The LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, in partnership with Abôve Consulting, is offering our Entrepreneur Training Program, a nine-week training program where a group of entrepreneurs from new or existing businesses serving the San Francisco leather and kink communities work as a cohort in a mutually supportive environment to develop their respective businesses from the ground up. The next cohort of the Entrepreneur Training Program will be held soon.
In this program, participants will learn about customer discovery, marketing, finance, operations, business strategy, and business presentation. Through group sessions and one-on-one consultations, they will also learn how to formalize and register their business, understand permit and licensing requirements, and access valuable entrepreneurial resources. At the end of the nine-week program, participants will present their business plans to a panel of local business leaders, experts, and potential funders.
We are looking for entrepreneurs who have a strong connection with the Leather Community and SOMA.
1. Plan to establish a storefront in the SOMA area or start a business serving the Leather Community.
2. Plan to sell products or provide services in SOMA through a permanent location or pop-up events.
3. Plan to sell products or provide services through existing SOMA businesses serving the Leather Community.
Our program was founded in 2022. The next cohort will begin in the Spring of 2025. Applicants will receive an invitation to attend a 30-minute introductory session.
Read the Bay Area Reporter’s coverage on 11/30/2022 and 1/11/2024.
View a list of our Entrepreneur Program graduates.
Questions? Please contact: business@sflcd.org.
The Entrepreneur Training Program is led by Eddie Tang, Founder and Principal Consultant of Abôve Consulting, the program’s education partner. Over the past 12 years, Eddie has supported approximately 1,000 small businesses throughout the San Francisco Bay Area through entrepreneur training programs, one-on-one consulting, workshops, and accelerator initiatives. He currently also manages the entrepreneurship program for the SF LGBT Center and has led several entrepreneurship initiatives, including the Kickstart Your Business at 50+ program. Eddie received his MBA from the University of San Francisco and worked in the financial industry for approximately ten years before founding Abôve Consulting.