Well, the people of Illinois came through on our “Growing Chicago” contest as we received over 40 viable pitches from small business owners who told us exactly what they’d do if they could get access to capital!

And speaking of Access to Capital, with a few hundred tickets sold to our Chicago event on May 22, we’re almost all sold out!  Word has gotten around that we’ve attracted over 20 lenders who are looking to fund your business growth!

Obviously, we want to send a huge thank you to all the people who took the time to prepare and submit pitch videos.  In addition, we had thousands and thousands of people voting for their favorite pitch, so it was an incredible community effort!

Curious what it takes to win a pitch contest and be on your way to win our $10,000 prize?   Check out the top five pitches below!

And the Top 5:

     1. BBQ’d Productions Catering and BBQ: Owner Kris Schoenberger wants to make your next event even tastier with his mobile kitchen. We haven’t seen a menu yet, but Kris did say he has deep-fried pizza roles, which I image as electric a combination as chocolate and peanut butter.’  FB: BBQ’d Productions

     2. Jockbrokers – Sports Investing: Justin Baggott has found a legal alternative to sports gambling. We’re not entirely sure how it works, but with the fervor of many sports fans, the idea seems like a slam dunk. I get a little lost thinking about the possibilities. FB: Jockbrokers || Twitter: @Jockbrokers

3.  Dude, We Need 10k: Sean Riley submitted this video that made us all laugh. Dude Wipes, the flagships product sold by Dude Products, are exactly what you image them to be. Seriously, you’ve got it right. I know what you’re thinking, and yes – they’re already available for purchase. FB: Dude Products || TW: @DudeProducts

4. iVizumé – The new way to Résumé:  It’s about showing potential employers something other (or more) than a piece of paper. Marvin White’s iVizumé allows you to make video résumé portfolios, which could help jobseekers express themselves to potential employers through video. FB: iVisume || TW: @iVisume

5. Eviary Matches Businesses with Designers:The concept of Eviary is to connect talented graphic designers with people who need their services. Could take some of the pain out of finding freelance work as a graphic designer, and some of the headache of finding a talented designer. FB: Eviary || TW: EviaryBusiness

Congratulations to all entrants, and our entire team wishes these top 5 the best of luck!  Having talked with all of them recently, I can assure you that they’re all well aware of how important their upcoming 90 pitch is going to be at the #GetA2C event!

See you in Chicago!

If you’re a business owner from the Illinois area looking to fund you’re business growth, we sure hope you’ll join us at the Navy Pier on Wednesday, May 22nd.

So what will you be getting yourself into? 

We’ve listed the schedule of events below, but it’s so important that you register while there’s still tickets left (with the promo code “social” the event will only cost $24.50!).

And then once you’ve registered, make sure to schedule your lender appointments!  We’ve got over 20 lenders who are willing and interested in talking with you about growing your business. Regardless of whether you’re at the ideation stage or you’re a full-fledged business looking to grow, we have lenders who want to help you make it happen!

Schedule of Events

That’s all for now! Look forward to seeing you all in Chicago!

We’re excited to be inviting the Top 5 entries to Acces to Capital Chicago to pitch their businesses live to the attendees who will choose who gets the Grand Prize. But the journey doesn’t end there! Katie Olson, Program Analyst with World Business Chicago, explains what happens next:

Yep, you heard right!  The Top 5 video finalists may have the opportunity to be featured on Seed Chicago, which is run on Kickstarter’s platform. As a part of Mayor Emanuel’s Plan for Economic Growth & Jobs, and “developed by World Business Chicago to assess and expand Chicago’s economy,” Seed Chicago aligns perfectly with Access to Capital and may well be the next avenue of funding and growth for your business!

Can’t make a video but still want to learn about the many ways to access capital and have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with lenders? Register for Access to Capital Chicago on May 22nd!

• If you’re a small business owner looking for looking for tips on how to access capital, join our Facebook group. We’ll also keep you updated about future event locations and contests!

Good luck to all entrants! Remember: Only two more days, so get those submissions in and promote promote promote!

[cc image credit Mark Rutter]

Chicago may already be home to deep-dish pizza, the Sears Tower, and the Bulls, but here’s yet another reason to visit one of America’s 50 best cities: it’s great for small business. According to its most recent study, Biz2Credit, a company that connects small businesses with credit solutions, found that Chicago ranked within the top 25 fastest growing small business cities in America. It performed particularly strongly in two fields, recording the sixth highest average credit score and the eighth highest average number of employees.

Since small businesses traditionally face challenges when trying to secure funding, cities can play an important role in fostering small business growth. When seeking startup loans, small business entrepreneurs often struggle to navigate the complexities of commercial business loans, as they lack the formal structures and credit advising afforded to larger companies. But because small businesses are important drivers of job creation, cities can take important measures to promote small business expansion.

In Chicago, for example, the Office of the City Treasurer sponsors the Small Business Development Loan Fund (SBDLF) Program, which offers microloans of $2,000-$50,000 to small businesses looking to expand. In partnership with the Illinois Small Business Development Center and SCORE Chicago, the SBDF helps entrepreneurs to prepare business plans and secure the funding that they need.

