Small Biz Focus

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Supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and creatives is all part of Arlington’s Creative Economy initiative. With public/private partnerships, growth of these endeavors is an important part of business sector diversity and economic sustainability.

Mark your calendars for these December Saturdays to find uniquely Arlington made items, learn from the makers and welcome in the season with a festival of lights along Lee Highway! It’s a full-on celebration of all things local and creative in Arlington.

Lee Highway Winter Festival of Lights
Saturday, December 1 from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

The Lee Highway Alliance pulls out all the stops on its inaugural Winter Festival of Lights that spans four venues along Lee Highway. Dozens of community partners have come together to celebrate this corridor of Arlington with shops, artists, entertainment and of course lots of lights.

Be on hand to try a craft at the Lee Arts Center, learn local history at the Langston-Brown Community Center, hear music and watch magic at the Lee and Harrison Plaza, and shop local at the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire House.

Save some time for a photo with Santa and sample great food all along the corridor!

Click here for more information.

Made in Arlington at Shirlington Library
Saturday, December 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This year, make your shopping interactive! In its continued partnership with Arlington Public Library, Arlington Economic Development’s Made in Arlington Initiative takes pop-ups to a new level with a one-day event at Shirlington Library. Curious how baskets are woven or how jam is made? You’ll find a big new array of makers, artisans and entrepreneurs who will be on hand to demonstrate the work that is uniquely Made in Arlington.

Among the many vendors in this market you’ll find Kate Summers handmade and vintage jewelry, Jay Gerard’s knitted scarves and accessories, stained glass artist Maria Illlingworth, leather craftsman Wilfred Lopez and Persimmon Street ceramics.

Click here for more information.

For ongoing Creative Economy listings and opportunities, check here. More Creative economy stories on the blog.

This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

By Sindy Yeh

In honoring our veterans this past week, we would like to share a wonderful program the Commonwealth of Virginia sponsors in support of those leaving the military seeking employment.

Did you know the Commonwealth of Virginia is one of the most veteran-friendly states in the nation?

Virginia is comprised of the most veteran-owned small businesses in the country. Not so surprising considering Virginia is home to the Pentagon in Arlington and the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk. There are hundreds of thousands of active-duty service members serving within the Commonwealth’s borders and many have chosen to call Virginia home upon leaving the military.

With more than 750,000 veterans located in Virginia, the Commonwealth has had the fastest growing veteran labor force over the past 5 years and is projected to continue to have the fastest growing veteran population over the next five years.

With such a highly skilled and adaptable workforce living here, Virginia recognizes the opportunity to promote veteran talent to the civilian workforce and to help businesses become more successful by focusing on hiring the right people for the job.

One such initiative, the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, provides education, training and connectivity resources to assist companies to implement nationally recognized best practices in recruiting, hiring and retaining veterans. Virginia companies who have completed all V3 training requirements and have submitted a veteran hiring plan will be recognized as an official “V3-Certified Company.”

Furthermore, V3 qualified companies with fewer than 300 employees may qualify for up to $10,000 in grants, with $1,000 being awarded per eligible veteran that is hired and retained for at least one year.

Several Arlington companies are officially V3-Certified, namely Lunarline, CACI, Cydecor, G4S Secure Solutions, First Division Consulting, Shoulder 2 Shoulder, By Light Professional IT Services and National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association.

We encourage Arlington companies to consider becoming V3 certified to seize the opportunity to find the workforce they need within the veteran community.

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This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

By Tara Palacios

Act local. Think local. Let’s Celebrate.

Small Business Saturday is almost upon us! The day after Black Friday is the day to formally celebrate the local businesses where we love to shop. Shopping local keeps our community unique, and what better way to support our independently-owned businesses than by patronizing them on November 24.

According to American Express, in 2017 an estimated 108 million consumers across the United States reported shopping or dining at independently-owned business on Small Business Saturday. These consumers generated $12 billion in reported spending.

Join BizLaunch online for an interactive pre-celebration of shopping local on Monday, November 19. We will visit area retail businesses throughout the day and promote our local shops in Arlington, VA on both Twitter and Facebook. Follow our hashtags as we visit local retail businesses to help you figure out which local shops you should visit on Small Business Saturday.

