About the Project
Since 2019, students from the Ross School of Business have provided free, one-on-one financial coaching and accounting help to Detroit small businesses through the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP). Student accounting consultants meet business owners on-site at four different community partner organizations in Detroit’s neighborhoods. They help entrepreneurs use accounting software, prepare financial projections, and apply for funding.
$4000 pays for FOUR accounting consultants to travel to/from Detroit each week and meet with 48 businesses for ONE MONTH. In the last year, Ross students have helped businesses unlock more than $200k in capital, allowing those businesses to scale and create good jobs.
DNEP accounting consultants emerge with invaluable consulting experience working with real clients, a network of mission lenders and U-M alumni, and exposure to all that Detroit has to offer. Businesses gain capacity and long-term thought partnership as they grow.
Mission Statement
The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) supports the creation of anchor businesses in Detroit neighborhoods by helping local businesses scale, while providing U-M students with life-changing consulting experiences.
Through long-term relationships and effective sequencing, DNEP connects Detroit small businesses with faculty-supervised student teams to work through entrepreneurs’ legal, financial, marketing, operational, design, and technology challenges. Students gain professional experience and come to know and love Detroit; business owners gain access to data and capacity that allows them to become more profitable and efficient, and to create good jobs in the City.
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