Let's Save Michigan

November 06, 2009

How I Started My Business for Under a Grand

 By Julielyn Gibbons, founder of i3 Strategies

In Michigan during 2009, the term ‘economic prosperity' doesn't usually come to mind. In my family, it meant the past twelve months had been a time that had seen more relatives laid off in their various jobs than were working. We were hearing more about bailouts and plants closing than profit margins or stories of success. And as crazy as it might have seemed, all I could think about was quitting my steady job with good benefits to start my own business.

Over the last several years I had been working in a field that was still relatively new, still hard to describe to others, but it had brought me success and new opportunities. It meant I was doing something I loved that made a difference for others. It also meant lucrative job offers from around the country, from Washington D.C. to the East and West coasts.

But Michigan was my home. It was where I was born and raised, it was the state I had fought for and the state I loved. I knew that things would turn around, and more importantly, that I wanted to be a part of that change.

East Lansing's Technology Innovation Center situated above the Barnes and Noble on Grand River across from Michigan State's campus

As yet another family member's job was threatened; I knew it was time to act. With less than a thousand dollars, a hope, a prayer and a dream, I gave my two weeks notice and set out to start my small business, planning on running it out of my home.

Not long after, I was approached by Jeff Smith of the City of East Lansing. He told me about this business incubator where I could set up shop, have access to conference rooms, a shared copier/printer/fax, business mentoring services, parking and my own space directly across from the campus of Michigan State University - all for less than a couple hundred dollars a month.

The Technology Innovation Center (TIC) was an incubator for technology start-ups and has been vital to my company's success. It's an incubator that's seemingly doubled as an insulator. Every one of the fifteen businesses in here are thriving and the possibilities for collaboration are never-ending. Some have already grown so much, they're ready for bigger space outside, allowing those of us inside to grow as well.

The hip and swanky interior of the nationally recognized Technology Innovation Center

Despite growing up in Metro Detroit, Mid-Michigan has been my home for the last eight years. I came here to go to school and fell in love with the area. As a diverse hotbed of a truly creative class, the region is led by young, smart and global thinkers who understand that we must become a reinvented state, investing in our education, infrastructure like fiber optic cable, the arts, and small businesses.

As an entrepreneur, it's an environment that's reinforced my decision to make a serious commitment to investing in Michigan's people, businesses and communities. I know it's also allowed me to enter my six month as a business owner more successful than I had ever imagined. Some might call staying in Michigan risky, but I call it one of the smartest decisions I've ever made.

East Lansing was recently named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Best College Towns to Start a Business” thanks to efforts like the Technology Innovation Center 

The Let's Save Michigan campaign would love to hear your story of how you've started a new company, improved your community or somehow challenged the national perceptions of Michigan. Tell us your story and we'll share it with others.