Blazing your own path as an entrepreneur is an honorable feat, but sometimes it can be a lonely occupation.
But for Buffalo entrepreneurs, there are numerous resources to connect with others. For example, entrepreneurs can learn from others, make things, and play with technology, art, science, food, and more at a community workshop called Buffalo Lab. Buffalo Open Coffee Club is a Google group where members discuss local initiatives, national news in tech, and local events. Entrepreneurs who want to assess the viability of their startup concepts can attend the Pre-Seed Workshop sponsored by the University at Buffalo, and female entrepreneurs can tap into the resources Syracuse-based WISE Women's Business Center provides. Startup Grind, a community that is “actively educating, inspiring, and connecting 1,000,000 entrepreneurs in over 200 cities," has a local group. These programs, and many others, provide opportunities for like-minded people of varying experience to come together and share their experiences.
For more resources to help entrepreneurs connect, see Upstart NY's
resource guide.
Local collaborative working spaces, accelerators and incubators also provide opportunities for networking and sharing, and there are several in the Western New York area, including DIG Buffalo, a cross-sector coworking community that offers affordable work space, access to mentors, and opportunity for collaboration within a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem; Z80 Labs, Buffalo’s first Internet-focused technology incubator that gives entrepreneurs the ability to build new and innovative tech companies; Cowork Buffalo, a mix of social, open tables, and heads-down desks in the center of the City of Buffalo; and Harrison Place, a multiuse building that is ideal for industrial, office, or retail companies.
Working alone is not always a negative experience--in fact, many entrepreneurs have found success by making decisions on their own -- but when alone time feels more isolating than creative, remember that there is an entire entrepreneurial ecosystem in Buffalo that offers opportunities to connect.