I have been learning a little bit about the U.S. Cooperative Extension System, as well as other programs designed to assist farmers and rural communities create and sustain viable businesses. Each state's land grant university hosts an Extension program to provide research-based advisory services for anyone, geared toward rural and agricultural endeavors, with offices in counties throughout the state. My interest was piqued by the The University of Tennessee Extension program called MANAGE, which "helps families analyze their total farming business." It made me wonder, why is something like this not more prominent for businesses in urban areas?
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture says that when the Extension system was originally created by Congress, more than half of the population lived in rural areas. The MANAGE program helps farm families look at their financial plans, potential capital investments, "the likely consequences of changing the scope of enterprises," and other areas to help ensure success in a business as challenging as farming. I am not sure of the number of farmers who participate, but if I was a farmer, I would be eager to take part. The benefits of such advice for existing businesses all over the state seem obvious. The gap between entrepreneurship education and a full business degree was what I wanted to see filled by something local, affordable, and with a very similar scope to the MANAGE program before I even knew that program existed. Businesses in any area--rural, urban, or suburban--can benefit from assistance with marketing, risk management, planning, and many other things a farm business must master to be successful.
Then, suddenly, I remembered SCORE and the Small Business Administration. Services DO exist for businesses in urban areas, for little to no cost. SCORE has the same sorts of seminars, webinars, workshops, and other information as the Extension available for anyone with web access, and their offices are located within large population centers. The resources are out there, but the for-profit entrepreneurship programs and business degree programs seem to take precedence, drown them out, diminish their market presence. Knowing these things exist, though, keeps me from working so hard to convince someone to reinvent the wheel and further convinces me that my writing and advocacy could be the best thing I could do to improve the lives of others. Maybe instead of my creating something new, I should write about and highlight the services that already exist. I wonder, is there an app for that?
Showing posts with label business training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business training. Show all posts
12 June 2013
26 October 2012
Lacuna Kinship: Business Education for the Masses
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| Fall into the gap. |
I am raising money for tuition for Lipscomb University's Master's program in Civic Leadership, for which I have been accepted for attendance in Fall 2013. OK, I was accepted for this fall, but they deferred my enrollment so I can continue to avoid student loans and convince the world to help me move forward. The degree will culminate in my launching a community education program to fill the gap (or lacuna) left between job readiness programs and entrepreneurship programs.
My version of community business education will offer relevant, affordable information to people who may never be able to afford college, but who want to start businesses or simply learn more about how businesses are run so they can become stronger, more valuable employees. The courses will appeal to those who are seeking more than basic software or resume-writing skills, and make available the preliminary education that would precede more advanced information offered by incubators or college programs. Anyone can start a business, but not everyone knows how to run a business well. The goal will be to inspire people in underserved and low income areas to achieve unprecedented success within existing or new companies, creating jobs and brighter futures for their children.
The benefits of my own education at Lipscomb will be connections to community leaders, skills and resources in leadership, and a structured development format. I will continue to research and develop my idea throughout the next year, so if I do not raise the full tuition for Lipscomb, the community may still be served whether I'm able to pursue a master's degree or not. However, an investment in my education becomes an investment in the economic viability of those who want to succeed in business but lack the resources to take the next step.
It's going to be a Lacuna Kinship: bringing people together within a gap of resources and education.
Now to stick a donate button on my blog, 'cause GoFundMe's WePay system wants me to grant them a lein on whatever bank account I associate with the funding page, so they can hold a reserve--any reserve they deem appropriate--of funds. Yeah, that's not happening.
01 August 2012
Will Anyone Care?
It's the question that venture capitalists ask before funding a new venture. It's the question that incubators ask before inviting someone into their entrepreneur program. It's the question every potential new business should be able to answer before their launch. So when I'm having trouble answering that question myself, is it a sign?
