In the midst of the holiday shopping season, there’s a new way to support locally-owned businesses in Washington, D.C.
The District’s Small Business Development Center on Howard University’s campus is launching an online marketplace to promote D.C.-area businesses near and far.
Shop DC SBDC Businesses is an online, one-stop shop rolled out just in time for Small Business Saturday and holiday shopping season.
The marketplace provides a place to list products and services in the community, but the agency behind it does a lot more to support small business owners.
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The Small Business Development Center equips young entrepreneurs with free tools to get their ideas off the ground: everything from financial plans to building ownership to advertising.
The center’s director, Carl Brown, said he promotes shopping small every day – not just after Thanksgiving.
“You’re not alone. We are here to help you, and we can service you,” Brown said. “Again, all of our services are free.”
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Dr. Tefesehet Mesfin, the owner of 202 Dental Care, used the center to help develop and execute her plan to open a dental practice in D.C. She got
“It’s a great resource. And if you’re not aware of it, I think it’s very instrumental, almost like an important stepping stone to opening up your own small business,” Mesfin said.
Mesfin says the free resource makes a difference for entrepreneurs by and helps inform the community about services in their backyard. “We are the people that live in the community, we know the community, we know the neighbors, we know the kids that we treat, we see them in the grocery store, they call us out,” she said.
