Accelerator Program Helps Business Owners Build Bankability

Kyra Hardwick is the founder of The Kyra Company, a full-service business development and organizational management consulting firm, that has partnered with JP Morgan Chase & Co., for Black Professional Entrepreneurs Resurgence® Accelerator program. Photo provided by Kyra Hardwick.
Kyra Hardwick is the founder of The Kyra Company, a full-service business development and organizational management consulting firm, that has partnered with JP Morgan Chase & Co., for Black Professional Entrepreneurs Resurgence® Accelerator program. Photo provided by Kyra Hardwick.

 Accelerator Program Helps Business Owners Build Bankability

By Tia Carol Jones

Kyra Hardwick founded the Kyra Company eight years ago because she wanted to help build businesses, build people and help them with their profitability. The Kyra Company has found a way to engage business owners around a holistic approach in building their business.

The full-service business development and organizational management consulting firm has partnered with JP Morgan Chase & Co. for the Black Professional Entrepreneurs Resurgence® Accelerator. Fifteen  Chicago-based business owners have participated in a six-week cohort.

Hardwick has been on the operational side of businesses for 25 years. She also about the methodology and mechanics of running a business. She started working with start-ups and hopefuls. She spent a year and a half learning how to work directly with people. Once she figured out what she needed most as an entrepreneur, she was able to create The CEO Performance Manager, a business development program. It measures the performance of businesses through a review system that helps businesses assess how they are meeting the needs of their customers.

During the accelerator program, business owners learn operations skills that will build capacity and bankability, increase supply readiness,  they will be able to take their businesses to the next stage of growth.

Hardwick is able to connect with the business owners as people and help them build their dreams. The business owners that were chosen for the accelerator program have been in operation for at least one year and have an annual revenue of $250,000. The cohort includes Angie Hancock & Associates, Atled Financial LLC, Burst into Books, Dyrrah Christon LLC, Envisions Design & Development, GQ Gentlemen, Iridium Clothing Co., Mintex, Practice Management Consultants, LLC, Rampro Facilities Services Corp., Red Flag Mania, Salubrious, Sunshine Enterprises, True Believers Community Connections and Zita Cooks.

“We wanted to create an opportunty for those emerging business owners now that have growth stage organizations to actually participate in the program,” she said.

Hardwick said the end goal is for the business owners to walk away from the program with the access to capital, gain the collaborative partnerships they need and the ability to build more, so they can do more business, and they can go into greater corporate opportunities. She also hopes the business owners can go from somewhat knowledgable about operational finance to very knowledgeable about it, and they can create a forecast for their incoming year.

The mission of the Black Professional Entrepreneurs Resurgence® Accelerator program is to create a sustainable, small business sector with Black business professionals who are building a legacy for their families and their communities, but they can also teach and increase the capacity of their colleagues.

“No matter the color of their skin, access to information should be available to them. The end goal is to make sure we are smarter, we’re much more aware, we have access to resources. They have tangible tools that they receive in this program and they have valuable relationships they can continue to build on,” she said.

Hardwick said that The Kyra Company can run the program at any time. She said Chicago will have access to the program and the version of it that will come.

For more information about JP Morgan Chase & Co., visit www.jpmorganchase.com. For more information about The Kyra Company, visit www.thekyracompany.com.

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