Start a New Business in Michigan

The business division of the Secretary of State’s Office helps business owners organize and register their business. Find helpful information on starting a business, technology assistance, and obtaining permits and licenses, as well as other resources for business success.

State of Michigan Business website

The Michigan SBA is supported by a main district office in Detroit as well as an additional location in Grand Rapids. They provide services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

The Detroit office serves Hillsdale, Lenawee, Monroe, Jackson, Washtenaw, Livingston, Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, Shiawassee, Genesee, Lapeer, Tuscola, Huron, Sanilac, St. Clair, Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Saginaw, Gratiot, Isabella, Midland, Bay, Arenac, Gladwin, Clare, Iosco, Ogemaw, Roscommon, Crawford, Oscoda, Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, Otsego, Cheboygan, Presque Isle, Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Wexford, Manistee, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac, Schoolcraft, Alger, Delta, Menominee, Dickinson, Marquette, Baraga, Iron, Ontonagon, Gogebic, Houghton, and Keweenaw counties.

The Grand Rapids location serves Mason, Lake, Osceola, Oceana, Newaygo, Mecosta, Muskegon, Kent, Montcalm, Ionia, Ottawa, Allegan, Barry, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Branch, St. Joseph, Cass, and Berrien counties.

An example of educational programs and events includes Veterans, Is a Franchise Right for You.

Main office:
477 Michigan Avenue
Suite 1819
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Phone: 313-226-6075

Additional location:
110 Michigan Street North West
Suite 307
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Phone: 616-456-5512

Small Business Administration SBA Michigan District website

Michigan Association for Female Entrepreneurs (MAFE) is a nonprofit organization that supports the growth and advancement of women business owners in Michigan.

MAFE provides opportunities for female entrepreneurs, in both new development and growth stages of their business, to build their entrepreneurial capacity through educational programs focused on sustainable business growth and development.

MAFE's Leadership Institute offers leadership development programs to equip entrepreneurial women with the skills needed for professional and personal growth. The Global Access Program helps women entrepreneurs access global markets, strengthen global connections, and learn about international business, trade and diplomacy.

Phone: 844-490-MAFE

Michigan Association for Female Entrepreneurs website

Great Lakes Women’s Business Council (Great Lakes WBC) is a nonprofit champion for women and minority businesses. It provides access to capital, certification for women-owned businesses, corporate contracting opportunities, and small business educational support.

Certification: Provides Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) national WBE certification to businesses owned, managed, and controlled by women who want to do business with major corporations and government entities.

CEED Lending: Provides business expansion financing, and small business loans to start-up and existing enterprises owned by women and men in nine counties of southeastern Michigan.

Women’s Business Center: Offers strategic programs for entrepreneurs, assisting them in growing their business to the next level by providing training, counseling, group mentoring, and business development opportunities.

33109 Schoolcraft Road
Livonia, Michigan 48150
Phone: 734-677-1400

Great Lakes Women’s Business Council website

Michigan Women Forward is a community development organization that expands economic opportunity, empowers the next generation, and celebrates and honors the accomplishments of Michigan women. Michigan Women Forward offers financial assistance, education, training and mentorship to ensure women’s businesses succeed.

Additional services include technical assistance, educational conferences, summits and workshops developed in partnership with colleges, universities and other organizations in the ecosystem to support all steps of entrepreneurship from ideation to launch to growth.

Detroit Office
1155 Brewery Park Boulevard
Suite 260
Detroit, Michigan 48207
Phone: 313-962-1920

Grand Rapids Office
535 Cascade West Parkway, SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546
Phone: 616-765-4230

Michigan Women Forward website

Michigan SBDC helps your Michigan small business succeed with small business consulting, tools and resources. Provided or developed by experts, each one is geared to help you with a key aspect of Michigan entrepreneurship.

Growth Services for Established Small Businesses: If you have 10 or more employees and $1 million or more in revenue, the growth team can help you further your success by strategizing and guiding your ongoing growth.

Market Research Services: Better understand your market, your target audience, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) so you can make decisions that drive interest in your products or services, improve customer loyalty, and move your business forward.

Cybersecurity Resources: You and your customers will benefit from the peace of mind that comes with understanding how to protect your Michigan small business.

Export Services: Michigan SBDC offers free export services to help you with everything from business planning to landed cost estimates.

Support for Advanced Tech Businesses: Are you a Michigan tech startup? Michigan SBDC can connect you with consultants with first-hand experience to help with funding, launching, and more.

SBDC Lead Center
Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University
50 Front Avenue SW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504

Michigan Small Business Development Center SBDC website

Ten additional Michigan SBDC offices are located throughout the state - the Capital Region Center in Lansing, the I-69 Trade Corridor Center in Flint, the Lake Huron Region Center in University Center, the Greater Washtenaw Region Center in Ann Arbor, the Mid-Michigan Region Center in Mt. Pleasant, the Northwest Region Center in Traverse City, the Southeast Region Center in Ypsilanti, the Southwest Region Center in Kalamazoo, the Upper Peninsula Region Center in Houghton, and the West Michigan Region Center in Grand Rapids.

