{"id":906091,"date":"2022-11-21T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcity.org\/urbanist-news\/in-detroit-helping-small-businesses-log-online"},"modified":"2022-12-05T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T11:00:00","slug":"in-detroit-helping-small-businesses-log-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/11\/21\/in-detroit-helping-small-businesses-log-online\/","title":{"rendered":"In Detroit, Helping Small Businesses Log Online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
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(Photo courtesy of Nappy Stock<\/a>)<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

When COVID-19 forced the world to go virtual, some businesses \u2014 like those in the East Warren district of Detroit \u2014 were forced to make that transition with fewer resources and limited access to technology. That\u2019s why Michigan Women Forward (MIWF) created <\/span>Bridging the Digital Divide<\/a>, a program designed to give businesses region access to technology and training to increase their digital footprint.<\/p>\n\n

The Bridging the Digital Divide program was designed in response to a summer 2020 study on <\/span>the impact of COVID-19 on East Warren businesses<\/a>. Even before the pandemic, small businesses in the region faced hurdles, including racial and economic disparities. The population of East Warren is 70% Black and 60% of businesses in the area are Black-owned. In a survey of these business owners, researchers found that only 26% of businesses are using online sales and only 46% operate a website. <\/p>\n\n

Despite the ubiquity of credit card payments in today\u2019s world, only 73% of businesses surveyed were capable of accepting credit or debit card payments. More than half of respondents said that their businesses would benefit most from tools to help market products and services and leverage their social media accounts. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Bridging the Digital Divide is a nine-month program designed to give East Warren businesses access to technology and training to increase their digital footprint. The program consists of 3 major components: access to technology, technological education and training on digital marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Alexis Dishman, chief lending officer for Detroit-based CDFI MIWF, explains that she doesn\u2019t think today\u2019s digital divide \u201c<\/span>was a result of the pandemic, but it actually opened our eyes to the digital divide\u201d that already existed. MIWF asked participants to complete a spreadsheet so they could figure out the kind of funding business owners needed. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cMany of the entrepreneurs we were working with didn\u2019t have adequate computer systems, didn’t have access to Excel, and were actually using their phones to complete some of the spreadsheets that we needed,\u201d Dishman says, adding that many also \u201cdidn’t have the resources that they needed to actually create their website and were trying to do it on their phones or using outdated technology.\u201d While most people have access to the internet, \u201cit takes a certain level of technology and understanding even just to run your business and have an e-commerce website,\u201d Dishman says. This lack of access to adequate technology hinders businesses operationally and minimizes the potential of their online presence.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s why the program was not only focused on training entrepreneurs on how to use technology, but providing them with the tech itself. Participants received a free laptop from <\/span>Dynamic Technology<\/a>, a partner of the program. The laptops were set up with software like Microsoft suite, Shopify, and Quickbooks.<\/p>\n\n

Nezaa Bandele, one of the program\u2019s first participants and the owner of <\/span>Paradise Natural Foods<\/a>, wasn\u2019t taking advantage of digital marketing or e-commerce before the program. Despite having the demand, Bandele wasn\u2019t in a position to sustainably scale her business.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI could pull off events and catering from the customer\u2019s point of view,\u201d she says. \u201cBut back of the house, afterwards, everybody was wiped out because there were some systems that we just didn’t have in place.\u201d Before the program, she says her website \u201clooked pretty, but wasn\u2019t user friendly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

After going through the Bridging the Digital Divide program, Bandele is able to \u201cleverage the power of a website\u201d by adding fully functional online ordering, catering and shopping pages as well as a page to book her corporate education lectures. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201dThat cuts down a lot of labor hours, which is huge, especially in the food business where margins are really low and labor is really high,\u201d she says. \u201cJust being able to do that, we\u2019re able to process a lot more.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Aside from assisting clients with improving the functionality of their sites, the program also gave training on how to use Quickbooks accounting software and weekly digital marketing training sessions provided by program partner <\/span>Kanopi Social<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

After a successful launch, the program has expanded. In addition to their flagship East Detroit cohort, there is now a cohort of 30 in West Detroit and a cohort of 20 in Flint, Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The Bridging the Digital Divide program is making digital marketing and e-commerce tools and education so business owners like Bandele can scale their businesses in cost-effective ways. \u201cI’m really looking forward to being able to take care of my customers because we have a digital system that can do heavy lifting,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t

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This story is part of our series, CDFI Futures, which explores the community development finance industry through the lenses of equity, public policy and inclusive community development. The series is generously supported by Partners for the Common Good. Sign up for PCG\u2019s CapNexus newsletter at capnexus.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t

Bianca Gonzalez is a queer Latina brain cancer survivor who promotes positive social impact through the power of words. <\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n

This post was originally published on Next City<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t(Photo courtesy of Nappy Stock)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tWhen COVID-19 forced the world to go virtual, some businesses \u2014 like those in the East Warren district of Detroit \u2014 were forced to make that transition with fewer re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21033,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21033"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":907512,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906091\/revisions\/907512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}