BE ONE (Branches Encourages - One Network for Everyone) (B1)

Our solution combines contextual gamification elements with advanced technology to engage and motivate entrepreneurs, fostering measurable business growth through interactive challenges, digital templates, and ground-breaking Ai tools to enable financial readiness, access to capital, accelerated business development, and valuable supply chain connections. 

1. Gamified Financial Assessment: Provide a gamification system that educates entrepreneurs on key aspects of financial readiness.
2.  Interactive Business Planning Templates: Offer interactive digital templates to guide entrepreneurs in creating comprehensive business documents.
3.  Virtual Capital Access Hub: Provide a digital platform that connects entrepreneurs with funders to access capital and loans.
4. Supplier and Vendor Network: Build a robust network of suppliers and vendors, enabling small business owners to connect with reliable partners.
5.  Business Development Tech Workshops: Organize virtual workshops and in-person training sessions led by industry experts.
6.  Peer-to-Peer Business Development Collaboration: Facilitate a community-driven membership platform where entrepreneurs can actively collaborate.
7.  Gamified Milestone Tracking and Performance analytics Dashboard: Provide a gamification system to track business success milestones, rewarding entrepreneurs for achieving progress goals.
8.  Resource Library and Learning Modules: Create a comprehensive digital resource library specifically for entrepreneurs.
9.  Intelligent Recommendations: Leverage machine learning algorithms to provide personalized Ai recommendations based on entrepreneurs' profiles and needs.
10.   Provide technology-based resourcing through targeted micro grant support such as a laptop and access to online business tools subscriptions. We will provide a minimum of 350 businesses with such resources as part of a strategic digital transformation focus in 2023 and 2024 (700 days).

Our solution combines contextual gamification elements with advanced technology to engage and motivate entrepreneurs, fostering measurable business growth through interactive challenges, digital templates, and ground-breaking Ai tools to enable financial readiness, access to capital, accelerated business development, and valuable supply chain connections. Within the technology we use SAAS customization of the WordPress platform and REACT for the B1 systems APP. There is also a library of WordPress plugins customized within our SAAS tech stack. The solution details and benefits are:

1. Gamified Financial Assessment: Provide a gamification system that educates entrepreneurs on key aspects of financial readiness, helping them to effectively address gaps as well as provide insights on accessing mainstream and alternative funding sources.
2.  Interactive Business Planning Templates: Offer interactive digital templates to guide entrepreneurs in creating comprehensive business plans, forecasting financials, and setting growth targets.
3.  Virtual Capital Access Hub: Provide a digital platform that connects entrepreneurs with funding sources, providing access to capital and facilitating loan acquisition through streamlined processes and personalized recommendations. (This is strategically very important as it enhances our value to organizational partners in the business support landscape with a focus on providing capital to small businesses in Miami Dade).
4.  Supplier and Vendor Network: Build a robust network of suppliers and vendors, enabling small business owners to connect with reliable partners and access quality products or services at competitive prices. (EIN network + Vendor network)
5.  Business Development Tech Workshops: Organize virtual workshops and in-person training sessions led by industry experts, covering topics such as marketing strategies, sales techniques, and operational efficiency to foster accelerated business development using technology.
6.  Peer-to-Peer Business Development Collaboration: Facilitate a community-driven membership platform where entrepreneurs can collaborate, share insights, and seek advice from their peers, fostering a supportive network for knowledge exchange and problem-solving.
7.  Gamified Milestone Tracking: Provide a gamification system to track business growth and success milestones, rewarding entrepreneurs for achieving predefined goals and encouraging progress in key areas of business development.
8.  Performance Analytics Dashboard: Provide entrepreneurs with an accessible and intuitive analytics dashboard that offers performance metrics, enabling them to assess their financial health, track growth, and identify areas for improvement.
9.  Resource Library and Learning Modules: Create a comprehensive digital resource library with learning modules, case studies, and best practices, offering entrepreneurs access to valuable insights and practical guidance specifically for business development and procurement.
10.  Intelligent Recommendations: Leverage machine learning algorithms to provide personalized Ai recommendations based on entrepreneurs' profiles, helping them discover relevant resources, funding opportunities, and potential business partners within the platform.
11.   Provide technology-based resourcing through targeted micro grant support such as a laptop and access to online business tools subscriptions. We will provide a minimum 350 businesses with such resourcing as part of a strategic digital transformation focus in 2023 and 2024 (700 days).

