3 Bay Area Women Entrepreneurs Ask You to Help Grow Their Businesses

This month we have three women small business entrepreneurs funding loans at 0% interest through Kiva Zip. They are the first Centro entrepreneurs to request loans this year, and we’re proud to be their loan trustee!

We vouch for these inspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners who are taking every step to ensure their continued success. Click below to get to know their businesses and personal stories, and lend them $25 or more today! We guarantee it will be a rewarding and empowering experience for you and them.

Lend $25 to a Woman Small Business Owner

Feleciai Favroth

Skincare by Feleciai | All Natural Beauty Line  

We manufacture and sell natural, luxury skin care products including soaps, creams, body butters and sugar scrubs. Our goal is to celebrate diversity in beauty and our target consumer is the professional woman, 30+ who appreciates and needs high quality products for her skin.

“Growing up, I struggled with "fitting into the mold" of what others considered beautiful. I have now made it my mission to celebrate diversity and the beauty of all women with my handcrafted, all natural beauty line!” Says Feleciai.

Purpose of loan: to purchase new, upgraded packaging; revamp website with new template and photos: conduct two photo shoots and purchase new labels; purchase raw ingredients.

***Current status: loan fully funded.

Reem Assil

Reem’s | Arab Street Food

Classic Arab street foods combining traditional flavors with high quality locally-sourced ingredients, all made with California love. We specialize in the man'oushe (pronounced Man-OOO-shay) a snack emblem of the Arab world enjoyed in the Levant.

Reem’s vision is to create an anchor establishment that will build and nurture strong and vibrant communities through the rich experience of Arab food and culture.

Purpose of the loan: to purchase a utility truck to transport my food and equipment to different locations, and hire part-time staff to help me produce more in the kitchen.

***Current status: loan fully funded.

Nellie Stokeld

The Pie Shop | Authentic British Pies, Pasties, Teas & Treats

The Pie Shop is a second generation offering from the Stokeld family beginning with Chris Stokeld, an immigrant hailing from North Yorkshire in England. Fifty years later, the emphasis of our shop is still on whole food, made with integrity and served with love.

Purpose of the loan: To hire a new employee, purchase new equipment, and improve online retail services.

***Current status: loan fully funded.

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Want a loan to launch or grow your small business?

If you’d like to start or grow a small business with a free loan, download Centro's Business Planning App on your phone. Once all the activities in the app are completed, request Centro's endorsement for a Kiva loan right there on the app.

We are Kiva's top 10 Trustee for 2015 and we'd love to help you!

Start a Business: Sign Up for a Basic 9-Week Entrepreneurship Program in SF

Have you always wanted to start a small business? To be your own boss? To offer something unique to others? To play a bigger part in your community? If you are not afraid to work hard for your dreams, join us!

Centro is partnering with Urban Solutions to offer a 9-week Basic Entrepreneurship program in San Francisco. Our missions of building communities through thriving businesses is at the heart of the workshop series, as is Centro's Business Planning App.

The coursework will be a guided, step-by-step process to create a business plan through simple and fun activities, in addition to interactive workshops that will help you analyze and develop further the concepts you put in paper. We will also cover Basic Strategy (i.e. vision, mission and values), Personal Finance, Market Analysis, Value Proposition, Operations, Marketing Strategy and Business Finance.

Program Details:

• 9 consecutive Thursdays from 4 - 7 pm, beginning April 28

• Cost: $99 (Scholarships available for low-income entrepreneurs)

For more information about the program and the scholarships available, please email: info@urbansolutionssf.org. They will be happy to chat and reserve a spot for you!

The program will take place in San Francisco in central Market St. - exact location to be confirmed soon.

Helping Small Businesses Stay in Business in Oakland and the Bay Area

Lisa, from Green Girl Bakeshop - endorsed by Centro Community Partners for a Kiva Zip loan.

Every year, Kiva writes a report on the different areas of their work. This year, we are challenged, excited and finally inspired by the encouraging results shared by Kiva Zip in 2015. Here is a brief summary of data shown on their presentation:

Income and wealth inequality are on the rise in the U.S., yet we believe small businesses can reverse that. Unfortunately, more companies are closing than entering the market in great part because it is increasingly hard to access micro and small loans in America. And that’s where Kiva comes in.

