New Business or Side Hustle? Here’s How To Have a Network and Mentors in Your Pocket
Let’s face it: when you take the plunge and become an entrepreneur, there’s rarely a welcome committee. Most of us never receive an email from city hall explaining local laws, rules, and regulations. We might get an invitation to our local chamber or entrepreneurship club, but the membership prices and requirements usually scare us away.
The pertinent information needed to start a new business is locked up behind so much bureaucracy that it takes personal connections, association dues, or some other pre-existing and/or costly action to answer the simplest of questions. But that’s where networking comes in, right?
Networking Works
Most entrepreneurs understand the power of networking. Few need to work as hard at it as women in entrepreneurship.
From the very early stages of ideation, women must tackle the industry head-on. Because there are fewer women than men perusing entrepreneurship, women often encounter much smaller opportunities for support. When you’re busy building a business, you don’t have free time to search for local mentors, hivemind groups, or even other likeminded entrepreneurs. It becomes increasingly difficult to find answers to questions when there’s no logical place to look.
Community is the backbone of entrepreneurship. Women who choose entrepreneurship need diverse, strong, and motivated partners who push and inspire them to fulfill their dreams. We’ve had enough tropes depicting women in business as jealous, bossy, or unprepared. We’re not here to tear one another down, but instead build each other up through mentorship, feedback, and peer support.
How Do You Connect With Other Business Women?
Women need a place to connect; somewhere to share and grow their businesses in a way that celebrates the unique journey of entrepreneurship; somewhere that reassures women that they are not alone, and that there are others who are able to guide them through the entrepreneurial journey.
That’s how Startup Space was born. Startup Space is a mobile app available in the App Store and Google Play that brings all the benefits of community-building to your smart phone. We prioritize genuine networking to bring you the best possible support system during every stage of building your business.
Startup Space offers several in-app features, including a local resource directory, knowledge center, public Q&A forum, live-streamed events, personalized event calendar, and more. These features have been carefully curated by startups and entrepreneurs to help others like them find the solutions and support they need.
The Startup Space app is unique because it combines the powers of 21st century technology with the simple act of virtual community-building. Certain features, such as the resource directory and public Q&A forum, are driven by Google’s geolocation API, which means the users you meet are entrepreneurs, startups, mentors, and service providers from your own local community.
No one knows the entrepreneurial journey quite like someone who has done it before. Startup Space believes in empowering startups and entrepreneurs by providing them with access to free 24/7 virtual support. Our network of mentors are passionate about helping entrepreneurs reach their true potential by helping each user problem-solve through personal experience and industry expertise.
Real Help and Support As Close As Your Phone
Startup Space is proud to helping women across the globe. Just recently, Rachel Vicknair, founder and CEO of Leopara, joined the app to find support for her business and search for potential cofounders and partners for the Leopara brand. Women like Rachel struggle every single day to find the connections needed to succeed as business owners. We’re shifting that paradigm by democratizing information and providing an equal opportunity for all entrepreneurs to come together and support one another.
At Startup Space, we believe you shouldn’t have to build your business alone. Download the app that’s making startups successful.
This guest post was authored by McKenzie Dial-Fritscher
McKenzie Dial-Fritscher serves as Startup Space’s media and communications specialist. She shares the company’s vision for uniting and empowering startups and small businesses by democratizing access to the information and resources needed for a business’s success.