Our solution serves small business owners in Miami-Dade, with a particular focus on underrepresented communities and entrepreneurs facing economic disparities. Our program participants are 96%low-to-moderate income, 98% people of color and 70% women-owned businesses.

• Small Business Contribution: Small businesses play a significant role in the local economy. As of 2021, small businesses comprised more than 95% of all businesses in Miami-Dade County.
•  Employment: Small businesses are major contributors to job creation. They employ a significant portion of the county's workforce. In 2021, small businesses in Miami-Dade County employed approximately 53% of the private sector workforce.
•  Industry Distribution: Small businesses are present in a wide range of industries in Miami-Dade County. Key sectors include retail, hospitality and tourism, professional services, healthcare, construction, and creative industries.
•  Minority-Owned Businesses: Miami-Dade County has a diverse small business landscape, with a significant number of minority-owned businesses. The county has a thriving Hispanic business community, with many Hispanic-owned small businesses.

 The impact of our solution on these lives is significant. Firstly, it provides access to crucial financial readiness tools and resources, allowing entrepreneurs to better understand and assess their credit, assets, and loan-to-debt ratio. This empowers them to make informed financial decisions. By improving financial preparedness, our solution mitigates barriers faced in accessing capital.

It also addresses the challenges of business development and procurement. By connecting business owners to vendors, suppliers, and relevant networks, new opportunities and partnerships develop. This has a transformative impact on businesses, enhancing their ability to source quality products or services at competitive prices, increase customers, and foster valuable collaborations.

Gamification as a solution provides an engaging and motivating experience, making the learning process enjoyable and interactive. Through interactive challenges, milestone tracking, and rewards, minority and underrepresented entrepreneurs are inspired, encouraged, and supported to achieve their growth and success targets. 

The problem we are addressing is the need to empower minority and underrepresented small businesses, to overcome challenges and achieve sustainable growth. Our solution is a comprehensive technology platform that combines gamification elements and advanced tools to provide entrepreneurs with the necessary resources for financial readiness, access to capital, business development, and procurement. Leveraging technology and gamification, we engage and motivate entrepreneurs, making the learning and development process more enjoyable and interactive.

Our solution focuses on leveraging technology as a pathway to resiliency and sustainability. By providing tools for financial preparation, such as credit assessment, asset evaluation, as well as training, information, and technical assistance on funding sources, we enable small businesses to navigate the complexities of accessing capital and managing their finances effectively.

Additionally, our solution addresses business development and procurement challenges by connecting business owners to a network of vendors, suppliers, and peer networks. This facilitates their ability to establish valuable partnerships and access resources to transform their business operations and build competitiveness.

By incorporating gamification, our solution offers entrepreneurs an engaging and motivating experience. Through interactive challenges, milestone tracking, and rewards, we inspire and encourage entrepreneurs to set and achieve their growth targets.,

  Overall, our solution aligns with the Challenge's goal of promoting technology-based solutions for small businesses' resiliency and sustainability. Leveraging gamification and technology, we offer tangible benefits such as improved financial preparedness, access to capital, accelerated business development, easier access to priority resources, and valuable supply chain connections, engendering an inclusive and thriving ecosystem.

Our theory of change revolves around the following elements:

Solution: Our comprehensive technology platform combines gamification elements and digital tools to empower small business growth.

Audience: Small business owners in Miami-Dade, with a focus on underrepresented communities, including minorities, women-owned businesses, and entrepreneurs facing economic disparities.