In 2015, 39,014 people crowdfunded $4,715,325 in loans to 811 U.S. small businesses owners looking to make a positive impact in their communities. Kiva Zip’s goal is to raise that number to $8.6 million in 2016 through 1,500 loans endorsed by community Trustees.

At this moment, Kiva Zip has over 700 community Trustees, and Centro is one of them. What's more, Kiva Zip has selected us their top 10 Trustee in the U.S. for 2015! In total, we have endorsed $115,800 in loans for 14 small business owners in the Bay Area who have an outstanding repayment rate of 99%.

Kiva Zip makes 0% of these loans thanks to the generosity and trust of thousands of lenders using Kiva Zip as a way to do good in the world. Altogether, this is proof that being a real community and thriving together is possible.

Let’s do more of it

• Want to make a loan to a small business owner near you? Your loan can be as small as $25. Find a business that inspires you.
• Want to be endorsed by Centro for a Kiva Zip small business loan? We’d love to connect with you. First, check our Borrower Due Diligence.

Financial Projections Workshop for Small Business Entrepreneurs

Are you a small business entrepreneur? Would you like to create a realistic financial plan for 2016? We have a workshop for you!

Centro is offering a 6-hour Financial Projections Workshop in Oakland, Ca on January 28th. This is a rare opportunity, and an ideal time of the year to figure out the most important finance questions and challenges of your business. 

The financial template we'll use, will allow you to:

• Create a month-by-month financial plan to grow their business

• Understand how much their business really needs to sell to earn a profit

• Analyze how effectively you are spending money

• Set realistic expectations for how your business will perform

• Examine the financial implications of your business decisions

• Determine how much capital you need to grow and what you need to do to pay it back

Workshop Details:

• Date: Thursday, January 28th, 2016
• Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
• Place: 250 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, 3rd Floor in Computer Lab A Oakland, CA 94612 (12th Street Bart Station)
• Cost: $50 per business 

How to Sign Up

Please contact our Entrepreneurship Trainer and Program Manager, DJ Healy at daniel@centrocommunity.org or (307) 431-8084.

Deadline to Sign Up

Please contact us immediately. The application deadline is Tuesday, January 26th at noon time. 

Setting Up Women for Success in Peru through Microenterprises

In June 2015, Centro traveled to Peru to conduct a Basic Business Training Program for women entrepreneurs. In a month, we trained 53 women in basic entrepreneurship, financial literacy and leadership skills. But our highest achievement was made possible through the use of Centro's signature Business Planning App in the classroom.

The Business Planning App helps us build a breakthrough bridge other local and international organizations working with micro-entrepreneurs haven't been able to tackle successfully - and that is connecting technology, real opportunity and the sense of possibility in women who just a few hours before hesitated themselves using a smartphone, and doubted their potential despite their inherent talent and learned skills.

View how we did it and help us repeat

Our goals in peru 

• Train 100 more women in 2016 in basic entrepreneurship
• Empower them with the support to create or retain their microenterprises
• Measure and track their household income and savings rates

We have committed to set them up for success by preparing them to become self-sustaining entrepreneurs as they build together thriving and prosperous communities for their families.

How you can support

Please make a donation to help us replicate and build on this life-changing experience for low-income women in Peru. Your gift will contribute to:

• Pay for the transportation costs of the women from their local towns
• Prepare and print for every entrepreneur the material in the curriculum
• Pay for the tablets we will loan the entrepreneurs and internet access
• Subsidize our trainer fees and diet 
• Sponsor one-on-one business advising for the entrepreneurs

Every dollar you contribute counts and will help us reach our goals.

Opening Doors for Small Business Owners in Brazil

Naldo Peliks, Centro's Chief Operation Officer presenting to partner organizations how our Business Planning App can increase the success rate of small business owners.

The last few months produced an incredible number of new experiences and exciting partnerships for Centro. Our time spent in Eastern Europe, then Peru and Colombia resulted in a great deal of learning about entrepreneurship development in diverse cultures - all which we can't wait to apply here at home. But before we shift our focus to the Bay Area again, we'd like to introduce you to our three new partners in Brazil!

• SEBRAE, the Small Business Association (SBA) of Brazil with over 700 locations throughout the country
• EixoRio, institute within Rio de Janeiro's secretary for culture which helps strengthen social entrepreneurs and street artists
• CDL Niterói, t he largest association of store owners in Niterói, the town across the bay from Rio

A generous grant from eBay Foundation allowed us to share our new basic entrepreneurship curriculum with them. They will use it assisted by our signature Business Planning App, now available in Portuguese, to further their commitment to social change through successful small business owners.

