Are you an entrepreneur? A small business owner? An artist? An activist? A new or growing nonprofit? If you have an idea that is ready to be explored, or if you have already started and you're searching for clarity in marketing and a fuller understanding of running a successful venture, CO.STARTERS is for YOU. The one essential element is that you have a concept that you are ready and willing to share and grow in a collaborative environment. CO.STARTERS is a program that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships, and tools needed to turn their business ideas into action. Unlike traditional platforms, it applies the lean business model methods popular with high-growth startups to businesses of all kinds. Learn the ins and outs of how to turn a passion into a sustainable and thriving small business.
Spring 2026 Cohort
Mondays April 22- June 22
6 pm - 9 PM
Create Birmingham Offices
Facilitator: Scott Pierce
Registration: $100 and includes all materials
CO.STARTERS is an action-driven, collaborative process with a small and supportive group of like-minded people. Led by a facilitator who is an experienced entrepreneur, you’ll identify your assumptions about why and how your businesses will work and then talk to customers in order to validate your ideas. This approach enables you to rapidly uncover flaws in your concept and find viable models more quickly. You’ll leave the program with a deeper understanding of how to create a sustainable business, articulate your model, and repeat the process with your next great idea. Participants receive one-on-one time with the facilitators, support from Create Birmingham staff during and post-graduation, membership in the alumni network, and access to the CO.STARTERS Graduate Resources.
CO.STARTERS SPOTLIGHT
Creative Communities:
Fueling Birmingham's Communities Through Creative Enterprise
In 2026 Create Birmingham will partner with City of Birmingham’s Department of Community Development on Creative Communities, a year long initiative designed to equip Birmingham-based artists, creative entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders with the skills, tools, and real-world experience needed to compete for and successfully execute municipal contracts and community development projects. By intentionally integrating creative entrepreneurship with targeted creative placemaking, this program aims to strengthen the local creative ecosystem while advancing equitable, community-driven solutions to challenges facing under-resourced neighborhoods. Through a structured sequence of CO.STARTERS cohorts, Business of Creating workshops, and Create Consults, participants will build their business acumen, financial readiness, and proposal-writing capacity.
Birmingham residents living in the 35218, 35208, or 35207 zip codes are eligible to participate in the CO.STARTERS program at no cost. For more information, please email hello@createbirmingham.org.
