IASourceLink Blog

Along with showers and flowers, April brings us the start of National Small Business Week, recognizing the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. This month we visited with 2016 SBA award recipient, Lynn Schrader, co-owner of KHI Solutions with offices in Fort Dodge, Webster City and West Des Moines, to hear more about her business and passion for helping women business owners succeed.

Your business has won an award! But now what? Unfortunately, many people just sit the award on a shelf and let it get dusty even though there are multiple ways you can share the news that won’t take too much time off your plate. Not to mention it demonstrates an expertise in your industry, boosts your brand image, and even provides a little morale boost to your staff when they see their hard work being recognized.

WASHINGTON – Today, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Linda McMahon announced that this year’s National Small Business Week will be held from April 29 – May 5, 2018.

When you hear the term “company culture,” what comes to mind? Is it the famous nap pods at Google? Is it the fast paced cut-throat environments on Wall Street? Is it the ping pong table in the break room at the ad agency up the street? Actually, it’s all of those and so much more. Here are 3 things that help create and grow a company culture for your business.

What if I told you that there is a way to help break the cycle of poverty by drinking your morning coffee? Freedom Blend Coffee leverages one of America's favorite ways to get caffeinated (coffee!) to do just that. The company focuses on training young people who live in low-income impacted areas in Des Moines’ urban core as a means by which they start to break the cycle of poverty for people right here in Iowa. It was a pleasure to have a conversation with Carlos Sims Jr., the GM of the shop to find out where the idea came from and how the Freedom Blend vision comes to life each day!

“The Opposite” was the 86th episode of Seinfeld – airing during the 5th season. Elaine is busy publishing Kramer’s coffee table book. Jerry takes on the persona of “Even Steven” – something goes wrong, but soon enough something goes right to bring Jerry back to even. Kramer gets a spot on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee to hawk his new book.

On any given Wednesday morning in Iowa, small business owners, emerging entrepreneurs and the people that support them can be found gathering around cups of coffee and good conversation. Discussions wander along paths of inspiration, lessons-learned struggles, excitement and issues involved with starting a business, and what’s trending on Twitter.

Choosing a business structure can be a confusing process for a first time entrepreneur. As I am a part of the Business Concierge team, and I love to help bring clarity to situations, it’s my pleasure to help answer Iowa business questions whenever possible. Since I do not provide legal advice to clients, I can’t tell you what type is right for you; but I will explain some of the most common business structures many first time entrepreneurs chose, but always consult your CPA or lawyer for business specific advice.

In Fall 2017 we had the opportunity to host a contest in Northwest Iowa and are taking this opportunity to show case five rural entrepreneurs working on awesome businesses and supporting their communities.

When it’s time to take the business out of the house or if you’re needing resources at your disposal (or just can’t take the quiet anymore), where do you go? When you’re just getting started you likely don’t want to (or can’t) spend the money on an actual office but luckily, incubators, accelerators, and coworking spaces are popping up all over Iowa and offer great options for business growth and development. Each one has a different function and can work for you at a different stage of your business.