CONCORD, N.C. — After two decades in the corporate world, Bria Smith decided to take a leap faith.
“After the pandemic we were all stuck inside, so I was looking for ways to promote my own self-care and get something to do inside of my home and that’s when making my own candles became my own thing that I would do to relax,” Smith explained.
In 2021, she turned her relaxation into a business and then she found a community college program designed to help small business owners get ahead.
“The numbers can only get you but so far, but I need to know how to make this passion of mine become a profitable business at some point,” Smith said.
Realizing she needed a bit of help, Smith decided to put in an application for the Retail Lab program. The program is a partnership between the Cabarrus Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Flywheel Foundation and the Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. It's designed to seek solutions for early-stage and pre-launch retail business owners in the area through a six-week boot camp. So far, the program has had more than 60 graduates.
“The idea came from just recognizing the impact on the retail sector from the (COVID-19) pandemic," Meg Smit, the director of RCCC's small business center, said. "Summer, fall of 2021 when we started cooking on what could we provide to help those businesses and help people moving into that sector."
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“Some people have started on their own, but they just need a little bit of information to take it to the next level," Jill Atherton, the executive director of the Flywheel Foundation, said. "We like to keep the class small, 10-15 businesses. We want to make sure the people going through program get all the benefit out of it."
The boot camp focuses on things like business basics, strategy, branding and marketing, and e-commerce. It's basically a fast-track to help new business owners get ahead from day one.
“Watching them come in all scared and nervous and then leaving very powerful and ready to take on the challenge that is entrepreneurship, that’s amazing,” Grant Colgan, the program manager for Flywheel Foundation, said.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, a record-breaking 5.5 million new business applications were filed in 2023. Numbers show Black-, Latino- and women-owned businesses continue to grow at a fast pace.
“So, after I got all the skills that were necessary for the program, I was like you know what, I think we can do this,” Smith said.
She graduated from the program in spring 2023 and received a grant for her business. Smith recently opened her store, Her Candle Bar, in downtown Concord.
“You’re ever learning," she said. "It is always something new."
The application window is now open for the Retail Lab program. Applications will be accepted until Feb. 29.
Contact Nick Sturdivant at nsturdiva1@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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