‘Helps you believe in yourself’: City hosts free training for small businesses

Sarah Al-Shaikh
·3 min read

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin is offering small business owners free classes on how to market, fund and plan their business.

“This has been our highest attendance since the pandemic,” said Katherine Sobel, program manager with the Small Business Division.

This initiative is part of the 2024 Small Business Fundamentals Week.

RELATED COVERAGE: City hosts training for small business owners

Sobel said in an area booming like this, these resources are needed.

Class Schedule

“We’ve got just over 38,000 small businesses here in Austin,” Sobel said. “It’s actually three small businesses for every 100 people living in the city, which is better than the national average of two small businesses for every 100 people.”

Sobel said the city will hold more of these classes again during Small Business Week in the first week of May.

Along with trainings, Sobel said the city also offers free business coaching for anyone looking to start or grow their business.

‘Gain extra knowledge’

The classrooms are filled with small business owners from all walks of life. Among those taking a session was Julie Diaz.

Diaz is the owner of Lone Star Renovation & Design in Austin.

“I’ve been in business for 10 years,” Diaz said. “My company offers services for residential and both commercial properties. We specialize in all phases of remodeling. We’re pretty known for our craftsmanship, and our custom work.”

Diaz said even though she’s been in business for a decade, she’s always open to learn more skills.

“I can use the resources and the extra classes to gain extra knowledge to take us further.”

Small business owner, Rox Christensen, came for the same reasons. Christensen is the owner of The Ring King.

“I make rings out of guitar strings, and then I wrap them with either sterling silver, or 14 karat gold They never turn your fingers green,” Christensen said. “I actually have the best selling guitar string ring on Etsy right now. I’ve sold over 2,000 of them.”

Christensen said for people here, this is much more than just a class. He said it’s a community coming together to support each other.

“It helps you believe in yourself a little bit more and it really helps you take bigger steps and bigger strides,” Christensen said.

Musician, William Belief, was also there to learn from others and network.

“I definitely want to be a worldwide brand artist. But I want to make a positive influence in music,” Belief said. “I wanted to know how to market myself a little bit better and be in front of people a little bit better, not just me, but my brand.”

Belief said he’s leaving with more connections and a stronger set of skills to keep pushing forward with his music.

“The resources that they gave you just allowed you to slow down and just see your bigger picture,” Belief said.

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