Startup Junkie blog archive

Northwest Arkansas' Startup Crawl 2024 was a vibrant showcase of innovation, uniting local startups, craft beer, and live music in an atmosphere that truly embodies the region's entrepreneurial spirit. As attendees explored Downtown Fayetteville, each stop provided a...

The much anticipated sixth installment of the NWA Startup Crawl is just days away – October 4, 2024 – returning to downtown Fayetteville with the best and brightest in the local entrepreneurial scene, featuring a diverse range of local startups and small businesses...

Democratizing justice in Social Security disability claims.   In the heart of Northwest Arkansas, a groundbreaking legal tech startup is changing the landscape of Social Security disability claims. LexMed, founded by Nick Coleman and joined by Phillip Cannon, is...

The world of entrepreneurship is filled with stories of passion, perseverance, and a willingness to step out of one's comfort zone. One such inspiring story comes from Lindsay Neely, founder of Pink Fern, a charming plant shop off College Avenue in Fayetteville, in a...

Rick West, Opines   When browsing Walmart's online store, Rick West noticed a problem. Before an item could go live, the service required pre-seeded reviews. How would a new item get reviews, by just giving them away? This is what sparked him to create Opines....

 “Access to adequate capital remains a significant challenge for black-owned businesses” According to Forbes 8 out of every 10 black businesses fail within the first 18 months of starting. Diversity is important for fostering innovation, improving decision-making,...

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been a pivotal resource for entrepreneurs and small business owners navigating the economic turmoil brought on by the global pandemic. PPP loans were designed as a lifeline to help businesses keep their workforce employed...

Startup Junkie is thrilled to be part of the global efforts to make GEW a resounding success. From November 13th-16th, they will host a series of events in Northwest Arkansas, dedicated to empowering existing and aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. These...

As a business owner, there will be many bumps in the road especially at the beginning of your journey. Whether it’s a lack of funding, slow sales, or just an overall lack of motivation, your journey to success will have hurdles. This article will aim to focus on why...

The much anticipated fifth installment of the NWA Startup Crawl is tomorrow – Sept. 8, 2023 – returning to downtown Fayetteville with the best and brightest in the local entrepreneurial scene, featuring a diverse range of local startups and small businesses exhibiting...

Everyone experiences periods of time when it’s hard to be creative, motivated, or inspired. When something you once had a passion for bores you or when you lose motivation for your work, it can be difficult to get back on track. But it’s important to remember that...

With all the recent national attention OpenAI, ChatGPT, and DallE have been receiving, we thought it might be worthwhile to explore some of the best use cases businesses can consider right away. ChatGPT, the powerful language generation model developed by OpenAI, has...

By Nicholas Patterson | Southern New Hampshire UniversityDeciding to quit a job is a tough decision on its own but deciding to leave your full-time job for your business is even tougher. If done right, the decision can be extremely rewarding, and can allow to you grow...

Arkansas & Korea: Points of Interest in BusinessBy Yang Luo-Branch, President, Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses (AAAB)The bridge between Arkansas and Korea continues to be reinforced by the concerted efforts of innovative business leaders within both...

The Northwest Arkansas Startup Crawl will return to downtown Fayetteville on Friday, April 8, for an evening-long celebration of the region’s budding entrepreneurial ecosystem. The fourth iteration of the event, postponed from September 2021, is organized by Startup...

The NWA Startup Crawl returns to the downtown Fayetteville square on April 8, and this year, once lucky founder can win big thanks to sponsors Cox Business and Cox Media.  Our friends at Cox are awarding one lucky startup with an incredible prize that will...

The following is a guest post from Max Menke, founding partner at GrowthX.For a startup, few things are more exciting than the opportunity of adding a big logo to your list of customers. Enterprise customers can provide a startup with a lot of credibility in the...

Marketing in today's image-saturated world can be difficult, but business owners are able to reach their audience in more ways now than ever before. If you're the owner of a new startup or small business in Fayetteville, AR, learn more below about how to become your...

In an effort to help address food insecurities in Northwest Arkansas this holiday season, Startup Junkie Foundation is launching a month-long food drive initiative to benefit the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank. Through the initiative, dubbed Entrepreneurs Give Back, the...

