Tag Archive: Informational Blog
April 19, 2022 6:00 am
Spring has arrived, and that means ‘tis the season for spring cleaning! Your small business is no exception when it comes to the need for refreshing. At 3 Steps to Startup, we are in the business of providing support for entrepreneurs throughout West Virginia at all stages. If you’re hoping to start a new business, there’s no time like the present! Jump in with support from our program! If you’re a first-time entrepreneur already in business, utilize these 4 strategies to do some “spring cleaning” for your business. Update and refresh your website and social media pages Your website[...]
April 5, 2022 6:00 am
Despite the adversity businesses face today, West Virginia’s economy is doing well in 2022. Unemployment in the first part of this year reached 3.9%, an all-time low. State leaders are optimistic about what 2022 will bring, even though we are still feeling the effects of a pandemic after two years: effects that small business owners have felt the most. The three main complications affecting small businesses in 2022 are COVID-19 (the threat of new variants), inflation, and supply-chain issues. At 3 Steps to Startup, we understand issues like these because we’ve experienced and overcome them! Below, we identify 5 helpful[...]
March 15, 2022 8:00 am
March Madness is upon us… and so is the madness of tax season. If you’re a small business owner, and especially if you’re new to entrepreneurship, this time of year can be overwhelming. At 3 Steps to Startup, we want to provide you with the know-how to make it through this tax season with a win! Here are some pointers for making sure you lead your business through March tax Madness without any upsets. 1) Know how much time is on the clock: One of the most important things to know as a small business owner is the timing of[...]
March 1, 2022 8:00 am
Many entrepreneurs attribute the success of their businesses to hard work… and a little bit of luck. This month, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we ask: is luck the determining factor for a business’s success? The consensus is no. Entrepreneurs who credit good luck for their success usually indicate that it is only a portion of what goes into business success – and far smaller than the majority. Most of them give luck credit amounting to 20% or less. When pressed, the common thread for what people consider “luck” is actually just good timing. Elon Musk revealed that Tesla[...]
February 1, 2022 8:00 am
February is typically a month that people start to think about how they’ll show others they care. We think that February should inspire you to show yourself some care as well! Entrepreneurs can seem super-human, but they are no exception when it comes to needing self-care. Small business owners report working twice as much as regular employees. The number of hours entrepreneurs work is not the only reason they might need to treat themselves every once in a while. If you need more convincing, here’s a list of more reasons entrepreneurs need self-care: They are under immense stress, one source[...]
December 30, 2021 7:00 am
3 Steps Year in Review It was an eventful 2021 here at 3 Steps to Startup! What started as a year of hopefulness with some uncertainty has finished with even more optimism and an opportunity to reflect on West Virginia’s economic growth, including the formation of well over 12,000 new small businesses. At 3 Steps to Startup, we are proud to have played a part in furthering our state’s goals for economic growth. Throughout 2021, new entrepreneurs and veteran small business owners connected with us for help with their businesses. We have assisted them with information gathering, commercialization of ideas,[...]
November 30, 2021 7:35 pm
Earlier this month, 3 Steps to Startup’s November Venture Fair was another successful 2021 event bringing together investors, entrepreneurs, and other West Virginia stakeholders in a virtual summit to exchange ideas and grow by learning from experienced entrepreneurs and investors. The venture fair picked up where our March event left off. In March, we heard from Intuit Chairman of the Board, Brad D. Smith. If you attended our November Venture Fair, you heard from Mitch Carmichael, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, when he discussed the importance of entrepreneurism for the West Virginia economy and how our[...]
November 2, 2021 2:23 pm
At 3 Steps to Startup, we are excited to present an opportunity to attend our free, virtual venture fair on Tuesday, November 16th, from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm. Our second venture fair of 2021 builds upon the work we did earlier in March 2021 at the 3 Steps to Startup Venture Fair. If you missed our March event, all recordings are accessible here. What exactly is a venture fair? A venture fair provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs, funders, economic developers, and other startup stakeholders to gather and share information. The goal of a venture fair is to match small[...]
October 5, 2021 8:00 am
LIINC Up with 3 Steps to Startup! This month, 3 Steps to Startup will host two “LIINC” events: Linking Innovation, Industry, and Commercialization. These events are designed to allow hopeful research entrepreneurs access to business acumen and venture capital while simultaneously allowing those in the private sector to collaborate with a researcher in an area of interest. The two LIINC events will take place virtually on October 6th, 2021, via West Virginia University, and on October 20th, 2021, via Marshall University. Researchers are essential members of the entrepreneur community. At our virtual LIINC events, 3 Steps inspires collaboration between researchers[...]
September 7, 2021 8:00 am
It has historically been tough to get a business going in rural America. With current obstacles like the COVID-19 pandemic affecting ventures across the board, things have been even more difficult for startups in small towns. A statistic shared in early 2020 (pre-pandemic) showed that startups in rural communities make up only 12% of all startups (compared to 20% in the 1980s). Rural entrepreneurship poses some obstacles that big city entrepreneurship doesn’t. Finding capital is a big issue for entrepreneurs everywhere, but startups struggle even more in small towns. Utility access problems like the lack of access to high-speed internet hinder ventures[...]
