Helping Small Businesses Grow

This post is part of the work I am doing with U.S. Cellular.

I love great small businesses and try to support them as much as I can. Recently while in Owatonna, Minnesota I placed an order with one of my favorite small businesses, Prairie Dairy. They make the most wonderful cheeses through their own small family business.

I’ve told you before that the cheese is amazing and it is. If you’re interested here’s Pam’s email…prairiedairy55060@yahoo.com. Tell her the crazy lady in Iowa sent you!! She’ll know it’s me. There isn’t a cheese I don’t love.

Anyway…back to small businesses. U. S. Cellular loves small businesses. If you own one, you can sign up for a business account through them and get some wonderful discounts and benefits. Many of the local farmers around here have business lines and enjoy that benefit.

U. S. Cellular is doing even more to help out small businesses. They recently teamed up with the popular television show “Shark Tank” in an effort to support small businesses who are making their pitch to the “sharks”.

The first phase of the partnership included Casting Calls, which took place over the over the past few months, where U.S. Cellular provided access to the prime time show via a casting tour exclusively in their footprint, giving small businesses the opportunity to pitch their business, product or idea for a chance to appear before the Sharks on Shark Tank, airing on national TV.

The second phase is the sweepstakes, open for entry now. This sweepstakes will provide customers in the U.S. Cellular footprint the opportunity to gain unprecedented access to the casting call process, hear tips and advice from other small business owners. One lucky winner will win an exclusive behind-the-scenes Shark Tank experience, which includes a VIP seat during the entire pitch process in LA, lunch with the casting team and opportunities to engage the Sharks throughout the day to ask any burning questions, including how he/she can further their business if the winner is a business owner.

Along with the Sweepstakes, consumers can visit American’s Back Bone to view custom content that will cover both a behind-the-scenes look at the Shark Tank casting process (what Casting Calls are like, what it takes to make a great pitch), what happens after you get funded, along with stories and advice from real entrepreneurs we met at our Casting Calls (about their businesses, the obstacles they’re facing, what they’re looking for from the Sharks).

U.S. Cellular champions small business owners and wants to offer them access to tools to help them be successful. To sign up, for a chance to fly to L.A. and be a part of the shark tank experience visit ShadowSharkTank.com. I’ve always thought it would be intriguing to see the happenings behind the scenes. Winners will be selected between 11/1-11/14 and the announcement will be between 11/17-11/21

I think it’s great that U.S. Cellular is supporting small businesses…after all, every big business started out small, and it’s business that keeps the economy growing!