Brandon Brooks got tired of seeing communities all over America become gentrified while leaving the citizens of these communities at a loss.
Being from Pittsburgh, PA, Brooks saw the negative effects of gentrification first hand since Pittsburgh is ranked as the 8th gentrified city in America.
Being from Pittsburgh myself, and also witnessing many of the things Brandon has spoken on in regards to this while doing my homework on his company, I decided to set up a breakfast meetup for us to discuss why he’s doing what he’s doing. And for him to tell me more about Inventrify.
It didn’t take long to see what inspired him to launch Inventrify, which is a small business crowdfunding platform, out of necessity for the small business community at large. And these particular communities affected by gentrification the most.
“I’ve seen the struggles first hand. Gentrification isn’t an inherently negative term but there are many adverse impacts if not done correctly,” Brooks plainly states while finishing his breakfast sandwich.
The barrier to entry into small business ownership can be very high. The average cost to start a business in the U.S is $30,000. Brandon recognized that obtaining a loan for startups was also very difficult and not everyone has access or the know how to tap into Venture Capitalists.
This leaves many entrepreneurs on the outside looking in when it comes to starting their business and leaves many communities vulnerable to outsiders who come in and start their own businesses within these communities.
“Starting a new business can be expensive, we all know that. The problem is that many of us don’t know the resources available that we can utilize to assist in these costs with Inventrify being one of many. So when I speak with entrepreneurs and potential business owners I always try to educate them on the plethora of resources available,” Brooks also adds.
Brandon’s solution is for communities to invest in each other and to literally, invest in your neighbor. A community is where you live. It’s where you shop. Its where you work and it’s where you raise your family. Your community is important. You want it to be safe, clean and prosperous, which is why you should absolutely invest in its wellbeing.
Brandon wraps up breakfast with this, “one thing we can all agree on is that the community we live in is one of the most important decisions we can make in our lives. Everyone wants their community to be great. What we are doing, what we’ve done is provide a tool to help make your community great. Whether you’re the entrepreneur who wants to start a business or an active member of your community who wants it to be great, we want to speak with you and we want to help.”
Inventrify breathes a breath of fresh air in the crowdfunding industry and is well on its way to becoming the GoFundMe for Small Business Owners.
Small Business ownership is not only a tool to combat gentrification in communities all across America, but it is also the number one path to creating generational wealth.