It's a sign that I'm not getting the financial support here to know--and that other people are probably asking themselves--is anybody going to care if they can attend community business education classes in their neighborhood? Speaking with people, I get resounding support from anyone who has ever had a bad business dealing. That doesn't mean, though, that people are going to take an evening away from home to attend a seminar, or put up the money to attend a series of classes. A recent article in The Tennessean talked about the shrinking budget of the Nashville Community Education Commission (which is government funded) and that many people thought the Commission had dissolved. Ugh. That is not a good sign. Maybe the government funding wasn't enough to support the Commission's marketing and outreach budget. Or maybe the business classes being offered by the Commission, covering things like Microsoft software and social networking for businesses, aren't comprehensive enough. I have ideas for so many more classes, so many more opportunities to expand knowledge for people looking to advance their careers and people looking to start new careers or hoping to start a business. I cannot be alone in the wish for more affordable opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship without yet having a full business plan in place. Of course there are others wondering how to get ahead on a meager budget, but are they motivated enough to go to small community classes that don't lead to a degree or certificate, that might only last for one session or five sessions and cost $100? The government-funded program in Nashville isn't doing that well; why?
These are questions into which I'm willing to look further and find the answers. They are the questions that will motivate me to keep talking to people and finding out what they need. There are those out there struggling to keep their families afloat, struggling to provide better opportunities for themselves and their children, who are also motivated to find a way to excel that won't break their bank.
People who haven't purchased the business plan I'm selling to raise money for my own education keep asking me how the fundraising is going, which I find amusing. They believe that everyone else helps, so their contribution isn't necessary. They are so wrong. YOU, reading this right now, must not wait for others: (the original link has been removed; read here for more details). I will move ahead without a Lipscomb degree, pursue a community program on my own, and keep the fundraising going and apply again next year if I get the funds. After all, I'm pushing to create more affordable business education, so I'm motivated by my own desire to avoid student loans. I do hope, though, that you will contribute, ignore the PDF if you don't want to read it (it isn't homework!) and help me become better prepared to help others. If you want to help seed a revolution of better business practices in the areas that need it most, YOU can do your part.
If you are interested yourself in classes to help you get ahead in work, spread the word! Let people know what I'm doing. Community business education will be coming to a neighborhood near YOU!
It's a sign that I'm not getting the financial support here to know--and that other people are probably asking themselves--is anybody going to care if they can attend community business education classes in their neighborhood? Speaking with people, I get resounding support from anyone who has ever had a bad business dealing. That doesn't mean, though, that people are going to take an evening away from home to attend a seminar, or put up the money to attend a series of classes. A recent article in The Tennessean talked about the shrinking budget of the Nashville Community Education Commission (which is government funded) and that many people thought the Commission had dissolved. Ugh. That is not a good sign. Maybe the government funding wasn't enough to support the Commission's marketing and outreach budget. Or maybe the business classes being offered by the Commission, covering things like Microsoft software and social networking for businesses, aren't comprehensive enough. I have ideas for so many more classes, so many more opportunities to expand knowledge for people looking to advance their careers and people looking to start new careers or hoping to start a business. I cannot be alone in the wish for more affordable opportunities to learn about entrepreneurship without yet having a full business plan in place. Of course there are others wondering how to get ahead on a meager budget, but are they motivated enough to go to small community classes that don't lead to a degree or certificate, that might only last for one session or five sessions and cost $100? The government-funded program in Nashville isn't doing that well; why?
These are questions into which I'm willing to look further and find the answers. They are the questions that will motivate me to keep talking to people and finding out what they need. There are those out there struggling to keep their families afloat, struggling to provide better opportunities for themselves and their children, who are also motivated to find a way to excel that won't break their bank.
People who haven't purchased the business plan I'm selling to raise money for my own education keep asking me how the fundraising is going, which I find amusing. They believe that everyone else helps, so their contribution isn't necessary. They are so wrong. YOU, reading this right now, must not wait for others: (the original link has been removed; read here for more details). I will move ahead without a Lipscomb degree, pursue a community program on my own, and keep the fundraising going and apply again next year if I get the funds. After all, I'm pushing to create more affordable business education, so I'm motivated by my own desire to avoid student loans. I do hope, though, that you will contribute, ignore the PDF if you don't want to read it (it isn't homework!) and help me become better prepared to help others. If you want to help seed a revolution of better business practices in the areas that need it most, YOU can do your part.
