Access to capital

Lisa Romer King’s business plan was born while studying for her M.A. in Business Management when a professor tasked her with writing a business proposal. The assignment sparked something in Lisa and she decided she had to follow through on her idea and bring King's Professional Networking and Placement to life. 

For the past three years, Lisa has been running the business she dreamed of out of Lauderhill, Florida where she serves as a mediator, public notary, credit educator and business advisor to members of her community.  

Sherry Spellers combined her two passions to create a small business success story: a knack for repurposing old trinkets, with the desire to make women look and feel beautiful.

Her journey as a hairdresser was marked from an early age, when a traumatic incident caused Sherry to lose her hair. “I felt so ugly and ashamed. I knew in that moment that I wanted to help women feel good about themselves, and hair was a great way to do that,” says Sherry.

As a first-generation immigrant, Anahi Rojas knows a thing or two about chasing opportunities. 

Anahi, owner of Professional Eco Cleaning in Oakland, Calif., moved to the United States 13 years ago to seek new economic opportunities and improve her life and that of her family in Mexico. Initially, she worked as a waitress but soon realized the language barrier would be a problem. She pursued other avenues and became a partner at in house cleaning cooperatives where she learned how to manage a business, and developed her conflict resolution strategies. 

Mark and TJ Goettsch started their business during the Great Recession, so this couple knows a little something about running a business through times of financial crisis. However, when COVID-19 hit, it impacted their business and thousands of others across the country in completely unprecedented ways. 

This blog originally appeared on the blog of our partner CO-STARTERS.

Although some businesses have seen the relief offered by the CARES Act—particularly the Paycheck Protection Program SBA loans—many small businesses have been left wondering if their application is even being considered.