We invite you to tag your favorite local small business all day. Businesses can also join in on the fun if they’d like to tag themselves. Let’s celebrate our local businesses. Join us on Twitter by following #ShopSmall, #ArlingtonVA, #SmallBizSat and #ShopArlington.

Another great pre-celebratory event to support our local businesses is the, “Shop Local Walking Tour,” of Crystal City and Pentagon City on Saturday, November 17. BizLaunch is partnering with WalkArlington, Netwalking and the Crystal City BID to host the event.

Enjoy the area’s walkability, hear stories from local business owners and get a jump start on shopping local for the holidays. The event is free but registration is required. More information can be found here.

We hope you plan to #ShopLocal and #ShopArlington this Small Business Saturday!

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Supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and creatives is all part of Arlington’s Creative Economy initiative. With public/private partnerships, growth of these endeavors is an important part of business sector diversity and economic sustainability.

What better way to stir up an appetite for holiday shopping than sampling handmade pies? And stocking up on artist created greeting cards? And heavenly chocolate?

The Made in Arlington pop-up shop at Courthouse Plaza is back in 2018 with even more weekly artisans and entrepreneurs starting Thursday, November 1 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Find your favorites and welcome newcomers who will make this your go-to for gift giving and indulgence.

Opening day on November 1 features ‘Livin the Pie Life’, rated by Sports Illustrated as the BEST game day Thanksgiving Pie. The 2017 sell-out pie shop pop-up means that showing up early is a must this year! Line up for samples, purchases and info on how to order your holiday favorites. Don’t be left with crumbs!

Right along-side Pie Life will be FastSnail creative greetings and design with cards and prints that both amuse and amaze. Featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival Marketplace, Fast Snail’s Liz Hutcheson designs cards with local flavor, seasonal character and all occasion whimsical greetings.

Don’t miss these weekly pop-up vendors throughout November:

November 1
Living the Pie Life
FastSnail creative greetings and designs

November 8
Denison Lane
Bakeshop

November 15
Kingsbury Chocolates
Tracy Wilkerson

November 29
Melanie Lee
District Line Clothing

Full Pop-Up Schedule throughout December can be found here.

Supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses and creatives is all part of Arlington’s Creative Economy initiative. With public/private partnerships, growth of these endeavors is an important part of business sector diversity and economic sustainability.

Check here for ongoing Creative Economy listings and opportunities. More Creative economy stories on the blog.

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This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

By Tara Palacios

2018. The age of viral videos and shared media posts.

How does it happen? What are the best ways to reach your clients in the short and long term? Does it make sense for your business to engage in certain activities which require the latest media tools? Do you have the right tools in your arsenal to engage successfully with your customers?

In a perfect world, your business should have a detailed (up-to-date) strategic plan in place when it comes to interacting with your customers.

First, you’ll need to answer the most fundamental question: how do your clients best receive information? Once you find out where your clients are the next thing is to understand everything about the platform, and create tools to help you to interact and engage.

Media Toolkit Quick Checklist

Step 1: Website — The content on your web site should be clear, informative and not too wordy. Less is best.

The ultimate goal of success is that all activities (blog posts, tweets, FB and LinkedIn etc.) will lead potential clients to your Web site to purchase your goods or services. This is the “call-to-action,” that your media kit must have, and your Web site is the virtual calling card of your business.

Add analytics to see how well your Web site is performing. Are you on the first page in search engines when people look for you using your industry’s key words? Anything less means your clients may find it hard to find you in search engines.

Step 2: Social Media Presence — Identify which platforms your clients are on, and make sure you are there! Social Media options can range from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and more.

Follow key influencers and make sure you ask them to follow you back. Freshen content daily and use different online platforms to help you manage daily content. Many of these social media tools can help you analyze how well your data and information are being opened, clicked on and shared.

Keep in mind — the more active you are on social media (using industry keywords and hashtags where applicable), the higher you can be found on search engines!

Step 3: Use of Photography/Videography — These days almost anyone can be a photographer or videographer on-the-go if you own a smartphone or tablet. The high quality of images can be captured right on your phone, making just about anyone a great photographer, and the opportunities to engage endless.

