If you are going to start a business, the University at Buffalo can help for you get going and stay successful.
UB's School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership had an open house Tuesday night, talking about what help the center can offer, as it has for past graduates.
Alisha Taggart-Powell talked about the help she received in getting her business started. She started a store in the middle of the Village of Kenmore to showcase the products she makes and sells in 'Jamie's Emporium.'
Taggart-Powell says some told her not to try, but she had help and investors and opened her store.
"I had a few people, a few naysayers that said, 'Are you sure you want to do this?' It's very risky. But what gave me the confidence to take my home-based business to the next level, to an actual location, was this program," said Taggart-Powell.
Taggart-Powell is like a lot of entrepreneurs, with a day job to help carry her through the start-up, working as a nurse recruiter for UB's Nursing School.
Thomas Ulbrich, the center's executive director, says Taggart-Powell is a prize graduate but also someone who had started at home.
"Mostly we work with people that have already started their business, although in this program they might be in a very early stage. So that's exactly what we're here for, to give them some professional help. And we do it in an experiential learning environment so it's not textbook based. It's not taking a test. It's learning about your business and using your business as your own case study," Ulbrich said.
Ulbrich says there are more and more women and minority-owned businesses.
