As a corporate attorney, Candace Klein has worked with a lot of women who own businesses. She saw many of her clients struggling to stay afloat -- maxing out personal credit cards and mixing personal and business accounts to make ends meet. "My heart went out to them," she recalls. She began researching alternative financing options and discovered a hard truth: Women have a harder time getting financing for companies than men.

So Klein decided to do something about it. In 2010, she formed her own company, Cincinnati-based Bad Girl Ventures. BGV is a localized microfinance company that educates women and helps them successfully fund their companies.

Since 2010, more than 200 businesses have applied for Klein's program, of those 125 have been educated and 18 have been financed with a total of $310,000. "Our goal is to remove as many barriers to accessing financing as possible," says Klein.

Now Klein is bringing Bad Girl Ventures to Cleveland. This October, people will be able to enroll in Klein's eight-week program to learn the basics behind running and financing a successful business. The participants will have the opportunity to compete for $25,000 in funding after completing the program.

Bad Girl Ventures will have one full time employee in its Cleveland location, while Klein will divide her time between Cincinnati and Cleveland. She hopes to have 50 applicants for the first class.

"Significant jobs will be created from our investment in these businesses," she says, adding that 37 jobs have been created in Cincinnati from the 18 companies she's helped.

Klein has gotten support from the Cleveland Foundation, the Business of Good Foundation, KeyBank and the City of Cleveland.

Source: Candace Klein
Writer: Karin Connelly