Richmond resident Amos Louis learned years ago how to paint homes and fix up buildings, but turning those skills into a successful, growing business was a new challenge he faced several years ago.
Born in Haiti, Louis had lived in a slew of cities before coming to the Bay Area from Florida years ago. He had picked up different jobs over the years, from jewelry making on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley to light construction work. But without a steady career, it was difficult to make a stable living, and he struggled financially. When he started his own handyman and painting business about five years ago, he didn’t even have a car, having to travel by bicycle and pick up whatever tools he could.
That’s why, after he had started picking up handyman and painting jobs on his own, the Richmond branch of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center — a nonprofit that provides business training and access to funding for low- to moderate-income people who are starting or growing small businesses — caught his eye as he passed it every day on his way to work.
For Louis, who went through the Renaissance center’s business-training courses and continues to attend workshops and use resources there, the center in Richmond has been a game-changer. He’s growing his business in the Richmond area, working on larger projects than before, and is able to hire staff to help him.
“The information that I got (there) really elevated my business,” Louis said. “Having a purpose — a business plan.”
Louis had already obtained a license from the state and started ADF Handyman and Painting LLC in 2013. But he wanted more support to help develop the business.
He attended a multiweek training class at the center that taught entrepreneurs about finances, marketing strategies and technology he could use for his business. He learned how to use software programs like QuickBooks, for example, and built connections with other entrepreneurs in his industry with whom he can collaborate or share business.
The Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center has received funding this year from Share the Spirit, an annual holiday campaign that serves needy residents in the East Bay. The grant is administered by the Contra Costa Crisis Center, and donations support programs of more than 40 nonprofit agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.
Louis is one of many entrepreneurs who have turned to Renaissance in its three decades in business, said Brett Sweet, director of the Richmond location.
In 2016, Renaissance worked with more than 1,700 people in the Bay Area who launched and grew more than 650 sustainable businesses and created and retained more than 1,200 jobs.
The nonprofit helps people obtain small business loans, provides meeting and office rental space, and offers intensive training classes and workshops across its locations in Richmond, East Palo Alto and San Francisco.
It is geared toward communities of people with low and moderate incomes who may not have other resources to help with starting a business. People often have skills in a particular trade or industry that are grounds for a good business but need help with the business management, Sweet said. It could be hard, for example, for someone who is a good cook or chef to start a restaurant or catering business without the business know-how.
“We help fill in those gaps,” Sweet explained.
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses are collectively a powerful economic engine. SBA data show that small businesses make up the majority of businesses in California, and 49.2 percent of California employees are small business employees. Across the United States, small businesses accounted for 61.8 percent of net new jobs from the first quarter of 1993 until the third quarter of 2016.
Louis, for his part, hopes his own business can strengthen the economic fabric of Richmond. He wants to work with programs like RichmondBUILD (a public-private program training low-income people in renewable energy and construction fields) to offer training and employment through his company. He has big plans for growth. He wants to have a warehouse location and employ between 35 and 100 workers doing commercial and residential painting and handyman work, he said.
Louis wants to provide other people with the inspiration and guidance that he said helped him to develop his business, and he wants to help Richmond build its small business community full of diverse entrepreneurs and companies.
It’s hard, Louis said, for low-income people to not only build businesses but to envision themselves as business owners. He would know. He said he could not imagine having a successful career until a business owner who gave him work years ago noticed his talent for construction and urged him to get a license. Then, the training at Renaissance helped him realize the potential and learn the business skills.
Even as family members and friends expressed doubt about Louis starting a business, he credits the center for inspiring him to think bigger and grow the company. And he was happy to prove his doubters wrong.
“If you have a good idea, there’s got to be an outlet for it,” Louis said. “(Renaissance Center) gave me an outlet. … It was the key to success.”
