idea where to go or what to do would be the Triad Navigator website. The Triad Navigator website is set up to be a one stop shop for small business and budding entrepreneurs to describe all of the local opportunities and services that are available to them as they begin this journey. By utilizing a list such as this, an entrepreneur can really find the best fit for them at the current point that they find themselves, whether that is early on in the development of their idea, or further down the road. The triad navigator website can be accessed at the link below.
https://www.triadnavigator.org/
SCORE Piedmont Triad
SCORE is a part of a national network of small business mentors that provide free resources and education to help entrepreneurs both start new businesses and grow existing ones. This organization is a branch of the larger national organization that specifically focuses on the Piedmont triad, with local business owners and entrepreneurs serving as mentors to new local entrepreneurs, providing great insight into the specific hurdles faced locally. Like the small business and entrepreneurship clinic, score offers its services free of charge, and their website can be visited at the following link:
https://piedmonttriad.score.org/
Launch GSO
Launch GSO Is a local incubator where entrepreneurs and small business owners can go both to gain education and assist Local entrepreneurs gain access to capital. The organization provides education, inspiration, support, guidance, etc. that small business owners who have an idea and are looking to scale that idea can benefit from. Launch GSO Would be the logical next step for someone who has been through the SCORE program and is looking to expand an idea that may need outside investors.
Like SCORE, Launch GSO is offered free of charge, but they do require an application to be accepted into the incubator, is typically a step taken once a an entrepreneur is further along in the process of developing their idea. The Launch GSO Website can be found below.
https://greensboro.org/launch/
Nussbaum Center
The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship provides a space to build your business by offering office space, meeting space, and services to help develop a strategy to grow as a business owner. The resources at the center only require a short application requiring describing your business and what you would like to do with your business. The center has a fantastic record of businesses continue to operate after getting their feet under them and is a great resource for new entrepreneurships with a dream they want to grow.
Since this is just a blog post, it would be difficult to describe all of the amazing opportunities that are available to entrepreneurs, especially those that are early on in the process. There are a multitude of opportunities locally that are no cost and that would be more than happy to help no matter where you are in the entrepreneurial process.
Once someone has fleshed out their idea and is ready to proceed, the small business clinic is another one of these opportunities. Our services are designed to provide basic legal services to local entrepreneurs, which can be one of the most scary and expensive parts of starting a new business, really allowing these entrepreneurs to proceed, and put their best foot forward as they begin to operate their business and carry out their ideas.
Part of serving this role includes being active members of the community and helping prospective clients know what other services are out there and available to them in the community so that they can be as fully prepared as possible going forward with their ideas, and we are always happy to have conversations with potential clients even if we decide with them that they are not ready yet for the services at the clinic, and will happily steer them towards these opportunities so that they are able to have the highest likelihood of success and so that they do get to a point where our services are beneficial for them.
For help with your small business legal needs, contact the small business clinice at businessclinic@elon.edu.