small business ideas presentations

CEF has completed 2 out of the 6 sessions of its 2nd small business course of the summer!

The first session took place in May, and was a great success! We had five graduates, many of whom are continuing to work on their business plans and next steps one-on-one with one of our great Member Advocates! Over the six sessions, we cover topics such as business ideas, pricing, bookkeeping, marketing, and legal issues. Of course, curriculum is always slightly modified to best fit the active students’ ideas.

The second session, taking place currently, is larger with approximately fifteen students. It’s fantastic to have a class with such varied experience levels, as teaching becomes more organic, with students teaching each other along the way. Group work becomes much more effective, and when a student who is in the beginning stages of his or her business plan has the opportunity to speak with someone who has been running a small business for fifteen years, there is just so much to be learned. We hope to continue the trend of having local entrepreneurs/small business owners come and share their expertise with the class. We look forward to all the great new business ideas that will come out of this session!

Finally, I’d like to speak to how incredible and generous the JobLink Career Center has been in opening their classrooms to us for both of these Small Business classes. Many of our students are familiar and comfortable with the center, which definitely makes our job easier. Thanks to Joblink for being such a great community partner!

Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2-4pm at the JobLink Center on Franklin Street. Please feel welcome to join us.