By Betty Lin-Fisher
The Akron Beacon Journal.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Two organizations are offering amazing programs to help educate Women in Business. While these specific programs mentioned in the article are focused on Ohio, their reach online is Global. This piece by Betty Lin-Fisher has a great overview of the key topics for women entrepreneurship and training programs that are available for all women.
Akron
Two organizations are offering training programs for Akron-area women entrepreneurs who want to build their skills and develop new business strategies.
The Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio is offering a six-week program in Akron, and Bad Girl Ventures is expanding to Kent from Cleveland for a nine-week session.
Here are the details:
Women’s Network
The Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio is hosting its second year of its EMPOWER! Women’s Business Mastery Program, which aims to help female participants create new business ventures, as well as grow and enrich existing businesses.
The 2016 program will launch March 8 with a retreat featuring keynote speaker Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com. The Northeast Ohio native is head of the University of Akron’s Center for Experiential Learning, Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement.
The series is sponsored by a $10,000 grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation of Hudson.
The sessions will be held at the Bit Factory, a collaborative and entrepreneurial space within the Akron Global Business Accelerator.
Participants will gain access to critical knowledge and support through sessions led by seasoned business owners, business experts and inspirational trailblazers.
Topics include:
March 8: Opening retreat with Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com.
March 22: “Planning for a Purpose.”
April 5: “Show Me the Money!”
April 19: “Your Identity & Message — The Value of Branding and Marketing.”
May 3: “The Necessary Evil.”
May 17: “Make Your Money Work for Your Business.”
The cost is $30 per workshop for Women’s Network members or $150 for the series or for nonmembers, $40 per workshop or $210 for series. A second seven-week session with different topics will be held in the fall for an additional $175 for members and $245 for nonmembers.
For additional information or to register, go to www.womensnetworkneohio.com
Bad Girl Ventures
Bad Girl Ventures helps women build and sustain well-managed, profitable businesses by providing them with guidance, education and access to capital. Since 2011, BGV has educated more than 300 entrepreneurs, awarded more than $190,000 in loans and facilitated more than $800,000 in additional follow-on funding in Northeast Ohio, its organizers said.
BGV classes, which are normally held in the Cleveland area, are being offered in the Akron/Canton/Kent region for the first time. Several BGV graduates have businesses in the Akron region.
Its newest program will be EXPLORE in Kent. EXPLORE guides first-time entrepreneurs and early-stage business owners through the exploratory and ideation stage in order to validate a business idea.
EXPLORE classes are taught by successful local business owners and professionals. At the end of the nine-week session, held from March 8 through May 10, students will be able to write a fundable business plan. Classes meet on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Kent State University’s main library, 1125 Risman Dr. in Kent.
Here are the topics:
March 8: Orientation. “Pitch Perfect, Business Plan Basics, Real Live Bad Girls.”
March 15: “Basics of Legal Business Structure.”
March 29: “How Much Money Do I Need? What are Start Up Costs?”
April 5: “Credit Education- Personal & Business; Sources of Funds.”
April 12: “Business Idea Validation & SWOT Analysis.”
April 19: “Market Position & Branding.”
April 26: “Marketing & Sales Tools.”
May 3: “Know Your Numbers!”
May 10: “Basic Pricing, Business Plan Review & Coaching, 60 Second Pitch.”
May 17: Graduation.
The price is $250 for the nine-week session. Registration and a class schedule are available at www.badgirlventures.com. The deadline to register is March 4.
Separately, BGV is hosting several free informational sessions about its organization in the Akron, Canton and Kent area. The sessions are not directly related to the EXPLORE series, but help female entrepreneurs to learn more about the organization.
The sessions will be held on Feb. 19 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The Local Public House, 154 North Depeyster St. in Kent; Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the OSC Tech Lab, 12 E. Exchange St., Second Floor in Akron, Feb. 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Kent State Library, 1125 Risman Drive in Kent and on Feb. 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Journey Art Gallery, 431 4th St. NW in Canton.
