For local entrepreneur Angela Smith, opening a restaurant has been a dream of hers since she and her husband were first married 23 years ago. They dabbled in the catering business, but a restaurant -- that's a huge step up.
The biggest barrier was money -- getting a loan with not-so-perfect credit is hard enough, let alone everything else you need to learn to get up and running
So they put it off. For more than two decades.
But in the last few years, as the kids went away to college, she and her husband, Bennie, got the itch again. It was finally time to open that restaurant.
And that's what she turned to the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Collaborative for help.
She enrolled in classes geared toward new entrepreneurs, got help developing her business plan, and finally, applied for a loan through WWBIC.
It was an exhaustive process, but worth it, she says.
Today, Daddy's Soul Food & Grille,754 N. 27th St., is pumping out fried chicken, greens, black-eyed peas, mac and cheese, and peach cobbler. But most rewarding of all, Angela says, the restaurant gives residents a place to sit down and enjoy some true home cooking.
Click the podcast player to hear from Angela herself, and follow this link to learn more about WWBIC.
