Classes Paying Off For Entrepreneurs

Budding entrepreneurs are finding their way to D:hive…and the team inside this Woodward Avenue storefront is ready to help turn small business dreams into reality through a proven, eight-week curriculum of business 101.

“We want to try to take that passion and that idea and channel it into something feasible, help them test viability in a low-risk environment, supportive environment, a safe space if you will, where they can tinker with their ideas a little bit,” said Jeff Aronoff, executive director of d:Hive.

Kirsten Ussery is a graduate of the BUILD program.

Ussery and her partner—Erika Boyd– are up and running with—Detroit Vegan Soul—a meal delivery and catering service.

“D:hive helped us finish our business plan, helped us with connections, helped give us ideas for how to market and promote our business,” Ussery said.

“We focus on soul food, so we do things like vegan mac and chese, catfish tofu, barbeque tofu, vegan pepper steak. Right now probably 70 percent of the people who order from us are not vegetarian or vegan, they just love the food,” she added.

A pop-up retail store is also located inside the welcoming center.  Two BUILD class graduates are their selling products here along with some 40 artists who either don’t have or need full time space to show their works.

Aronoff believes the high demand for the BUILD classes among micro-entrepreneurs is, in fact, a big deal for Detroit.

“45 grads already through in just a few months, perhaps we could blink our eyes and have a hundred entrepreneurs crawling around this city with great ideas and great business plans and so while we’re doing little things, it is happening quickly and of course it multiplies,” Aronoff told Detroit 2020.

Click here to go to the D:hive website.