We welcome these organizations to our Global Network of Affiliates with a great deal of excitement because by the end of 2015, we will have trained more than 100 underserved entrepreneurs in Brazil through these partnerships – now, that’s a reason to celebrate with a caipirinha!

New Projects in Peru and Colombia Supporting Small Business Owners

Arturo A. Noriega, Centro's Founder & Executive Director with some of our new partners in Colombia.

The most beautiful and imposing mountains welcomed us the minute we stepped off the plane in Peru. The scenery escorted us throughout our trip, as did the energy and enthusiasm of the small business entrepreneurs we trained through Asociación Solidaridad Países Emergentes (ASPEm) and Asociación Laboral para el Desarrollo (ADEC). By using Centro's Business Planning app and Basic Entrepreneurship Program curriculum to support the small business entrepreneurs in their communities, both of these organizations joined our Global Network of Affiliates.

Together with ASPEm, in a span of a little over 3 weeks, we trained 50 women entrepreneurs - many of whom have had very limited access to technology in their lives.

“My hometown is so remote that I did not grow up using much technology. I was afraid of using the app, but I wanted to try because I know how important it is in the business world. ”

— Celestina, dressmaking business owner

 

Celestina was brave enough to ask for help, she faced her fears, stuck with the class, and graduated with a robust business plan. She exclaimed, “I feel proud that I figured out the technology, and I’m excited to see how this will help me in the future.” So are we!

Then we tucked away some alpaca sweaters in our suitcase (just in case it ever gets below 60° in the Bay Area) and we headed to Colombia. With barely enough time to even finish our arepa and café, we jumped into teaching classes at Impact Hub Medellin where we taught 8 workshops to Colombian social entrepreneurs developing businesses to generate greater good in their communities.

“Centro’s app will help me help more artists with disabilities. ”

— Nel, developing a work-space for artists with disabilities

We bring home their inspired lives, and a renewed commitment to continue working with these new partners and allies in Latin America.

Stay tuned for our last stop in Brazil, as we seek more organizations through which we can support many more underserved entrepreneurs in the region.

Searching for Partners in Eastern Europe to Support Local Talent

DJ Healy, Centro's Entrepreneurship Program Manager with aspiring small business entrepreneurs in Moldova.

Bună!

We’re excited to share some highlights from projects in Eastern Europe where Centro is collaborating as an educational ally for low-income entrepreneurs. Our journey this summer began in Ukraine, a country bursting with people with creativity and potential! Here, we connected with a foreign language school Closer to the Dream where we coached 9 brilliant students through the process of developing the vision, mission and values of their future small businesses. 

“This class was a good chance for me to make the time to structure my thoughts about my values. Too often, we don’t make time for that.”

— Oksana, an aspiring entrepreneur

After stocking up on some vareniki (yummy local dumplings), we left to Moldova where we shared the Centro Business Planning app in Russian and English with some incredible NGOs. During a two-day workshop, the Center for Entrepreneurial Education and Business  used our app as their basic entrepreneurship curriculum to guide 6 current and future entrepreneurs through the process of developing their business plans.

“ This app was so useful and easy to use. The class helped me have a more realistic understanding of my business! ”

— Mihai, who dreams of opening an online retail store

While we lay the foundation of our Global Network of Affiliates, we continue to be inspired by the entrepreneurs who are fiercely determined to open their business against all odds. We are also so grateful for your continuous support throughout the journey as we venture to Colombia, Peru and Brazil in the next couple of months.

Stay tuned for more!

eBay Foundation Gives Us $75,000 Macro Grant for Microenterprise

We are thrilled to announce that eBay Foundation has given us a very generous $75,000 grant to refine and share our Basic Entrepreneurship Program with underserved entrepreneurs in Brazil and throughout the US. Through eBay Foundation’s support, Tunnel Lab has already begun using our entrepreneur training tools to help Brazilian youth uplift their communities.

As we expand our global reach, we will work shoulder to shoulder with eBay Foundation and our partners to ensure that our Business Planning app and training curriculum provide a culturally appropriate answer to each community’s expressed needs.

We are so grateful to eBay Foundation for their steadfast commitment to community and international development. Thank you!