Capital + Technology + Advice = Impact

At Next Street, we’re proud to celebrate the incredible contributions of small businesses and entrepreneurs in our network during Small Business Week.

One of the most critical factors in a small business’s success is access to capital. Over our 20-year history, we’ve seen how securing the right funding can be a game changer. But finding capital is only part of the equation—many entrepreneurs lack the tools and guidance to identify, vet, and pursue the funding options that are best suited to their unique needs.

That’s why capital, personalized advice, and technology function as a three-legged stool in the programs we’ve run across the country—each one essential to supporting small businesses. We’ve seen that businesses receiving tailored advising are 14 times more likely to successfully secure funding. And by leveraging technology, we’ve shortened the time it takes to connect a business with the right resource from eight weeks and multiple conversations to just 20 minutes. When these three elements work together, they create a stable foundation for entrepreneurs to pursue capital more confidently and efficiently.

To honor this week, we sat down with two inspiring entrepreneurs—Lisa Douglas Doe of Aspen Security and Farah Cine of LO-FI Cafe—who accessed funding through NYC Funds Finder, a platform powered by our Next Street Scale technology. Developed by the NYC Department of Small Business Services in partnership with Next Street, NYC Funds Finder is designed to make it easier for small business owners to explore a curated range of funding options and connect with trusted advisors who can guide them through the process.

In our conversations, both entrepreneurs emphasized the value of being matched with a curated list of capital options—both loans and grants—and the ease of quickly scheduling an appointment with an advisor to choose the one that best aligned with their goals. Their stories are a testament to the power of combining technology with human support to help small businesses advance along their capital readiness journey—where advisors can assess needs, strengthen applications, and guide them through the funding process to secure the funding they need to ultimately grow and thrive.

Please check out our conversations below:

Farrah Cine
LO-FI Cafe

Lisa Douglass-Doe
Aspen Security