Daniel Guerra Jr. must have been a juggler in another life because in this one, he’s running two businesses for himself and an incubator/accelerator program for the Madison Black Chamber of Commerce. Guerra, the operator of Altus Inc. and SDM Analytics, has been retained to build the technology backbone and run the state-funded chamber program, and his passion for entrepreneurship is on full display with each venture.
Altus, which is transitioning into a venture-capital studio, is the company that is helping BIPOC-run (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) businesses reach higher levels. Funded by a $3.6 million state grant, the incubator/accelerator program completed spring and fall sessions in 2023 and is looking to do the same in 2024. In all, 52 local businesses have “graduated” from the program so far, and portfolio companies are armed with more than a boilerplate business plan.
Still, many of the components of a typical business plan are addressed in this program. “Everybody talks about a business plan, but in reality most business plans are never executed,” Guerra states. “What we do is … go in depth and talk about financing, business operations, marketing, sales, customer service, and customer discovery, and we figure out what they can do better.”
The program is focused on south-central Wisconsin, and the majority of portfolio businesses are not startups — they are established local retail businesses that are trying to get to the next level of business performance. One company in the 2023 portfolio is Gem Mint Floor Care operated by Matthew Ayala, who was a facility custodian with the Madison Metropolitan School District before realizing that he could turn his skills into a business. “He’s seeing awesome month-over-month growth on revenue, which is what we’re shooting for,” Guerra notes.
Through September, the two-year program itself had $4.2 million of annualized economic impact. That’s not bad for a program run on $300,000 annually, including about $270,000 invested into portfolio companies in the form of websites, accounting services, sales coaching, and other services. A 10-times return on investment bodes well for 2024 and the potential for funding beyond that.
“What’s good is that it’s a first-of-its-kind of program to stand up for BIPOC communities,” Guerra notes. “If you look at other programs, nobody really focuses on BIPOC communities, and we’re doing it here. A lot of folks look at BIPOC and say, ‘We have to provide a handout to help those folks.’ Actually not. These are business owners. They’re proud, they’re doing what they need to do, and they’re creating economic impact.”
