BRCEDA and Goodwill Industries offer Small Business Class
The recent recession has been tough on many areas in the United States, and Southwest Virginia is no exception. Recession-caused unemployment has combined with the region’s decade-long manufacturing decline to produce persistently high unemployment and considerable economic hardship. As part of its efforts to alleviate these conditions through supporting entrepreneurship, BRCEDA has joined with Goodwill Industries of the Valleys to offer a group of disaffected workers the chance to participate in Blue Ridge Crossroads Entrepreneurial Development and Training Program, a 9-week crash course in starting and running a small business.
In one of the defining aspects of the program, participants will work through the Blue Ridge Crossroads Small Business Development Center’s unique business planning process. Using the same method which has helped over 150 local business owners create or expand their businesses, program participants will meet one-on-one with experts in business planning, financial planning, and marketing. These sessions help them inventory their skills and learn how to turn those skills into profitable entrepreneurial ventures. At the end of the process, participants should have a complete business plan which is ready to take to prospective lenders.
Blue Ridge Crossroads entrepreneur program participants will also attend a wide variety of seminars intended to illuminate a number of business concepts. The “Core Four” seminar explains in depth four of the most important concepts involved in running a small business. Participants are taught how to recognize their skills and limitations and to plan the business around them, how to identify and chase a target market, how to assess a business’s financial potential and future, and how to conduct the day-to-day operations of a business in keeping with regulations and best practices. In another workshop, customer service experts will teach them how to forge productive relationships with their customers, earning repeat business and valuable word-of-mouth advertising.
In addition to business plan counseling and seminars, participants in the program will receive other benefits that will help them start their businesses. Counselors are available to instruct them in securing insurance and taking care of their finances. Once they finish the program, participants are eligible to receive up to a $2,000 grant, money which will help them take care of start-up expenses.
The first class of entrepreneurs are in the middle of the program currently. If the program proves successful, more classes will be enrolled. If you would like more information about the program, please contact Mandy Archer by phone at (276) 236-0391 or by e-mail at marcher@crossroadsva.org.