In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many small businesses across the country to face hard decisions, including whether to close their doors or do their best to survive one of the worst economic storms of the 21st century. Many small businesses had to...

The saying "It's not what you know, but who you know" holds substantial weight, especially in the entrepreneurial arena. In the book, The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell describes the connector as someone who knows a lot of people in the community and is able to...

Rebecca Lake |  Bankrate.comBlack Friday and Cyber Monday represent two of the busiest days of the holiday shopping season. But in between them lies an opportunity for small-business owners to claim a share of holiday shoppers’ budgets.Small Business...

The Kitchen of the Arkansas Ozarks is now open for use by all Arkansas and Missouri food businesses, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers for food production in its fully permitted commercial kitchen located in the city of Marshall, Arkansas. This kitchen was...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

After almost two years of lockdowns and instability in many industries, we have seen small business owners struggling to stay afloat. Being an entrepreneur is stressful at the best of times—and exponentially more so in 2021. One crucial element in growing and...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

Guest Blog | George NewtonBrand voice often determines that initial first impression to your customers. Your brand voice is the unique manner you present yourself. It is a reflection of your identity as a company when you connect with your consumers. It represents...

Guest Blog | Andrija SubericMany startup owners incorrectly view insurance as a luxury and not a necessity. Working with brokers or advisers to create the right risk management program is often regarded as a tedious chore that can be left for later down the line in...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

Your logo is oftentimes the first thing many customers will see. It is often the primary association many customers will have when they think of your business. Your logo represents your company, and many companies, from multinational conglomerates to mom and pop...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

The digital world is more important than ever, especially for brand awareness. Most brands have recognised that people spend a lot of their time online, so they’ve chosen to move the bulk of their advertisement to online hubs and platforms. Through this gradual...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

After more than a year of being forced apart by the pandemic, we are celebrating what makes the Northwest Arkansas venture ecosystem great by highlighting the incredible founders and hardworking entrepreneurial support organization leader – all of whom drive our...

When Opportunity Zones (OZs) were first announced, there was a substantial amount of interest and enthusiasm. The effort included key members of Congress and a significant number of high-profile venture investors. The OZs were going to motivate new investment in over...

Once a founder has decided to pursue outside investment, a process begins that can be much like the inquisition. Preparation and thickness of hide are mandatory attributes. Over my career as a founder and active early-stage investor, I've witnessed a variety of...

Ten thousand hours or four hundred sixteen and two-thirds days seems like a long time. It is. Much has been said about the 10,000-hour rule in developing mastery over anything. As a founder or small business owner, learning and developing mastery must be an essential...

The Great Depression left a mark. The collapse of an overheated public stock market caused the worst worldwide depression in modern history. Stemming from that rules were created over a period of decades to protect us from ourselves. Clearly, we weren’t competent...

by Jeff AmerineBusinesses of every size faced existential threats in 2020 due to the pandemic and other factors. Supply chains were disrupted, economies were locked down, demand disappeared or blew up and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was on full display. This sort of...

by Jeff Amerine Raising money sucks. It sucks for founders. It sucks for fund managers. It pretty much sucks for everyone. Part of what adds to the suckiness for founders is the dark art of valuing your company. The conventional financial valuation methods used by...

Most founders come to the realization they don’t possess an omnipotent understanding of every aspect of their business, their market or numerous other critically important issues. Lots of resources are available that can be helpful like entrepreneurial support...

 Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else has ever thought. – Einstein I like to ask questions. No matter if I’m going through a difficult season, have an idea that I want to bounce off of someone, or trying to grow the Science...

From Christina Newberry | Hootsuite If you have a business, you likely spend a lot of your time trying to dig up the latest social media marketing tips. And for good reason.There are now 4.2 billion active social media users—almost twice as many as...

Clifford Chi | HubSpotYou did it.You've been spearheading your organization's content marketing efforts for a while now, and your team's performance has convinced your boss to fully adopt content marketing. There's one small problem, though.You don't know where to...

Christina Newberry, Sarah Dawley | HootsuiteIt’s an understatement to say this year has changed the way people and businesses use the Internet in general and social media in particular. So how will these new social media trends affect the way we use social networks in...

