Best Small Business Resources in the San Antonio Area

Description

LaunchSA is a partnership between several organizations housed in the San Antonio Public Library. They offer an impressive range of entrepreneurial support services for those at any stage of the process; from developing an idea to growing an existing business, LaunchSA can provide tailored assistance. Their programs include pitch competitions, entrepreneurship weeks, and venture challenges. LaunchSA also has an incubator-like social innovation lab, offering 5 weeks of entrepreneurship workshops and interactive activities.

Description

Geekdom is a coworking space that offers entrepreneurial support via workshops and mentorship. Amenities include meeting rooms, commons areas, free premium coffee and the location is staffed full-time. The workshops and miscellaneous events are a mixture of professional skills building and social networking opportunities. Geekdom has partnered with dozens of local entrepreneurs who have agreed to provide free, one-on-one mentoring on a variety of entrepreneurial topics to members.

Description

LiftFund is a non-profit community development finance institution that offers microloans and educational events to entrepreneurs with limited access to traditional capital. LiftFund hosts an impressive array of lectures, bootcamps, dinners, and meetups that cultivate the local San Antonio startup scene. These events are usually open to the public for a nominal fee and cover a diverse array of topics, from business plan basics to taxes. In addition to events, LiftFund provides a suite of online entrepreneurship courses that are free and open to the public. LiftFund also offers a incubator/co-working space called LIftOff and a Women’s Business Center.

Description

Women's Business Centers are nationwide programs established by the SBA to assist women in starting small businesses. Some of these centers are combined with other local organizations and use that relationship to offer even more services. Each Women's Business Center has counselors who can provide mentorship and assistance with business planning. Women’s Business Centers also provide a network of other businesses, and some have loan programs available

Restrictions

The Women's Business Centers are, as the name implies, meant for women primarily.

Description

The MBDA Business Center is operated out of the University of Texas at San Antonio and offers entrepreneurial support in the areas of funding, business development, and planning. While focused primarily on growing developed, minority-owned businesses, the Business Center offers valuable consulting for free or low cost to any business.

Description

The greatest strength of the SBDC is their free, confidential, 1-on-1 business mentoring for anyone who seeks it. Sometimes in order to be considered for mentoring from one of their professional business advisors, you may have to attend a class/workshop or at least present your business plan. SBDC's are located all throughout the state and you should use the SBDC closest to your location if possible, but you can often transfer to a different location if they do not fit your needs.

Description

SCORE (Service Corp of Retired Executives) is a leading, nation-wide organization that has assisted millions of entrepreneurs over its 50+ years of operation. SCORE is a resource partner of the SBA that offers access to a network of experienced business leaders who donate time to mentor entrepreneurs and small business owners. They also host free or inexpensive workshops online and at 300 local chapters around the United States. Mentoring can be conducted either in person or remotely and is always free and confidential, no matter how often you take advantage of this service.