LaunchSA<\/a>, a free business resource program supported by the City of San Antonio and Geekdom, offers daily workshops, one-on-one meetings, mentorship connections and classes for anyone ready to leap into entrepreneurship.<\/p>\nAndrea Ley is proof that the program works. She launched Olla Express in 2017 with the help of LaunchSA, and what started as an idea has grown into a brand now sold at major retailers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I realized everything was free resources from this organization, I was like, \u2018Oh my God, this is something that I can take advantage of,\u201d Ley said. \u201cAnd they are gonna help me along the way \u2014 if they don\u2019t find the solutions, they are going to look for them, and that\u2019s going to help me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ley said the mentors and coaches she met through the program provided her with the confidence to push through. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I got like the courage and I started like, okay, I\u2019m going to come regularly,\u201d she said. \u201cI met so many mentors, coaches, and experts who were helping with all the questions I got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navigating a changing business landscape<\/p>\n
LaunchSA Director Matthew Espinoza said the program is especially valuable right now, as starting a business can feel more complicated than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now it seems like for small business owners or people thinking about starting a business, it can be overwhelming,\u201d Espinoza said. \u201cThere\u2019s a thousand different things that you\u2019re thinking about, especially with technology and AI \u2014 the way we\u2019re doing business is so different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ley\u2019s Caf\u00e9 de Olla is now sold at H-E-B, the Pullman Market and other locations, which is a milestone that she still finds hard to believe.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God, it\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Ley said when asked about her growth from 2017 to now. <\/p>\n
She credits the community around her for helping fuel that expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you trust your team and your community, it\u2019s like, oh, you know what, I can go and look for some other opportunities and go to other places that are looking for Caf\u00e9 de Olla,\u201d Ley said.<\/p>\n
Whether someone has a fully developed sales pitch or is simply curious about how the program works, LaunchSA\u2019s team is available at the Central Library Monday through Friday during regular business hours \u2014 all at no cost.<\/p>\n
Read also on KSAT:<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio entrepreneurs looking to start or grow a business don\u2019t have to do it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[72,191,61,60,105075],"class_list":["post-443932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-san-antonio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}