Month: August 2016

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center presents Renaissance Bay Area Makers Popup – a shopping experience featuring over 30 of our Alumni and some of the most diverse and talented makers on September 10, 2016, from 11am-6pm at The Yard at Mission Rock.

At Bay Area Makers guests can:
● Shop modern crafts while enjoying the ocean breeze and sunshine.
● Get crafty with a maker-lead workshop.
● Boogie to live music by John Brothers Piano Company.
● Eat burgers by Belcampo Meat Company or crepes by Creperie Saint-Germain. Sip beer by the classic Anchor Brewing Company, or savor the exotic flavors of Sajen Jamu Earth Drink (it just might be the next kombucha craze!)

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center has helped these Bay Area makers bring their businesses to market giving them the foundation necessary to start, sustain, or grow their entrepreneurial dreams into a successful reality. Through access to small business training, capital, and markets, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Kiva Zip and Working Solutions help Bay Area women and men make better lives for themselves and their families, and strengthen their communities through entrepreneurship.

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center provides aspiring and existing English and Spanish-speaking small business owners with training, mentorship, networks, and resources that are essential to small business success. According to Entrepreneur Tracker, an independent survey conducted by the Aspen Institute in 2015, 44% of Renaissance clients start businesses after completing Renaissance’s intensive training programs, and 97% of businesses that come to Renaissance while in business stay in business, increasing their household income by an average of 38%.

Kiva Zip and Working Solutions both provide entrepreneurs with capital to launch and grow their businesses. Kiva provides crowdfunding loans of $5,000-$10,000 and Working Solutions loans range from $5,000 to $50,000.

Equally important to make this event possible are PopUpsters, The Yard at Mission Rock, Etsy and Bank of America. Popupsters is a marketplace and vendor management system for indie brands to connect with event organizers. The Yard at Mission Rock is a pop-up shipping container village, open 7 days per week, year round. Etsy will be leading a workshop during the event, and when the event is over, Etsy remains a 24/7 marketplace for vendors. And finally, this event wouldn’t be possible without a generous grant by the Bank of America.

It takes a village to support a small business. Come and join the village!

For a detailed schedule of events and list of vendors visit:
www.rencenter-v3.mystagingwebsite.com/event/bay-area-makers-2016/

About Renaissance:

In its first 30 years in the Bay Area, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center has helped thousands of individuals bring over 10,000 small businesses to market, delivering on their mission to enhance Bay Area life through entrepreneurship. Renaissance fuels community vitality by empowering Bay Area Women and Men to start businesses that bring jobs, character, and sustainable economic health to the local economy. Visit RenCenter.org for more information.

 

Four years ago Viet Vu was working full-time as a paralegal. Feeling bored and unenthusiastic about his profession he determined that the only way he could grow in his career was to apply to law school. Attending law school to become a lawyer was not something he wanted to do. He didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he wanted to be more creative and independent.

Viet became interested in brewing through his father, who was a brewer. The two talked about opening a brewery together one day but that dream would never be able to become true as a result of his father contracting liver cancer and eventually passing due to the disease a few months later. For a time Viet thought that his dream of starting a brewery ended with his father’s passing. However, a year later he decided to cash in his 401K (which in hindsight he doesn’t recommend doing!), and enroll at the same brewing school his father had studied at years prior. Viet eventually graduated brewing school in the summer of 2011.

He then enrolled in Renaissance’s Business Planning class and it took two more years of working as a Contract Analyst and saving every penny before he decided to launch Hoi Polloi Brewpub and Beat Lounge.

Viet came to speak at Renaissance’s Business Planning class graduation in May 2016, offering congratulations and guidance to graduates. With all that he has learned he had five tips to share with graduates:

1. Be patient.
After four years planning and just two years since launching, Hoi Polloi is still in its infancy. Viet finds he is still constantly learning and making changes.

2. Be flexible.
A business plan seems solid, but it’s not. Be prepared for inevitable changes.

3. Get advice. But don’t necessarily take it!
Every one has something to say. It’s up to you to use critical thinking and make the best decision.

4. Pay for your time if you can afford it.
Hire people to do administration and bookkeeping.

5. Take time for yourself.
Business can be all-consuming, but don’t let it be. Your brain needs time to refresh. Don’t burn-out!

Hoi Polloi Brewpub and Beat Lounge
1763 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley, CA 94703
Hoi-Polloi-Brewpub-and-Beat-Lounge-Facebook

 

Photo By John Storey