National Small Business Week Recap
Brandon Andrews
Entrepreneur | Innovative Business Consultant | Business + Entertainment Producer | Global Keynote Speaker + Host
During National Small Business Week 2025, I hosted three virtual and in-person events with entrepreneurs around the country. These days, I get three big questions from entrepreneurs...
The NSBW sessions gave small business owners an opportunity to work on AI ideas + challenges, and learn strategies to get capital ready, and get tips for manufacturing products from industry experts.
Recaps of what we learned from Peter Danenberg , Daniel Taylor , and Rahama Wright and links to the full conversations are included below.
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Massive numbers of new businesses have been started in the United States in the past five years. Several successive years have seen record business formation. America’s 30 million+ small businesses employ more than 65 million people, spark innovation in every community, and generate the lion’s share of net new jobs each year. Yet behind every success story lies a set of challenges—from harnessing cutting-edge technology to securing the right financing and finding the perfect production partner.
1. AI for Small Business: Insights with Peter Danenberg
Background: Peter Danenberg, Senior AI Egineer at Google DeepMind , drew on his years of experience translating advanced research into tools for startups and SMEs. He highlighted several common challenges that AI can address for small businesses.
Highlights:
“One of them is called data segmentation… once you’ve done that, all of a sudden the AI comes in for the rote tasks, and you can have a real conversation with the numbers.”
Clustering customers or transactions unlocks personalized marketing, fraud detection, and trend analysis with minimal coding.
“Platform innovation… where the LLM can play that sort of natural-language function call… and embed directly into customer-facing features."
Embedding LLMs into apps—from chatbots to recommendation engines—lets small teams deliver sophisticated features without a full engineering staff.
“The most interesting problem was the scale of the human type… you can’t replace people, but you can personalize at scale.”
AI-driven, individualized follow-ups and dynamic content make every customer feel like a VIP.
Final Lesson:
Start with a narrow use case, prototype in days using off-the-shelf models, gather real-world feedback, then iterate. This rapid cycle transforms AI from a buzzword into a growth engine for your business.
Read the full recap here:
2. Small-Biz Financing: Strategies with Daniel Taylor
Background: Daniel Taylor is CEO of BAGS, a platform helping entrepreneurs clean up their books, access debt products, and scale responsibly—drawing on his experience bootstrapping, raising venture rounds, and facilitating financing for hundreds of businesses.
Highlights:
“What does success mean to you in the short, medium, and long term?”
Mapping revenue targets and milestones ensures you seek the right amount and type of capital.
“Eighty percent of lender underwriting is spent cleaning up financial documents. If your docs aren’t in order, you’ll get denied.”
Produce monthly P&Ls, balance sheets, and cash-flow statements; reconcile every transaction to build lender confidence.
Q&A Nugget: When asked about funding in uncertain times, Daniel advised modeling your cost structure under stress scenarios—e.g., “If you’re generating $500K in revenue, multiply that by 1.2—that’s roughly your ceiling for debt financing”—then plan your runway accordingly .
Final Lesson:
Cultivate relationships well before you need money. Clean books and trusted connections with banks, CDFIs, and investors are your best runway insurance in 2025’s volatile markets.
Watch the full conversation here:
3. Right-Sized Manufacturing: Guidance from Rahama Wright
Background: Rahama Wright, founder of Shea Yeleen and CEO of Yeleen Beauty Maker Space, built an ethical beauty brand sourcing shea butter from West Africa and manufacturing products on retail shelves. She also built the Yeleen Makerspace an American manufacturing facility purpose built to serve entrepreneurs with lower minimum order quantities.
Highlights:
“Don’t sign on that dotted line until you’ve actually seen the space and know its capabilities.”
“What are their procedures and processes? How much testing do they do in-house vs. externally?”
Understanding QA protocols—microbiology, stability, shelf life—protects your brand reputation.
“It can’t be just ‘you send orders, they ship ’em.’ Find a partner who understands your growth plans and offers open communication.”
Tariff-Proofing Tip:
“I expect the trend toward local manufacturing partners to rise…local governments are investing in maker communities.”
Final Lesson:
Control your supply chain with right-sized, local production and robust QA so you can flex around tariffs, shipping delays, and global shocks.
Watch the full conversation here:
Beyond National Small Business Week
With record entrepreneurship reshaping our economy, we must build an ecosystem where every founder can:
By weaving together AI innovation, sound financing, and agile manufacturing, and by heeding these sector-specific insights—small businesses can seize 2025’s dynamic opportunities and drive sustainable growth in communities across the nation.
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Director @ Kettering Foundation | BPIA President | Lecturer @ Cornell | Senior Fellow @ Atlantic Council | AI Enthusiast | Founder | Strategist | Connector for Good | Building a More Peaceful and Harmonious World
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