NAWBO Greater Detroit Chapter is a chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, which is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries; with chapters across the country.

As an organization with a customer first philosophy, NAWBO:

• strengthens the wealth-creating capacity of our members and promote economic development

• creates innovative and effective changes in the business culture

• builds strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations

• transforms public policy and influence opinion makers

26677 West 12 Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan 48034
Phone 313-961-4748

National Association of women Business Owners NAWBO Greater Detroit

Ann Arbor SPARK helps you launch, grow, and locate your business in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Startup services include supporting new tech and life science companies with an entrepreneur boot camp, startup acceleration, SPARK co-working, coaching, and mentorship. Business expansion services include site selection consulting, state and local incentives, talent acquisition, industry connections, and municipality support. Services to locate commercial space include commercial listings, site selection consulting, and SPARK and incubator space. Funding services are available for idea stage, startup stage, growth stage, and mature stage.

330 East Liberty
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
Phone: 734-761-9317

Ann Arbor SPARK website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

Loans: Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

Investment capital: Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

Disaster assistance: Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

Surety bonds: Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

Grants: Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

U.S. Small Business Administration website

Invest Detroit’s small business program is committed to supporting both new and existing locally-owned businesses with loans that support operational and property needs.

Loans cover expenses such as the purchase of equipment, owner-occupied property renovations or tenant improvements, and the purchase of real estate, among others.

600 Renaissance Center
Suite 1710
Detroit, Michigan 48243
Phone: 313-259-6368

Invest Detroit website

Grow is a Community Development Financial Institution that provides responsible and accessible loans that expand economic opportunities for small business owners at every stage of their business.

Grow’s average business loan size is $8,500 and can loan up to $50,000. Here are a few of the things you can use a small business loan for:

• to purchase a food truck

• to support inventory and stocking

• to purchase equipment

• to repair equipment

• to support hiring initiatives

• to support a tech upgrade

1333 Alger Street
SE Suite #5
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507
Phone: 616-458-3404

Grow website

The Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies advances the knowledge and practice of entrepreneurship and innovation through a broad range of activities, including programs, competitions, academics, symposia, and global community outreach.

At the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, students are immersed in entrepreneurial environments where they create, lead, and shape innovative ventures.

Start: Students get the knowledge, skills, and motivation to achieve entrepreneurial success. As they are guided through the process of new venture creation, students gain transferable skills valued in any industry.

Invest: The world of venture investing operates on a different plane than conventional financing and requires special preparation. Students engage in real investment deals and learn from leaders in the venture capital ecosystem.

Lead: The Zell Lurie Institute engages students through real-world experiences leading and advising entrepreneurial organizations.

701 Tappan Avenue
R3200
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Phone: 734-615-5002

University of Michigan Ross School of Business Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies website

Whether you’re ready to dive into working on your startup idea, or you’re simply curious about plugging into the Spartan entrepreneurial community, the Burgess Institute's Discovery Program is designed to help you take your next steps.

The Discovery program is designed to give Spartan venturers the tools and resources they need to build firm foundations for their ideas and early startups. Once fully researched and the Discovery program completed, entrepreneurs ready to take their startups to market can apply to pitch to gain entrance into the Burgess Institute's highly competitive Launch program. If accepted into Launch, founders will receive greater access to tailored services, concentrated mentorship, as well as funding opportunities.

Business College Complex
632 Bogue Street
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Phone: 517-355-8377

Michigan State University Eli Broad College of Business Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation website

Corp! Magazine is a nationwide business publication dedicated to business owners and C-Suite leaders. The publication provide breaking business news, legislative news and guidelines, best practices, and economic trends — everything a CEO needs to know. Corp! Magazine is a certified WBENC woman-owned business.

Corp! independently offers business-to-business connections across Michigan and partners with MichBusiness and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.

719 Griswold Street
Suite 630
Detroit, Michigan 48226
Phone: 586-393-8815

Corp! Magazine website

DBusiness is Detroit's premier business journal. DBusiness currently has more than 31,000 subscribers and is sold at over 300 local news stands.

5750 New King Drive
Suite 100
Troy, Michigan 48098
Phone: 248-691-1800

DBusiness Magazine website

As the voice of business in the 11-county Southeast Michigan Region, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s mission along with its magazine, Detroiter, is to create a business-friendly climate and drive economic growth. It advocates for policy at all levels of government from Detroit to Lansing to Washington, D.C. In pushing for increased economic prosperity, they conduct the Region’s most robust education and talent programming and MICHauto — the only statewide automotive industry cluster.

They are the state’s premier business convener hosting more than 60 events annually including the nationally unique Mackinac Policy Conference.

One Woodward Avenue
Suite 1900
Detroit, Michigan 48226

Detroiter Magazine website