Posts In "local"

The Importance of Financial Literacy for Micro-Businesses

April 7, 2017

The need for financial literacy is clear in both our personal lives and in business, but perhaps the highest stakes for personal financial adeptness is in micro-business. BUILD Institute defines a micro-business as a small company, usually made up of less than five employees. These ultra-small operations often rely on one or two key individuals …more

Kiva Zip Detroit Update

June 20, 2016

We’re delighted to announce that after four years of exciting growth and inspiring impact in and around Detroit, Kiva Zip is graduating out of beta! This means that our Kiva Zip loans will be moving to the main Kiva.org website. Merging Kiva Zip into the main Kiva website will make it possible for us to …more

Sidewalk Ventures: Are you ready to start raising community-based investment for your business?

August 11, 2015

“Seeking community-based investment is exciting. With the right team in place, it can be relatively user-friendly and easy to understand, but it still involves asking people to take real financial risk with you. There will be some serious issues to address and information to provide. You’re an entrepreneur, so you’re probably a doer and you like to get …more

So you want to be a localist? Three ways to up your game

July 7, 2015

“Even though I had long preferred my local coffee shop to Starbucks, I hadn’t heard the term “localist” before encountering BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), a network of people dedicated to “restoring community through local businesses.” I attended their conference in Phoenix this year, where I had the opportunity to learn about the …more