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When you think of entrepreneurship and innovation, Sacramento does not come to mind as one of the cities booming with startups. However, Sacramento has become a great city for entrepreneurship culture in recent years. This all began in 2016 when former Mayor Kevin Johnson launched two initiatives to help bring Sacramento to the playing field.
Sacramento Incentives for Entrepreneurship Culture
Those two initiatives were the Mayor’s Office for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a $10 million Innovation and Growth Fund. The first million of that money went toward MOFIE-managed RAILS program. This program allows a one-time grant to startups who focus in on acceleration, innovation, and leadership in Sacramento. It is a wonderful way to bring about more jobs, specifically tech jobs, to the city. So, in what other ways can Sacramento serve entrepreneurship culture?
Events
Sacramento houses a vibrant entrepreneurship community through various events such as business mixers, startup groups, happy hours for working professionals, and much more. All these events help facilitate talks of being an entrepreneur and the steps to get there and/or how to market your business and gain capital or more clientele.
Side Hustles
My hometown breeds the entrepreneur spirit through side hustling. Jobs such as Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, and Shipt do just that. While individuals may start these positions to gain extra income, they soon come to love the independence, flexibility, and earning power. This propels them to operate on a full-time basis.
Brand Creation
On the other hand, you have those who create their own brand in fields like cosmetics, body and skin care, fashion, gambling, and real estate services. In each of these, I have friends and family currently operating and building their business while maintaining a full-time career. One of them has since been a full-time entrepreneur for about four years now with her business being one years old.
In the end, Sacramento is slowly but surely becoming a player in this field. The economy has played a key role with the rise of rent and low minimum wage of jobs. We can all use extra money for life moments. On average individuals think, “this will yield me extra income.” Then, the next moment you are full-time entrepreneur and your “8-5” has become the side hustle from which you are retiring. Sweet deal.
Do you have any thoughts on why Sacramento is a great city for entrepreneurship culture? Let us know down in the comments.
This article originally published on GREY Journal.