Challenge: The need to address the barriers and challenges faced by small businesses in achieving sustainable growth, particularly in undercapitalized communities.

Theory of Change:

Accessible Technology: By providing a user-friendly and accessible technology platform and resources, we enable small business owners to access and utilize resources and tools needed for growth and success.

1. Gamified Learning Experience: Incorporating gamification elements into the platform, we create an engaging and motivating learning experience. This encourages active participation, goal setting, and continuous learning, leading to increased knowledge, skills, resourcing, and capacity building.
2.  2. Financial Readiness: Through our tools and resources, financial benefits such as credit assessment, asset evaluation, and funding are made easier. This improves informed financial decisions and readiness.
3.  Business Development and Procurement: Our platform connects small business owners with relevant vendors, suppliers, and business networks, expanding opportunities for partnerships, resources, and market expansion.
4. Sustainable Growth: By addressing specific barriers and providing support at various stages, our solution promotes sustainable growth. Entrepreneurs are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, resources, and connections to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and achieve long-term success.
5. Inclusive Impact: Through our focus on underrepresented communities, we aim to promote inclusivity and economic empowerment. By providing equal and easier access to resources and support, we contribute to reducing economic disparities and creating a more equitable and supportive small business ecosystem.
6. Resilient Small Business Community: The cumulative impact of our solution on individual small businesses contributes to building a resilient small business community in Miami-Dade. By fostering sustainable growth, we strengthen the local economy, create employment opportunities, and support community development.

  By following this theory of change, our intervention of providing a comprehensive technology platform to small businesses leads to improvements in financial readiness, business development, procurement, sustainable growth, and a more inclusive and resilient business community.

Our business program directly serves 200 micro and small businesses that are part of our business Incubator. Through our partnership with the SBA Navigator Program, we have facilitated the training and development of over 1000 businesses in Miami Dade.

Our technology solution is within its final stage of development for a Phase 1 implementation with an estimated roll-out of September 1, 2023. Success with the Truist Award would allow us to scale and add additional value-added features to the solution, within a shorter implementation schedule. We expect to be able to increase our service capacity by an additional 1200 businesses through our technology solution within its first year of implementation.

The future of the SBA Navigator Program is uncertain and as such our technology will also allow for developed synergies amongst the partner agencies to continue. Therefore, as we expand our reach and increase awareness of our solution, we anticipate serving an even larger number of small businesses in the future. Our goal is to make our services and the services of our partners and other stakeholders accessible to as many entrepreneurs as possible, empowering them with the tools and resources they need for their growth and success. We are committed to scaling our technology continuously to allow for an expanding user base and to making a meaningful impact on the small business community in Miami-Dade. We are targeting to serve approximately 10,000 businesses by year 5, with an average increase of 2,000 per year from year two onwards.

We define the community we support as the small business ecosystem in Miami-Dade with a primary focus on serving and supporting underrepresented minority micro and small businesses. The following are stakeholders within the community:

1. Micro and Small Business Owners: They come from various industries and backgrounds, and their success and growth are essential to the local economy.
2.  Underrepresented Entrepreneurs: We place a specific focus on serving underrepresented communities, including women-owned, and minority entrepreneurs from poor backgrounds.
3. Government Agencies: We support direct governmental projects as a delivery institution targeting needy communities and families.
4. Financial Institutions: We collaborate with financial institutions to provide financial readiness to businesses.
5.  Business Support Organizations and Non-profits: We collaborate to share resources and strengthen the overall business support landscape.
6.   Local Community. We engage with the local community to promote the importance of supporting small businesses and encourage economic growth and prosperity.

