Business Ideas

I have an idea for a business. Where do I begin?

Start Garden was founded on the principle of creating fast, inexpensive ways to turn your ideas into action. We build and continuously improve accessible platforms to help you turn your ideas into tangible business ventures.

Platforms to jumpstart your idea

Start Garden provides platforms like pitch competitions, maker spaces, kitchen incubators, startup weekends, food carts, festivals and a host of other things to discover new value. We look at available platforms in the ecosystem that will make our region great at helping entrepreneurs launch and we work to fill the gaps.

Learn more about our 5×5 Night monthly pitch competition or The 100 and check out these regional resources for new entrepreneurs.

 

Infrastructure to launch businesses

Start Garden can help you get your idea off the ground with a variety of helpful resources including access to very early, no-strings-attached capital and connections into the entrepreneur community and those who support it. You can tap into our network that we have built from decades of doing startup work in West Michigan, or work directly with members of our team who have met with thousands of entrepreneurs and can pass on collective knowledge to help you be successful.

A universe of resources

Within the ecosystem, you will find many resources to help you on your journey. There are bootcamps and classes that can help you take your idea and plan it as a business as well as assistance with prototyping and productizing new ideas. Other entrepreneurs or mentors can offer advice on how to avoid typical pitfalls of getting started, professional service providers can offer legal or accounting advice, and banks can help you find the funds needed to to experiment without breaking your bank account.

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