The use of images and video content on your Web site and social media platforms are critical and help in making your content clickable. The more you can use images and video the more interactive you will make the experience for your clients.

Step 4: Experiential Marketing — Nowadays, many marketing strategies and marketing campaigns include experiential touches. In building a brand, companies engage their customers throughout the process to ensure the success of their product or service.

If a customer feels a deep tie with the business, they are loyal to the brand. A campaign can include customers contributing to the overall look and feel of the business or participating in activities that encourage giving back to a community.

BizLaunch and the Arlington Independent Media (AIM) are pleased to announce they will be offering several business courses next month on how to best use media tools to build your business.

We will launch the first course with making sure you have everything you need in your media toolkit, and then move on to specific instruction on both photography and videography for your business.

For more information please click on the hyperlinks below. We hope you can join us to brush up on your skills or to improve the ones you have!

• Small Business Toolkit, November 2
• Smartphone Photography for Small Business, November 9 & November 16
• Video Production for Smartphones and Tablets, November 30 & December 7

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This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

By Tara Palacios

The summer of 2018 was busy at BizLaunch.

Entrepreneurs opened new businesses at a fast pace and there was never a dull moment. Innovative ideas and solutions were discussed and strategies implemented. New small businesses did not take a break.

In fact, mentorship of new businesses was up by 30% from the prior summer. Entrepreneurs from a wide variety of industries sought assistance to launch their business endeavors. Small business growth is on the rise.

So what do you do if you have a great idea that you’d love to launch? How do you succeed and go on to become the next Shark Tank success story?

Our answer is simple. Use local (FREE!) resources to help you turn your idea into reality.

We’ve got you covered this fall.

The first thing you’ll want to do is research your industry. Understand where the opportunities and threats lie. Identify a well-defined target market and begin to develop your business plan.

Arlington Public Library is a wonderful resource and has several free tools to help you successfully launch. The list of tools can be found here, and the best news is there is a Business Librarian you can meet with to help you navigate the various available tools for you to use.

Better yet — we will be conducting a live Lunch Webinar on October 10 at noon on “Best Researching Tools for Entrepreneurs in 2018.”

Next, we cordially invite you to attend our program on October 25 entitled “Are you Ready to Start Your Business?” At this event you’ll walk through everything you need to know to successfully launch your idea.

We discuss all points of regulations, planning, and resources as you make your decision to go forward or not. Key BizLaunch partners will be in attendance and will be available to answer your questions as well as to network for additional resources.

We hope to see you this fall to keep our business community thriving!

This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

By Tara Palacios

Entrepreneurship is tough.

Entrepreneurship is demanding.

Entrepreneurship is being present at the right time, and at the right place.

Why? Can’t you simply have a good idea and execute? Does entrepreneurship have to be tough, and demanding, and at the right time and place?

Well, an important reason why (and one not explained too often) is because you must be able to predict the future. Yes, your ability to invoke keen foresight is a key skill for an entrepreneur. However, don’t dust off the crystal ball yet.

As an entrepreneur, one must constantly be ahead of trends — whether it is the latest innovation, keeping up with your competition or knowing “exactly,” how the U.S. economy will respond to outside forces (i.e., think trade war). An entrepreneur must constantly be several steps ahead of the market to plan, to prepare, and to mitigate risk to succeed over time.

How does the overall U.S. economy impact the region? Will the trade war impact Arlington businesses, and if so in what way? Unemployment is at an all-time low — but does that mean many people are working? Or are individuals underemployed?

We hope to be able to help your crystal ball predict the future by bringing in experts who are looking at the current trends that may impact your business.

BizLaunch is pleased to announce with our partners the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce our latest Brunch and Business: The 2018 Economy — Navigating Trade Wars and Discovering Business Opportunities.

Join us October 3 at SPACES The Artisphere as you hear from two experts in the field who will address this topic: GMU’s Director of the Center for Regional Analysis, Dr. Terry Clower, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Director for International Policy, Kris Denzel will engage in a dynamic discussion of the 2018 economy and beyond.

The event is free and open to the public. We hope you will be able to join us!