Reda Hicks, GotSpot, Inc.

GotSpot is an Airbnb-style platform for sharing all kinds of commercial space. We’re a marketplace where businesses that have space, and businesses that only occasionally need space, find one another. With GotSpot, Main Street businesses are a space resource for entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs are a new source of revenue for local businesses. We’re leveraging technology to unlock the value of the built environment, grow local businesses, and build community resilience.

There is a misalignment at the bottom of the small-business pyramid that GotSpot is working to solve, so that all kinds of businesses can thrive. On the one hand, picture Main Street, filled with all kinds of brick-and-mortar gems—restaurants, gyms, galleries, and storefronts. These businesses have always served as the backbone of a community; they make neighborhood streets safer, give back to their communities, and contribute significantly to the local tax base. But Main Street is hurting, facing rising rents, coupled often with static or falling revenue.

On the other hand, there’s a large and growing economy that is effectively home-based. Whether it’s non-profits that can’t justify overhead, businesses powered by a remote workforce, or the rapidly growing freelance population, millions of businesses are making the choice not to keep monthly commercial space. Yet this choice is limiting in its own way—if opportunity knocks, and space can’t be found to facilitate it, opportunity is lost.

GotSpot provides a way for these two kinds of businesses to find one another and grow together. We’re recession-proofing Main Street by making it the home of entrepreneurship, putting an exponent on all kinds of community businesses.