Michael Irving has a passion for helping young people, especially low-income and disadvantaged youth in the Detroit metropolitan area.
That passion led Irving to pursue business start-up training at the ACCESS Growth Center in Dearborn. After attending eight months of classes through the Growth Center’s Immigrant Entrepreneur Program, Irving is preparing to open IrvTech, a hardware company that leases Ipads, interactive whiteboards and laptops, among other products, to area schools for use in the classroom.
“I knew what I wanted to do in terms of starting a business. The challenge I faced was locating my target customer base; I didn’t really know where to start,” Irving said.
After learning about the Immigrant Entrepreneur Program through a friend, Irving said he decided to enroll in the program’s IGNITE advanced business training course. The course helps immigrant entrepreneurs and other business-minded individuals develop marketing, branding and customer service plans, while connecting them with financial resources, investors and support from local industry representatives.
“My goal from the beginning was to develop an operational system and really start moving forward with a plan to open my own business,” he said. “Throughout the training, my instructors challenged me to look closer at my plan and to focus on adding value to the business and not just on making money.”
Irving said since attending the IGNITE course, he has gained valuable confidence to move out of his comfort zone and actively seek clients and investors.
“Since coming to ACCESS, I love that I can now better understand what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur,” he said.
Irving said his future plans include working with youth to make a positive impact across Southeast Michigan.
ACCESS Growth Center instructors are currently working with Irving to register his business with the State of Michigan through a start-up clinic the Center will offer in May.
For more information about the ACCESS Growth Center, email Hassan Bazzi at hbazzi@accesscommunity.org.