By Paige Cooper | HootsuiteAs of the end of 2020, organic reach across Facebook continued to decline. The average reach for an organic Facebook post is down to 5.2%. (For the record, at the end of 2019 it was 5.5%, and the year before that it was 7.7%).Meanwhile,...

When it comes to starting a business many entrepreneurs and early startups seek funding from friends and family first. Further, in regard to existing businesses, the pandemic caused global economic disruptions when many small...

Local media startup NWA Daily is looking to change the way Northwest Arkansas residents consume their daily news. Founded by Daniel Fritsche and Luke Brasuell in the fall of 2020, the daily newsletter has grown to more than 1,000 readers and counting. Check them...

By Caroline Forsey | HubSpotVideo is fast-becoming the preferred tool for most marketers to connect with and reach new audiences.Video marketing is undeniably effective, too — in fact, including a video on a landing page is capable of increasing conversion...

Megan Conley | HubSpot Blog Let's say your company decided to invest in a website redesign to improve lead generation, and you're responsible for managing the project.Naturally, one of the first questions you have is, "How much is this website...

Pamela Bump | HubSpot Blog As we near the end of 2020, one thing is certain: We've spent a lot of time on social media this year.But, our increased connection to social media isn't at all shocking.In March, as countries implemented stay-at-home orders due to...

The highly anticipated expansion of the Fayetteville Public Library is nearly completion, and the Startup Junkie team was recently given the opportunity to explore the facility’s offerings for area residents, including amenities to serve local entrepreneurs and small...

Small business finance can come with a new language that is very different from personal finance terms. Some of these terms might transfer, but even when they do, there might be some difference as it concerns business finance.If you are making financial decisions for...

The NWA Startup Week (Sept. 14-18) will feature five nights of virtual, televised events and local food and drink pairings that highlight startups, small businesses, restaurants and breweries throughout the region. Each night, local startups will be showcased on...

In order to accommodate social distancing and gathering guidelines, this year’s Startup Crawl will instead be Startup Week, which will feature the first-ever televised IdeaFame Pitch Competition. This virtual adjustment will provide entrepreneurs a platform where they...

Written by Marie BarnesYou may be in the middle of launching a startup or have been dreaming about your startup behind the scenes. Anyway, starting a business is invigorating. This path can be passionate, troublesome, unnerving, energizing, hazardous, and fulfilling....

Update August 20: SBA impersonators are email phishing to scam businesses who have applied for an EIDL to upload additional personal information to a third party platform. If you suspect fraudulent activity, contact the SBA Inspector General. The SBA has issued...

This fall over 100 middle school girls aged 10-13 in the Fayetteville area will have the chance to work with local entrepreneurs to build their own business plans. The Camp Girl Boss program is establishing a local presence in Fayetteville by teaming up organizations...

Digital marketing has become a proverbial buzz word in recent years as more of the world, and thus consumer purchases, move online. The thing with digital marketing is that it can be as confusing, complicated, and overwhelming as you allow it to be. But once you've...

Updated July 10, 2020Nearly four months after initial social distancing and shelter in place orders were announced, many businesses are still working remotely, healthcare professionals are still on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients and teachers are preparing...

The University of Arkansas Walton College students have the opportunity to work directly with the local entrepreneurial community through the Venture Intern Program. The benefits of this program are two fold; students can implement their knowledge from the classroom...

In the midst of coronavirus (COVID-19) when people lost their jobs, were in isolation at home, and the death toll was rising, social companionship was substituted with an artistic outlet. Whether expressed through illustrations on TikTok, homemade face masks, a DIY...

The notion of launching your own business and onboarding a group of likeminded individuals who share your passion and dedication to the project is certainly an alluring idea. However, given that startups require financial resources to make an impact on the market and...

By Paul GrahamFrom October 2008The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid-seventies.When Microsoft and Apple were founded.As those examples suggest, a recession may not be such a bad time to start a...

Information Gathered Regarding the US Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program and Application Processby Martha Londagin, Startup Junkie Foundation, Executive ConsultantOn Friday, March 20, I participated in a national US Small...

From Entrepreneur Magazine: Thousands of in-office workers are experiencing their first foray into the world of at-home work, as large and small businesses try to manage the threat of COVID-19 by asking their employees to work remotely.And while a...

