On today’s Business Beat, Jeff talks with Jamiel Robinson, one of the partners in the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program, which helps entrepreneurs succeed in a digital-first world.
Turn in to the Business Beat, below, to learn how you can access the resources in the free program:
Tune in to News/Talk 760 AM WJR weekday mornings at 7:11 a.m. for the WJR Business Beat. Listeners outside of the Detroit area can listen live HERE.
Are you an entrepreneur with a great story to share? If so, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll feature you on an upcoming segment of the WJR Business Beat!
Good morning, Paul! This morning on the Business Beat, we’ve got a program that entrepreneurs should consider if they need help realizing success with their small business. And after all, if you’re a small business owner, who doesn’t need all the help we can get? Now, listen, this program is Verizon’s free Small Business Digital Ready program. It consists of an online curriculum designed to give small businesses the personalized tools they need to succeed in today’s digital first world. And it’s being made available through select partners. We’ve got one on the show with us today. We’ve got Jamiel Robinson, executive director of the Michigan-based business development organization, Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses. He’s on to tell us about the program. Jamiel, this is really cool. Tell us more. Jamiel: So the platform is Verizon’s Small Business Digital Ready program, and it’s accessible through the Internet online. And so it’s a platform created to, you know, really be a resource to small businesses across this country. So Verizon invited myself and organizations, I think it was about maybe 10 to 12 organizations from all across the country. So Verizon was extremely intentional about ensuring that they got a broad band of individual organizations that represent the makeup of what small businesses represent every single day, whether they’re businesses that are located in major metropolitan areas and those that are in rural areas all the way to the suburban areas as well. Jeff: Yeah. So tell us about some of the solutions that are being provided. Jamiel: Yeah. So some of the needs, especially when it comes to small businesses on the technical assistance side, help with financial statements. What does the marketing plan look like? How do you brand, how do you build relationships with financial institutions? How do you prepare a cash flow statement? So the platform is very robust and it really takes into account all the needs of businesses. Jeff: If this program sounds good to you to sign up, go to startupnation.com/Verizon-landing/. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat brought to you by Dell Technologies on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