If you are interested yourself in classes to help you get ahead in work, spread the word! Let people know what I'm doing. Community business education will be coming to a neighborhood near YOU!
04 July 2012
A Brief Introduction to A Business Plan for America
Excerpted from the original Introduction to Business Plan for America, which I released on this blog briefly.
Read about my plans for community business education at: The Dream Defined
We, the People, need a business plan.
No company could survive as we do, two halves fighting for control, divided against one another. We are engrossed in a battle much like that of many management and labor disputes, and when either side forgets the goal of the company and operates only for its own benefit, then the whole organization breaks down, as we saw in the auto industry a few short years ago.
America needs a business plan. We need to remind ourselves what our common values are, what our mission is, and how we're going to beat the competition. Our major competitor, China, has determined such things. If we don't stop fighting about the benefits granted to us as Americans, we may lose those benefits to a hostile takeover. The metaphors may seem excessive, but our nation was founded on commercial enterprise in spite of the desires of an elite ruling class to maintain their noble rights. The right of every person to create a living in their own way--if they can figure out how--helped us become the power we are now. We should use that skill set to re-prioritize, reorganize, and operate in the black again.
Read about my plans for community business education at: The Dream Defined
30 June 2012
For those with five minutes
Excerpted from Part III of Beggars, Barterers, and Bandits posted in September 2011, following a discussion of imminent threats to society:
[...] To survive in a time of extreme upheaval when most social systems have been dissolved, we will either become beggars, barterers, or bandits. Those who can be self-sufficient will provide for their own needs as much as possible and will barter for whatever they cannot grow or build. A basic understanding of how to use that bartering system to one's advantage has obvious benefits. Those who cannot support themselves through their own work and ingenuity will either beg or steal, which doesn't sound that much different from now. Keeping the thread of a civil society intact requires that most people become barterers. We can reduce crime and poverty now by preparing people to support themselves and increase local collaboration. Training an entire nation to be better barterers as well as entrepreneurs or corporate titans is time well-spent in a strained educational system. As I've mentioned in a previous post, even people who work to serve, or people who will never start their own business, can benefit from understanding how business works. It is part of a larger picture of national strength-building....
[...] To survive in a time of extreme upheaval when most social systems have been dissolved, we will either become beggars, barterers, or bandits. Those who can be self-sufficient will provide for their own needs as much as possible and will barter for whatever they cannot grow or build. A basic understanding of how to use that bartering system to one's advantage has obvious benefits. Those who cannot support themselves through their own work and ingenuity will either beg or steal, which doesn't sound that much different from now. Keeping the thread of a civil society intact requires that most people become barterers. We can reduce crime and poverty now by preparing people to support themselves and increase local collaboration. Training an entire nation to be better barterers as well as entrepreneurs or corporate titans is time well-spent in a strained educational system. As I've mentioned in a previous post, even people who work to serve, or people who will never start their own business, can benefit from understanding how business works. It is part of a larger picture of national strength-building....
"We are the one species on the planet that will run into a burning fire to save a complete stranger. We are the one species on the planet that will organize our community to help a community on the other side of the world that we may never visit. We're the one species on the planet that has the compassion to make sacrifices to help another species." John Cronin
[...] average Americans can no longer look to large corporations, banks, or the government to be benefactors of opportunity. We must make our own opportunities, creating strength through self-reliance. People often point to the unity felt in the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks as a beacon of hope, as proof that we have the ability to see past the petty issues that often cloud our disagreements. That same unity of purpose arose again after Hurricane Katrina flooded the Gulf states, and Americans quickly realized that the government can be ill-prepared for even the most local of disasters. Business knowledge cultivates self-reliance, which cultivates a stronger, smarter populace, who will resist out-of-control governments, monopolies, or would-be despots. We have it in us now to collaborate and work toward a system where no one will have to go hungry, and we will still have an opportunity to thrive.
