313 Business Launch Pad

Inspiration Starting a business in Detroit often feels overwhelming — permits, licensing, funding, and compliance can stop great ideas before they launch. We wanted to create a simple tool that removes friction and helps small business owners focus on their vision, not paperwork.

What It Does 313 Business Launch Pad is an AI-powered assistant that helps Detroit entrepreneurs:

Create clear, modern estimates for clients and proposals

Navigate permits, licenses, and compliance steps

Discover funding opportunities like Motor City Match or the Detroit Startup Fund

Connect with local business hubs and support services

How We Built It We combined:

Custom GPT workflows to gather project details and generate professional estimates

Local data + resources from Detroit’s permitting guides and funding programs

Simple UI mockups for a future web tool where entrepreneurs can track their launch steps

Challenges We Ran Into Making city permit processes easy to understand without oversimplifying legal requirements

Balancing general GPT capabilities with Detroit-specific resources

Designing workflows that feel natural for both tech-savvy founders and first-time entrepreneurs

Accomplishments That We’re Proud Of A functional GPT that can generate estimates quickly for small business projects

Mapping out Detroit’s key funding and permitting resources into a single tool

Creating a recognizable Detroit-centric brand and logo (rocket with the “D”)

What We Learned Entrepreneurs need guidance as much as tools — local context is critical

Permitting is still a big barrier, but breaking it down step-by-step makes it approachable

Branding matters: people connect with something that feels Detroit-made and for Detroiters

What’s Next for 313 Business Launch Pad Building a web dashboard that integrates permitting checklists, funding deadlines, and estimate generation in one place

Partnering with Detroit Means Business and Motor City Match to link directly into city support services

Expanding the tool to cover health, retail, and tech startups with tailored playbooks

Adding multi-language support to reach more Detroit entrepreneurs