Given Chicago’s clear interest in small business, it should come as now surprise that it’s the next stop on Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.’s Access to Capital Conference on May 22. First held on October 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, Access to Capital connects small business owners with hundreds of lenders interested in helping to build their businesses

Through panel discussions on startup loans, alternative funding, traditional lending, and crowdfunding, Access to Capital’s goal is to help small business entrepreneurs find the loans and advice that they need. In an event held at Chicago’s Navy Pier, Access to Capital will not only facilitate meetings between business owners and lenders in its “Town Square,” but will also host expert discussions on funding in its “Town Hall.” In a small business-friendly city like Chicago, attendees are bound to make some great connections.

[cc photo credit Bukowsky18, karola riegler photography, Mathew Knott]

Fortunately, there are alternative lending companies that business owners can turn to that may offer a lifeline of funding when banks reject loan applications.

The problem often is finding them.

We’re enthused to be bringing a variety of alternative lenders to one place at one amazing event: Access to Capital: Money to Mainstreet at  Chicago’s Navy Pier on May 22^nd!

Moderating this panel discussing Alternative Funding is Tammy Halevy, SVP of New Initiatives at  Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO). Panelists include,

• Ami Kassar, CEO and Founder of MultiFunding, a company that works to match up small business owners with lenders that work best for them. Ami was recently featured on Inc.
• Stephen Sheinbaum, President and CEO of Merchant Cash and Capital, which provides advances of varying sizes to businesses based on their credit card sales volume.
• Justin Barr, Manager of Institutional Relations for Franklin Capital, a company that provides funding based on eligible invoice volume, and also can handle other aspects for businesses, including creditworthiness of customers.
• Eva Brown, the Director of Access to Capital  at the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), a nonprofit that supports and helps grow women-owned business.
• Marc Gorlin, Chairman and Co-founder of Kabbage, which provides timely advances for online businesses to purchase inventory.

Additionally, the panel will feature Yousuf Razzak, CEO of Chicago Printing & Embroidery, who successfully harnessed alternative funding, in his case Franklin Capital, to rebuild his family’s business and  eliminate debt.

If the Alternative Panel sounds great, but you want to learn more about another forms of funding too, there will also be panels on Traditional Lending, Crowdfunding, and Startups & Entrepreneurs.

You’ll also have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with a wide array of lenders including those which the above panelists are a part of, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, SBA Chicago, Ridgestone Bank, and many others! So, before you take off for that long Memorial Day weekend (who am I kidding, right?), take a day off and learn how you can take your business to the next level!

[CC Photo Credit Photo Dean]

This year, Small Business Expo is back, and better than ever, as small business owners from all over the nation prepare to come together for a business-to-business exhibition during which vendors and exhibitors will have the opportunity to network, share ideas, and even buy and sell products, all in the interest of growing and expanding their respective businesses, while facilitating a communal atmosphere:

These business to business networking events and trade shows bring together people and ideas in a series of workshops, seminars, and meet-ups all geared towards improving and expanding small business. Small Business Expo is the largest B2B trade show of its kind, with exciting events like speed networking, live product demonstrations, a business card showcase and a powerful keynote presentation. – Small Business Expo

And, if you’ve never been to a small business expo, check out this quick clip from our @DandB Event Marketing Manager, @CatMangan from the first annual, Small Business Expo: Los Angeles!

We look forward to seeing you!

We sat down with a few of them (Mark Achler, Sharon Schneider and Saq Nadeem) and were blown away by how consistent they were in the importance of working on your business pitch.

VC Mark Achler says practice your pitch to tell a great story:

These short videos are loaded with great nuggets of wisdom that can help you when you’re looking to get access to capital to fund your business growth.

Would access to capital help you grow your business?

We’re building off the success of last Novembers’s LA Access to Capital event to cities all around the country.  Our next event will be in Chicago on May 22, where we have over 20 lenders from traditional banks to alternative lenders to venture capitalists to crowdfunding experts to help you understand the best way for you to fund your business’ growth!

Join us at Access to Capital and use the promo code: “Social” to save 50% off the $49 price!

Ready to Pitch?

There’s more!  Our team has created a contest to give away $10,000 to one business owner who provides the best pitch for how they’d use the money to grow their Illinois business!

It’s really easy to take part. You need only use the lessons from the videos above and upload a video of your business pitch today!

The problem with some of the above examples, of course, is that third-party sources and poorly written Hollywood screenplays often give the illusion that people with the skills and malicious intent to infiltrate computer security systems are a product of internet folklore, or Hollywood embellishment for dramatic effect, and not actually a genuine threat. This often leads many small business owners to discredit the idea that they are at risk of an attack, but that could not be further from the truth.

Cyber crime is a reality, and every day that your information goes unprotected is a day that someone, somewhere, could be taking advantage of you, and by extension, your company, without you ever knowing. When it comes to properly investing in internet security, the primary deterrent for many small business owners is often the price of reputable security systems (such as Bitdefender, Symantec, McAfee and others), especially when they have many devices to secure. This, coupled with many people simply discrediting the fact-of-the-matter about cyber criminals (outlined above), makes them easy, unsuspecting targets.