24 June 2012
The Dream Defined
In the documentary The Lottery, Harlem Success parent Karl Willingham describes his frustration with those who protested the opening of a new charter school in Harlem, New York:
When I speak with people about my goals, many bring up Junior Achievement or the Entrepreneur Center in Nashville. Both bring real results, but my plan goes further. While I am not yet exactly sure what form my project will take--that's one of the reasons for seeking a master's education, to evolve my ideas--I do seek to distinguish whatever I do from existing programs in a way that would reach people not yet cognizant of certain business opportunities available to them. That might involve partnering with an existing organization, or I might create my own. However the program takes shape, the goal will be to end the cycle of poverty and dependency by empowering people who might not otherwise pursue an MBA or start their own business to establish security for themselves within an existing job or by creating new jobs.
To better understand my goals for this degree, you can download my admissions essay here. If you think there might be even a smidgeon of merit in that idea, you can then help me achieve those goals and help me afford tuition by purchasing a copy of my Business Plan for America for $5. (Update: This has been removed due to embarrassing failure and subsequent lack of confidence in it's quality, but leave a comment if you'd really like a copy.) Beyond the initial goal described above, I have been working for over a year developing a new plan for our country outside of the current political stream. Some people don't believe $5 is enough to charge for this plan, as nearly 7,000 people will have to buy in to cover the cost of tuition. For five bucks, though, nearly anyone can afford to buy in, and I hope that the Business Plan for America will go viral. It does not seem unreasonable to me to think that 7,000 people in the world would want to learn about and support a different means of moving the economy. In fact, I challenge Nashville, especially, to tap into our well-documented entrepreneurial spirit and invest in the idea of an economic and cultural renaissance.
If you believe in teaching people skills instead of offering them a handout; if you believe that the poor deserve an opportunity to revitalize their own neighborhoods through their own devices; if you believe that children will be better prepared for a job when they understand how businesses work; or if you simply believe in our right to pursue happiness and want to preserve it, please support the dream. Then, use the buttons below or the Share link at the top of the screen to spread the word. Let no one live without achieving their dreams because no one showed them how to do it.
I get emotional about what these children can have. You watch these parents protesting; you want to grab them: Do you remember when you were a child and you wanted to be an astronaut, or a scientist, or President of the United States, and you couldn't because no one taught you which direction to go to get there? So wanting to be an astronaut seemed as far away as the moon, which it's really not that far, but no one told you that. And you just don't want to see anyone else missing out just because no one told them they can have it.This month, I received my acceptance letter to the Civic Leadership master's program at Lipscomb University. The program aims to help students utilize the resources available through government, non profit, and for profit avenues to accomplish civic goals such as my desire to expand business opportunities to the young and underserved. In hopeful anticipation of my acceptance, I have been working on a way to fund my participation in the program, which begins this fall. Since I refuse to take out additional student loans with such a tenuous potential return on investment as civic work would provide, and scholarships and grants for master's programs are extremely limited, I decided to sell the populace on my ideas.
When I speak with people about my goals, many bring up Junior Achievement or the Entrepreneur Center in Nashville. Both bring real results, but my plan goes further. While I am not yet exactly sure what form my project will take--that's one of the reasons for seeking a master's education, to evolve my ideas--I do seek to distinguish whatever I do from existing programs in a way that would reach people not yet cognizant of certain business opportunities available to them. That might involve partnering with an existing organization, or I might create my own. However the program takes shape, the goal will be to end the cycle of poverty and dependency by empowering people who might not otherwise pursue an MBA or start their own business to establish security for themselves within an existing job or by creating new jobs.
To better understand my goals for this degree, you can download my admissions essay here. If you think there might be even a smidgeon of merit in that idea, you can then help me achieve those goals and help me afford tuition by purchasing a copy of my Business Plan for America for $5. (Update: This has been removed due to embarrassing failure and subsequent lack of confidence in it's quality, but leave a comment if you'd really like a copy.) Beyond the initial goal described above, I have been working for over a year developing a new plan for our country outside of the current political stream. Some people don't believe $5 is enough to charge for this plan, as nearly 7,000 people will have to buy in to cover the cost of tuition. For five bucks, though, nearly anyone can afford to buy in, and I hope that the Business Plan for America will go viral. It does not seem unreasonable to me to think that 7,000 people in the world would want to learn about and support a different means of moving the economy. In fact, I challenge Nashville, especially, to tap into our well-documented entrepreneurial spirit and invest in the idea of an economic and cultural renaissance.
