It's a quirky little idea. What if you could let small-business owners go on aspeed dating spree to meet with experts who can talk about how to maximize cash flow, use social media to market a product, or give tips on how to use micro lending or crowdfunding to raise capital?
Quirky, yes. But Money Smart Week is full of all sorts of clever ways to get the community thinking about how we spend, save and, yes, even how we waste our money.
Angela Barbash, founder of Reconsider, a research and development firm in Ypsilanti, will be one of the experts hosting a speed dating table at the "Small Biz Buzz" seminar to be held Tuesday.Preregistration is required.
She'll be talking about the Michigan Invests Locally Exemption, which offers game-changing potential for local restaurants, brew pubs and Main Street-oriented outfits to raise capital through intrastate investment crowdfunding.
Barbash, 34, noted that campaigns like Kickstarter might raise about $5,000 or so for a local business. But she maintains that the Michigan program, known as the MILE Act, has the potential to raise $100,000 or $150,000 in many cases and rebuild local economies. The MILE Act, signed into law in 2013, expands investment opportunities by allowing Michigan residents to support local businesses.
