Is your goal to own your very own small business, business opportunity or franchise, but you’d like a much-needed pep talk before you jump in?  Or, are you looking for ways that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) might be able to help you along the way?

Small Business Owners Speak is a new online platform created by the SBA to highlight the success stories of small business owners nationwide. It provides a forum for aspiring entrepreneurs to hear firsthand from their already established peers about their experiences in starting and growing a small business. It also showcases the many ways that SBA is helping entrepreneurs with everything from startup loans to disaster recovery and everything in between.

Visitors to the Small Business Owners Speak website click on an interactive map to access short videos from small business owners around the country whose contributions provide much needed insight and inspiration to others who want to follow in their footsteps.

Initially comprising the eligible submissions from this year’s National Small Business Week Video contest, Small Business Owners Speak is now open to other entrepreneurs who have a success story they would like to share. More information about the video submission process can be found as well.