If you believe in teaching people skills instead of offering them a handout; if you believe that the poor deserve an opportunity to revitalize their own neighborhoods through their own devices; if you believe that children will be better prepared for a job when they understand how businesses work; or if you simply believe in our right to pursue happiness and want to preserve it, please support the dream. Then, use the buttons below or the Share link at the top of the screen to spread the word. Let no one live without achieving their dreams because no one showed them how to do it.
13 April 2012
Hustling Is An Art
"Solutionism: the new optimism." --Dow Chemical Company's new slogan
A few months ago, I finally decided to apply for grad school. I have applied to the Masters in Civic Leadership program at Lipscomb University and am currently awaiting my entrance interview. In applying, I of course had to list my reasons for wanting to be in the program and what I hoped to accomplish.
It's well-documented in this blog what I hope to accomplish on a broad scale. After I said I would write about what this country's product would be as part of a Business Plan for America, I realized I need a focus. Our product, I believe, is our culture, that American spirit of ingenuity, optimism, and fortitude. What held me back from posting about this was the realization that we are losing that spirit, and it risks being supplanted by skepticism, partisanship, and helplessness. This realization gave me my focus: to begin my quest for a better America, I want to create programs that bring business and entrepreneurship education to the young, the poor, and eventually the masses. The programs would, over time, increase opportunities for success and remind people that we all have a hand in creating our own destinies by creating our own jobs, or making ourselves more marketable as employees, or becoming indispensable in the jobs we have already.
Having been meditating upon this project for a month or two, I was delighted when a young man--let's call him James--knocked on my door tonight and began to tell me about a program in which he was involved that helps teach people business skills. James said he came from Chicago and was on parole, and participating in the door-to-door sales program was required as part of his parole to help prepare him for the job market and prove his aptitude to future employers. I immediately thought about the Southwestern Advantage, a door-to-door sales program touted by Rory Vaden, author of Take The Stairs, as "one of the toughest and most rigorous yet exciting programs a young person can participate in."
James showed me the names of neighbors who had signed on to help him, and he had clearly perfected his pitch as he bantered politely and flattered me subtly. He wore khaki pants and a short-sleeved dress shirt with a tan argyle vest, and we both recited the phrase, "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you sell good!" We spent about fifteen minutes chatting on my porch before he brought up what he was selling. I even asked him if I could give him my business card, and if he didn't mind, I wanted to connect with him later to learn more about his path out of crime and poverty.
James then showed me a list of magazines he was shilling. I think I concealed my disappointment, but every moment after that seemed like a waste of my time. I asked the price a few times, but it took him a while to finally show me that a three-year subscription would, at minimum, cost $80. "Oh, I can't do that," I told him. He tried a couple times more to get me to pick a different magazine, but I insisted I couldn't afford to lay out that much money for a magazine subscription. He mumbled something and then turned for the stairs leading off my third-floor porch and descended quickly. I watched him, confused, then realized he was actually leaving. Leaving! He didn't say goodbye or thank you or screw you or anything at all--he just turned and left after he realized I wasn't giving him any money.
My blood began to boil. As he made his way down our long driveway, I became infuriated that James had wasted my time, although he probably left in such a hurry because he realized he had just wasted his own time. Possibly the magazine sales are a scam, and possibly he doesn't even realize it. The fact that he had no interest in help from an outside source, though (he left without my card), led me to believe he had no interest in genuinely learning more about sales or entrepreneurship or anything else of that nature. Regardless of his intentions, what angered me the most was that in a situation where I would usually be guarded, I'd let myself be pulled in emotionally because his story spoke exactly to the situations I want to improve: the job outlook for the poor, the paroled, the people looking to lift themselves up through their own hard work.
