No one does busy like a small business owner. You wear a lot of hats, you’re working all the angles. It would be nice to have some help, maybe some resources that could wear one of the hats, pin down some of the angles–generally make it a little easier to be a small business owner.
If you’re a local small business, we have some good news. Winston-Salem has gotten a lot of national press lately for being a good place to start a business–in fact, the city ranks #31 out of the top 100 in the country according to WalletHub.
One of the reasons that Winston-Salem is a good place to start your business is that there are a slew of small business resources in Winston-Salem that can help you get up and running or provide the missing piece of your growth puzzle. Nine of these resources are located in the Innovation Quarter (iQ), an innovation district in downtown Winston-Salem dedicated to helping the city grow.
Whether you’re just getting started or you’re looking to help your business grow, there are small business resources in Winston-Salem to help you get there.
Good Places to Start
If you’re just getting started with your business, there are a number of small business resources in Winston-Salem that can help you get the education, training, and resources you need to get your enterprise off the ground. Theses include:
The Small Business Center at Forsyth Tech
What is the Small Business Center?
Located in the 525@vine building, the Small Business Center (SBC) is a resource from Forsyth Tech Community College. The SBC was founded to increase small business success by helping entrepreneurs do the hard work of starting and expanding a small business. The SBC offers business resources to any resident of Forsyth and Stokes Counties.
How can the Small Business Center help your business?
The SBC offers both programming and resources to help you grow your business. It provides a variety of free programming and events that can help you learn more about running a business and connecting to other business owners. The SBC also has business counseling and mentoring services that address your unique business challenges. Resources provided include office space and a computer lab.
HUSTLE Winston-Salem
What is HUSTLE Winston-Salem?
HUSTLE Winston-Salem is an organization working toward a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Winston-Salem. It works with entrepreneurs who are People of Color, women, or from marginalized communities and also advocates for greater inclusiveness within the local economy.
How can HUSTLE help your business?
HUSTLE provides entrepreneurs with a range of education and training to help them navigate the business community, along with helping entrepreneurs find things like non-equity funding, physical space, and other resources. HUSTLE also runs a number of programs targeted at supporting and connecting entrepreneurs. A number of these programs are hosted out of Sparq, the iQ’s coworking space located in Bailey Power Plant.
Vision to Venture
What is Vision to Venture?
Vision to Venture is an entrepreneurial organization working out of Sparq in Bailey Power Plant. Vision to Venture is dedicated to improving the startup ecosystem in Winston-Salem by helping entrepreneurs make the first steps of their businesses solid, creating a strong foundation to grow a business from, by providing guidance and mentorship.
How Can Vision to Venture Help Your Business?
Vision to Venture equips entrepreneurs through educational programs, networking opportunities and other events, and mentorship, all targeted at helping entrepreneurs develop the mindset and skills they need to succeed. Many Vision to Venture programs help entrepreneurs focus on the essentials of launching a strong business, and they pair them with experienced entrepreneurs who can provide guidance and support along the journey.
Once You’re Up and Running
When your company is more established, you may be looking for resources of other kinds–beyond learning how to do this thing called business, you might be looking for resources and consultants to help you grow. Here are some other places that you could look at next:
Greater Winston-Salem Inc.
What is Greater Winston-Salem Inc?
Co-located in the 525@vine building with the Small Business Center, Greater Winston-Salem Inc is the city’s reimagined Chamber of Commerce, which means the organization is dedicated to developing a vibrant business community. As the largest business association in Forsyth County, it supports and recruits businesses through a mix of programs focused on economic development, talent recruitment and retention, career-readiness, and business advocacy.
How can Greater Winston-Salem Inc help your business?
As a chamber of commerce, the organization offers a wide range of benefits for its members. As a member, you can get help with networking, talent recruitment, marketing, and more. You can also get access to things like sponsorships opportunities and investment partnerships, as the organization tries to get to know your business and customize benefits based on your business. Even if you don’t become a member, your business will benefit from the trickle-down effects of Greater Winston-Salem Inc’s work in the community.
Learn more about what sets Greater Winston-Salem Inc apart.