Is not investing in internet security worth the risk?

A recent cyber security analysis discovered that small and medium sized businesses lose an average of $188,242 when a security breach happens, so don’t assume this will happen to someone else. That same Symantec/NCSA report showed that these cyber-attacks forced roughly two-thirds of these small companies out of business within six months. Probably most disturbing is that roughly 80% of the cyber-crimes were completely preventable. – Business Insider

While it is near impossible to estimate exactly how much businesses suffer financially at the hands of cyber criminals, it is clear that the results of an unsuspected attack are often devastating.

Don’t allow a false sense of security to place you at the mercy of a cyber criminal.

In his article “Cyber Security a Growing Issue for Small Business,” @Jason Fell explains some steps that you can take to ensure the safety of your business’s most sensitive information.

His suggestions include the following:

1. Create a written security policy for employees.
2. Use stronger passwords.
3. Encrypt your data.

For more on the above, see the articles listed below which outline a few tips and tricks for how to best protect your small business’s sensitive information:

• BusinessNewsDaily: “How to Protect Your Business Against Cybercrime”
• StartupNation: “Five Ways Small Businesses Can Combat Cyber Crime”
• Forbes: “5 Ways Small Businesses Can Protect Against Cybercrime”

Have any additional suggestions on how to secure your business against cyber crime? Post them in the comments below!

[cc photo credit to Alan Cleaver via Flickr]

But at our next Access to Capital event in Chicago, we’re turning the amp up to eleven – you know, because ten just wasn’t enough.

This time there’s a contest worth $10,000: The Growing Chicago: 10k Business Pitch Contest!

Entry opens May 1st and run through May 17th, so it’s imperative to get your video up fast!

Here’s How It Works:

Growing Chicago is open to any business owner or entrepreneur who’s a resident of Illinois! Startup, young business, established business – all are welcome to enter!

• It begins with a video contest!
  • Submit a 1-3 minute video about how your business or idea will generate growth and hiring in Chicago and/or throughout Illinois (official rules).
  • Videos will be pubic, and anyone can vote for them!
  • This means you want to submit your video ASAP and share it with as many friends as possible!
• And ends with an in-person pitch!
  • The top five contestants with the most votes will be invited to attended Access to Capital at Chicago’s Navy Pier on May 22nd free of charge (transportation is not included, however).
    Note: We encourage you to purchase a ticket to the event so you can set up one-on-one meetings with lenders. If your video is in the top five, your ticket price will be refunded.
  • At the event, each contestant will pitch their business idea for growth in Chicago and/or throughout Illinois to all attendees.
  • Through a voting process, attendees will determine the $10,000 winner!
• But…that’s not the end!
  • All top 5 contestants will have the opportunity to be featured on Seed Chicago’s Kickstarter Page and continue their quest for funding!

There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain through entry. Beyond the 10k and the opportunity to be featured on Seed Chicago, the event will be chockfull of lenders and small business owners who may be interested in your business idea!

Submit your video entry today! And register for Access to Capital Chicago (50% discount with this link!)

Good luck! We’ll see you at Access to Capital Chicago on May 22nd!

[CC photo credit TomC on Flickr]

I’ll tell you. It was an event: Access to Capital: Money to Mainstreet.

That day, over 500 small business owners took part in hundreds of one-on-one meetings with lenders, and learned valuable tips from experts about how to acquire capital for their businesses. The results? The tens of millions of loan originations mentioned above.

The successes of small businesses in LA inspired us to take the event on the road – next stop, Chicago’s Navy Pier on May 22nd!

Event Overview

The event consists of two areas: Town Square and Town Hall.

• Town Square: This is where your relationships with lenders are born. Spread through a large room will be representatives from a wide variety of lending institutions with whom you can meet. Be sure to prepare for your meetings by compiling the necessary paperwork beforehand so representatives are able to help you to their fullest ability. Though no loans will be made then and there, the opportunity to get the ball rolling is yours for the taking, and no one takes advantage of opportunities better than small business owners! When you register for Chicago, be sure schedule your one-on-one meeting right away - spots are filling fast!

• Town Hall: This is where the experts reside, experts whose advice may change the way you approach funding forever, who may open your eyes to new sources of funding you never knew existed. Presented in panel format, there are four session throughout the day:
  • Straight Talk: Getting Traditional Loans in Today’s Economy
  • Off the Beaten Path: Is Alternative Funding the Route for You?
  • Startups Start Here: Strategies from Entrepreneurs
  • Crowdfunding: Should You Be in with the “In Crowd?”

The last 15 minutes of each 45 minute panel will be used for Q&A from the audience – from you! So come prepared with those questions that, no matter how you phrase them in Google, you can’t seem to get a satisfactory answer for.

Additionally, Chicago attendees will be given a FREE copy of their D&B Credit Report.

Don’t Forget!

You’ll be rubbing elbows with other entrepreneurs and small business owners the whole time. Who knows, you may well find yourself talking to your next vendor, supplier, or partner!

Not in Chicago but know business owners who are? Share this exciting opportunity with them! And stay tuned, because we’ll be in Atlanta and Seattle later this year!

See you in Chicago!