Hustling is an art form, and it doesn't have to involve the typical urban connotation of hustling: doing anything necessary to make as much money as possible. That struggle-for-survival mentality doesn't have to survive in the future if we teach people how to hustle better, more productively, and legally. So, young hustler James, who left me feeling robbed of time and good humor, you have motivated me more than any ex-prisoner-makes-good story could. I aim to put people like you out of business--out of the business of selling magazines, that is--and teach them how to use their skills to establish a level of financial security like they've never imagined.
A few months ago, I finally decided to apply for grad school. I have applied to the Masters in Civic Leadership program at Lipscomb University and am currently awaiting my entrance interview. In applying, I of course had to list my reasons for wanting to be in the program and what I hoped to accomplish.
It's well-documented in this blog what I hope to accomplish on a broad scale. After I said I would write about what this country's product would be as part of a Business Plan for America, I realized I need a focus. Our product, I believe, is our culture, that American spirit of ingenuity, optimism, and fortitude. What held me back from posting about this was the realization that we are losing that spirit, and it risks being supplanted by skepticism, partisanship, and helplessness. This realization gave me my focus: to begin my quest for a better America, I want to create programs that bring business and entrepreneurship education to the young, the poor, and eventually the masses. The programs would, over time, increase opportunities for success and remind people that we all have a hand in creating our own destinies by creating our own jobs, or making ourselves more marketable as employees, or becoming indispensable in the jobs we have already.
Having been meditating upon this project for a month or two, I was delighted when a young man--let's call him James--knocked on my door tonight and began to tell me about a program in which he was involved that helps teach people business skills. James said he came from Chicago and was on parole, and participating in the door-to-door sales program was required as part of his parole to help prepare him for the job market and prove his aptitude to future employers. I immediately thought about the Southwestern Advantage, a door-to-door sales program touted by Rory Vaden, author of Take The Stairs, as "one of the toughest and most rigorous yet exciting programs a young person can participate in."
James showed me the names of neighbors who had signed on to help him, and he had clearly perfected his pitch as he bantered politely and flattered me subtly. He wore khaki pants and a short-sleeved dress shirt with a tan argyle vest, and we both recited the phrase, "If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you sell good!" We spent about fifteen minutes chatting on my porch before he brought up what he was selling. I even asked him if I could give him my business card, and if he didn't mind, I wanted to connect with him later to learn more about his path out of crime and poverty.
James then showed me a list of magazines he was shilling. I think I concealed my disappointment, but every moment after that seemed like a waste of my time. I asked the price a few times, but it took him a while to finally show me that a three-year subscription would, at minimum, cost $80. "Oh, I can't do that," I told him. He tried a couple times more to get me to pick a different magazine, but I insisted I couldn't afford to lay out that much money for a magazine subscription. He mumbled something and then turned for the stairs leading off my third-floor porch and descended quickly. I watched him, confused, then realized he was actually leaving. Leaving! He didn't say goodbye or thank you or screw you or anything at all--he just turned and left after he realized I wasn't giving him any money.
My blood began to boil. As he made his way down our long driveway, I became infuriated that James had wasted my time, although he probably left in such a hurry because he realized he had just wasted his own time. Possibly the magazine sales are a scam, and possibly he doesn't even realize it. The fact that he had no interest in help from an outside source, though (he left without my card), led me to believe he had no interest in genuinely learning more about sales or entrepreneurship or anything else of that nature. Regardless of his intentions, what angered me the most was that in a situation where I would usually be guarded, I'd let myself be pulled in emotionally because his story spoke exactly to the situations I want to improve: the job outlook for the poor, the paroled, the people looking to lift themselves up through their own hard work.
Hustling is an art form, and it doesn't have to involve the typical urban connotation of hustling: doing anything necessary to make as much money as possible. That struggle-for-survival mentality doesn't have to survive in the future if we teach people how to hustle better, more productively, and legally. So, young hustler James, who left me feeling robbed of time and good humor, you have motivated me more than any ex-prisoner-makes-good story could. I aim to put people like you out of business--out of the business of selling magazines, that is--and teach them how to use their skills to establish a level of financial security like they've never imagined.
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