For the past decade, we have been in the midst of the biggest economic expansion in American history with unemployment at a historic low of 3.6%. Naturally, during periods of economic expansion, raising capital for a startup or new business is...

The daily news of startups raising multi-million-dollar funding is enough to suggest it’s almost easy to raise venture capital. Unfortunately for most entrepreneurs, nothing could be further from the truth — VC firms are more selective than ever in allocating their...

 According to Podcast Insights, 51 percent of the US population has listened to a podcast, and 62 million people listen to podcasts every week. Those are huge numbers. Regarding business, podcasts have become a way for professionals to educate...

From Inc. Magazine: Working from home has become a stark reality for millions of Americans as businesses large and small move to close offices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result, countless team leaders are now responsible for leading their teams from afar....

From the Arkansas Department of Public Safety:The Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan program has been made available to eligible businesses and private non-profits that were impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Any such Economic...

General Recommendations, Tips, & Insight:The SBA is administering $50 billion of disaster recovery loans that were just authorized by the federal government for businesses impacted by CoVid-19.  See more detail on the program here. If your small business has...

In the world of a startup founder, one must always look for ways to improve their company if they want to take things to the next level. Whether it be building a founding team, developing products that can survive a competitive marketplace, raising venture capital, or...

Hypergrowth, or the rapid acceleration of incoming business (and overall growth), is rare for startups to experience. Although that’s not to say it doesn’t happen. Big names like Uber, Slack and Airbnb that seemingly became a household name overnight have all...

Social innovation is on the rise across the country, especially among young, college-aged entrepreneurs. College students are looking to do more than just inherit the world but make impactful changes to make the world better than they received it. One such student is...

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest...

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest...

Startups love stickers. Wait – no ­– everyone loves stickers. But for a startup, stickers represent a fun way to create brand ambassadors that passively spread the word about their growing business. What’s not to like? “Stickers are great,” says Edwin Ortiz,...

It’s every startup’s goal to become a successful and thriving business. To maintain your startup’s financial health, it’s critical for you to thoroughly understand working capital. Working capital measures the difference between your current assets and...

Moscow native Olga Khokhryakova has only called Fayetteville home for six months, but she's ready to make waves in the world of social entrepreneurship with her latest venture. The University of Arkansas graduate student is developing an online platform, called...

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest...

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest...

The Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem is privileged to have a number of leaders who represent successful startups, Universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and more. Want to learn from the leaders? We’ve polled the men and women of the Northwest...

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Small Business Saturday, and there’s no better time to celebrate it by shopping local.  Small Business Saturday is a shopping holiday launched by American Express during the holiday season of 2010 as an effort to...

Brad Cardwell and Caitlin Trickett want you to go out tonight. And they want you to find the best deals possible when you do. Their app, Purlu, is designed to allow users to find the best local food and drink specials and maybe even discover your new favorite...

Husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Scott and Jannine Fitzgerald are on a mission. Their company, Buddy Pegs, has envisioned a world where the children of today become the joyful and inspiring leaders of tomorrow by introducing them to and helping to develop a love...

Just about every startup founder’s dream is to join the herd of unicorns — becoming a statistical rarity or household name like Uber, Lyft or Postmates. But it much easier said than done. These days, just establishing a startup takes a talented and dedicated team,...

The Northwest Arkansas Startup Crawl will return to downtown Fayetteville on Friday, Sept. 13, for an evening-long celebration of the region’s budding entrepreneurial ecosystem. The third annual event is organized by Startup Junkie, the mission-driven organization and...

If you’re going to create something, take the time to create something the world needs. And if you take the time to do so, the world will respond positively to what you have created. That has certainly been the case for Andrew Gibbs-Dabney and his outdoor apparel...

In the first of four sessions in a marketing series presented by Cox Media, Mike Papacoda took attendees on a journey to help small business owners and entrepreneurs find their purpose for doing business.  Awaken Your Why“Small business owners work...

A collaborative workspace designed to engage the community in both work and play is coming soon to downtown Fayetteville. Likewise – the brainchild of business owners and artists Zac Trout and Mallory Berry – is a proposed collaborative coworking space full of...