Sparq Coworking
What is Sparq?
Located in Bailey Power Plant, Sparq is a coworking space that provides flexible levels of membership for coworkers, as well as providing private offices for a wide range of business sizes–all in the modern, industrial aesthetic of the revitalized power plant in the middle of the city’s growing innovation district.
How can Sparq help your business?
When you’re just getting started in business, the name of the game is flexibility. Sparq provides amenities like meeting room space and printing needs, while also giving you the flexibility to scale your business (either up or down) with flexible memberships. Members can also move into the Innovation Suites of Bailey Power Plant, if their business needs private office space–rather than the traditional coworking space–while still having access to all of Sparq’s amenities.
All Forward Group
What is All Forward Group?
Located in Sparq, the All Forward Group works with the leadership teams of privately-held companies to help them move forward in their business journeys. They help already-established companies navigate the challenges that face them beyond the startup phase, providing guidance toward business growth.
How can All Forward Group help my business?
The guides at All Forward use the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, which is a comprehensive system running and growing a business. It combines an entrepreneurial mindset with discipline to help business leaders conquer their challenges and move their companies toward growth.
If You Specialize in Biotech
The iQ is a flourishing biotech hub, so there are a growing number of biotech businesses looking for support and resources.
To serve that industry, there are a number of small business resources in Winston-Salem tailored to meet their specific needs. These include:
North Carolina Biotechnology Center
What is the North Carolina Biotech Center?
The North Carolina Biotech Center (NCBiotech) is an organization that promotes and supports the growth of the biotechnology industry across the state of North Carolina. Its programs are broad and varied, but all focus on helping biotech businesses, whether that’s through funding or news, events or training.
How can the North Carolina Biotech Center help your business?
How can’t NCBiotech help your business?! Need training? There are programs for that. Looking for collaborators? There’s a directory for that. Looking for grants or investors? There are programs for those, too. Whatever your needs, NCBiotech Center is a good place to start looking, and there’s a local branch dedicated to the businesses in this region located off of North Chestnut Street in the iQ.
Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine
What is the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine?
The Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (PTRME) was created by one of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s inaugural engine grants. Its mission is to advance regenerative medicine technologies in an effort to get them to market, where they can impact healthcare. PTRME is powered by the collaboration of more than 150 partners, including many of the companies and organizations found in and around Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in the iQ.
How can the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine help your business?
If you’re a regenerative medicine company, PTRME is the place to be. The organization offers resources to help companies grow and scale in the Piedmont Triad, through grants, access to regenerative medicine equipment, the expertise of the leading researchers in the field, research space, and opportunities to collaborate with other companies. It’s a one-stop-shop for regenerative medicine businesses.
Sparq Labs
What is Sparq Labs?
Sparq Labs provides leasable scientific research space for life science companies of all sizes and stages of growth. The biotech lab facilities are available for biotechnology companies, researchers, and entrepreneurs looking for adaptable leasing options, with customizable laboratory modules for a variety of sized businesses.
How can Sparq Labs help your business?
If you’re a biotech company trying to get started, you don’t want to spend your limited resources on space and expensive equipment. The goal of Sparq Labs is to offer affordable lab space and standard equipment so that scientific startups can spend their money on research, not overhead. As a sister business to Sparq Coworking, members of Sparq Labs get access to the amenities of the coworking space, too.
Learn more about the resources that Sparq Labs provides biotech and life science companies.
And That’s Just the Beginning of Small Business Resources in Winston-Salem
Beyond the iQ, there are a number of other organizations and programs dedicated to helping grow the business ecosystem in this city.
And even within the bounds of the iQ, there are a number of other companies who might have just the tools or manpower you need to take things to the next level, whether that’s technology, accounting, marketing, or more specific services.
One of the benefits of being in the iQ is the opportunity to rub shoulders with other entrepreneurs and businesses located here, and any number of “happy accidents” in the iQ have resulted in beneficial relationships. Come be part of the growing ecosystem of businesses and support organizations that make Winston-Salem such a great place to start a business.
Learn more about the other businesses that call the iQ home on the website. Maybe you’ll find yourself among them soon….
