Business ownership without the reckless leap

Build something of your own without giving up everything you already have.

Backbone America is a business ownership education platform for experienced professionals who are considering starting, buying, or building a business without making a reckless leap from employment.

Backbone America helps prospective business owners evaluate whether business ownership is right for them, determine whether an opportunity is feasible, understand the financial requirements, plan their path to ownership, and build systems that make the business manageable. Through practical business education, planning tools, and the Business Lab, you can work through those decisions while maintaining the life and responsibilities you have now.

 Woman considering how business ownership could fit her work and life

You can begin before you are ready to leave your job.

Wanting something of your own does not mean you have to abandon a dependable paycheck, benefits, retirement contributions, or the life you have worked years to build.

Your job can give you time to consider your options, strengthen your finances, and find out whether an opportunity can support you. Backbone America provides the structure and tools to help you do that work before the decision becomes expensive.

The Backbone America Business Lab—Build Smarter, Start Stronger

Practical support for each stage

Work through the business-ownership journey inside the Business Lab.

The Business Lab brings together courses, workbooks, planning tools, and guided activities covering business fit and feasibility, startup planning, financial decision-making, funding, and business systems.

DecideDetermine whether ownership fits and choose a direction.
PlanTest the opportunity, work through the numbers, and prepare responsibly.
BuildLaunch with a clear process and create systems that keep the business manageable.

Renee Davis, founder of Backbone America, in Mazatlán

Hi, I’m Renee Davis.

I’m a Business Process Automation Engineer, entrepreneur, and author, and previously worked as an SBDC business advisor. As a small-business advisor, I worked with nearly 200 entrepreneurs whose startup and expansion projects represented about $1.15 million in capital.

I’ve also experienced business ownership from the other side. I founded Backbone America in 2016, and my own experience as an entrepreneur helped shape how I think about ownership today. Building a business should not require unnecessarily gambling with the income, savings, and stability you have already worked to build.

That experience, along with my work in business advising and process automation, shaped Backbone America into what it is today: practical business education for people who want more control over their future and a thoughtful path into ownership.

Find Your Next Step in the Business Lab

Whether you are still evaluating business ownership, preparing to launch, or trying to make an existing business easier to manage, the Business Lab provides practical courses, tools, and step-by-step guidance to help you move forward.

EXPLORE THE BUSINESS LAB