Business expo held for Albany State University students

ALBANY, Ga. – Albany Community, Incorporated and ACE Company for Entrepreneurs united to form a business expo for the students of Albany State University.

“We want them to understand the resources that are available to small businesses, how to start a small business, how to create, how to scale,” said Thelma Johnson, CEO of ACE.

A lot of small business owners are unaware of the opportunities and aid available to them in their own city.

“Always having access to capital is so important, so that’s one of the reasons we’re here to inform the students as well as businesses in this community about the resources that are out there,” said Tommie Beth Willis, Regional Director of ACE.

First time business owners are liable to make plenty of mistakes along the way including.

“Not planning, and not doing research in the beginning not be capitalized enough, they can be under capitalized when they start,” said Johnson.

Which could result in…

“Your undercapitalized and its hard to ever catch up so today in the room you will understand how to access capital,” said Johnson.

One factor a lot of business owners don’t consider is…

“Networking… just creating a cohort of businesses that are like minded like you, you can grow and support each other and be successful,” said Willis.

If you have a small business documentation is a crucial aspect for growth in the future

“Because if you’re selling and you’re not documenting your sales, your not filing taxes, your not writing your business plan. You’ll be a new business when you decide to actually start,” said Johnson.

Cameron Sanders reporting.

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