Building trust within the community we serve and among small business owners is fundamental to our organization's approach. Key strategies we employ to foster trust are:

1. Transparent Communication and Active Listening: We prioritize transparent communication by providing clear and accurate information about our program and services and have mechanisms for feedback and collaboration.
2. Collaboration and Partnerships: We collaborate with business support organizations, jointly addressing challenges faced by all stakeholders. By working in partnership, we leverage collective knowledge, resources, and networks.
3. Delivering on Promises: We ensure that our programs and services meet the needs of small business owners and that they receive the support they expect from us.
4. Empowering Small Businesses: We enable businesses through training, mentorship, coaching, access to capital preparedness, micro grant resourcing, networking, and other support services.
5. Ethical Conduct: We operate with integrity, honesty, and respect for the community and small business owners.

Next Year:

1. Increase the number of small businesses served: Our goal is to serve 1,200 small businesses within the next year by leveraging digital platforms, social media, and partnerships with local business associations.
2. Measure and track business growth: By implementing a robust data tracking system. This data will enable us to evaluate the impact of our solution and identify areas for improvement.
3. Strengthen partnerships: We will actively cultivate and strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders. Collaborative efforts will include joint marketing campaigns, shared workshops, training sessions, and coordinated support services for small businesses.

Next Five Years:

1. Sustainable business growth including total number of businesses served. Our goal is to facilitate and support sustainable growth and improvement for 10,000 micro and small minority owned business members over the next five years.
2. Diverse and inclusive support: We will prioritize serving a diverse range of small businesses, including women-owned, minority-owned, and underrepresented entrepreneurs.
3. Economic impact: Our aim is to contribute to the economic development of the local business community by fostering job creation, increased tax revenue, and overall economic growth.

To achieve these impact goals, we will continue to implement practical approaches such as:

1.  Continuous program improvement:
2. Strengthening collaboration and partnerships.
3. Data-driven insights: will guide our program’s development and enable us to make evidence-based improvements.
4. Scalable technology infrastructure: Investing in scalable technology infrastructure that can accommodate the growing number of small businesses we serve.
5. Capacity building through training, coaching, and resourcing.

We are applying to the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards because we believe that our solution aligns perfectly with the goals and objectives of the awards which seeks specifically innovative, technology-based solutions that promote resiliency and sustainability for small businesses, particularly those from undercapitalized communities.

Our solution, which combines contextual gamification elements with advanced technology, directly addresses the challenges faced by small businesses in Miami-Dade. We are committed to empowering entrepreneurs by providing them with the tools, training, technical assistance, and resources they need to achieve financial readiness, access capital, accelerate and sustain business development, and establish valuable supply chain connections.

By participating in the Awards, we can showcase our solution to a distinguished panel of judges and industry experts who can recognize its potential and impact. Winning the award would provide us with the necessary recognition, resources, and support to further develop and scale our solution, enabling us to reach a larger number of small businesses in Miami-Dade and make a significant difference in their lives.

Furthermore, being associated with the Truist Foundation carries a prestigious reputation and It enhances our visibility within the small business community and attracts other potential partners and stakeholders.

  Overall, applying to the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards is a strategic decision that aligns with our mission, goals, and the impact we aim to achieve. It provides a platform to showcase our solution, gain recognition and support, and contribute to the growth and sustainability of underrepresented and undercapitalized micro and small businesses.

Our goal is to establish partnerships that align with each other’s mission, leverage each other's strengths, and create synergies to maximize the impact on small businesses and the communities we serve, such as:

• Nonprofit organizations who focus on small business development, entrepreneurship, or community empowerment to share knowledge, joint program implementation, and leverage each other's networks and resources to reach a wider audience.
• Technology companies that specialize in software development, web design, data analysis, or other relevant areas to share expertise, access technology tools or platforms, and collaborate on the development and enhancement of our solution's technological components.
• Financial institutions to facilitate access to capital for small businesses, provide financial literacy resources, and leverage their networks and expertise in financial services.
• Small business associations and chambers of commerce (local and regional) to tap into their extensive networks of small business owners.
• Academic and research institutions for research collaboration, access to academic resources, and leveraging their networks and expertise for the benefit of small businesses.

  We appreciate MIT Solve’s introductions to new potential strategic partners and key alliances that will help all partners achieve the overall goal to support small business owners achieve business success.