SOURCE COVID-19 Response
In these times it is easy to lose faith and feel despair as you face new, unprecedented challenges to your entrepreneurial pursuits. It is difficult enough to organize, launch and successfully operate a small business, but to do it in times of extreme disruption really tests your grit and resourcefulness.
It has been said that being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional. To this end, use this time to take a breath, find creative ways to organize and improve your business, ready your products, polish up that e-commerce site and plan promotions for when this passes, and it will pass. There are also things you can do today to generate revenue in our newfound environment.
Thinking through how to bring value, sell into an environment where personal contact is discouraged, even prohibited, are there ways to transact sales, make delivery and serve a local need more efficiently with less health risk? Online order taking e-commerce sites and social media sales promotions, new delivery options and extended delivery territories, a shift to supply products and services that meet a different target customer, perhaps those less likely or able to go out in public. For those businesses where personal contact is unavoidable, such as the home health care, and food businesses, be sure to take all the recommended precautions, but utilize any down time for planning and improving your business practices as you will undoubtedly experience a surge when the COVID-19 immediate crisis subsides.
We are in what some experts say is going to be our highest peak weeks - now through mid-April - where we will see the largest increases in new COVID-19 case discoveries.
In reality the number of cases will undoubtedly go up, as more people are tested and more symptoms show after an incubation period from exposures early on. Expect to see increased reporting, don't panic over it, and take care to follow the advice to wash your hands and voluntarily quarantine. We have the finest trained personnel, technology, equipment and facilities in the world. Companies and individuals with resources and big hearts are pulling together, and have stepped up to counter this attack.
We should and will all reflect on this series of events as a learning experience, and as individuals, as businesses, and as a caring society we will be better for it. Hang in there.
SOURCE Entrepreneurship Center likewise has your back. Stay safe, and let us know how we may be of service.
Steve Thrash, Director, SOURCE Entrepreneurship Center
SOURCE’s services, hours and operations
In response to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, SOURCE River West Entrepreneurship Center will be open Monday through Friday by appointment only. Call 317.737.2155 or email info@sourcerw.org
Service offerings include:
Computer Internet access, quiet work space and virtual meeting facilities.
Access to capital and assistance applying online for SBA disaster assistant and Bankable loans.
SBA Live! monthly webinars including Funding Options for Small Business on April 9th, 12:00pm-1:00pm, and Financial Management for Small Business on May 19th, 12:00pm-1:00pm. Registration required, see https://www.sourcerw.org/free-workshops
Virtual coaching appointments with BOI.
Family and individualized wrap around services in partnership with Christamore House.
SOURCE Entrepreneurship Center has partnered with Indiana University School of Informatics and the COMET Lab, to create three levels of free service – (1) Basic web site creation or existing site refresh, (2) Web site with customer directed calendar scheduling feature, and (3) Web with e-commerce features. Each option is intended to counter the recent pandemic by allowing businesses to continue and grow virtually with less customer face contact.
Interested in any of these services? Contact: Steve Thrash, Director, SOURCE River West Entrepreneurship Center, 317.737.2155.
SOURCE event calendar change
The Spring Business Accelerator, originally scheduled to begin March 26, has been postponed to a date to be determined after April 30th.
The 10-week Business Accelerator, in partnership with BOI, is designed to help your business become/remain viable and sustainable. During this series, participants learn to define their target market, hone their marketing skills, tighten up their business ideas, create realistic budgets and projections, and more. Participants can also compete for the $2,000 prize at Pitch Fest.
Watch for the rescheduled date and time of the event. An email will also be sent out to all on the SOURCE mailing list, providing details for this and all SOURCE events. Sign up for the SOURCE newsletter here: https://www.sourcerw.org/news.