Specialized Services: Training
Access to business courses, coaching, and workshops
Our Services
Ventures offers a number of sliding scale resources beyond the initial eight-week Business Basics course to help people reach their goals and move their businesses forward. After attending an Orientation and completing the Business Basics Course, entrepreneurs have access to Specialized Services: business training, capital, coaching, and hands-on learning opportunities. Schedule a meeting with one of our business coaches to enroll in Specialized Services.
Ventures’ Courses & Workshops
At the Ventures Orientation, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to apply to our Business Basics Course. The Business Basics Course is a requirement for accessing Ventures’ services, including business courses, loans, coaching, and incubation. In this eight-week course, entrepreneurs meet once per week for three hours with peers and business coaches to learn the basics of business marketing, sales, financial management, and operations. After completing the Business Basics Course, entrepreneurs have access to Ventures’ wide range of small business services.
If you have questions about the necessity of taking this introductory course or how our programs work, check our FAQ page.
The Financial Managment Course helps entrepreneurs budget, plan, save, spend, borrow, and invest in a sustainable way. We look at household and business financial strategies so all aspects of one’s financial life are strong and healthy. Participants have the option to have a spouse or partner join them in the course.
In the Sales Course, business owners learn how to identify prospective customers, perfect their sales pitch, close a sale, create sales goals and plans, and access new strategic sales channels.
In the Operations Course, entrepreneurs learn how to manage their time, processes, people, and products in the most efficient ways possible.
The Marketing Course is designed to help businesses build their brands, identify their target markets, and select marketing strategies to reach customers, as well as create a robust digital marketing strategy. Each class contains a mix of instruction and time to work with coaches and peers on activities related to each class topic.
Business owners receive specialized training on all aspects of the packaged food industry, including to how to strategically produce, label, and sell food products in the Packaged Food Course.
Ventures offers special one-time or seasonal workshops on topics that range from self-employment tax preparation to payment processing systems. These workshops are typically one-session classes that last for 2-3 hours.
Ventures partners with Wayfind Legal to host monthly legal clinics for Ventures’ entrepreneurs enrolled in Specialized Services. Business owners meet with an attorney to address questions related to leasing, staffing, copyrights, and contracts. At the end of a session with an attorney, entrepreneurs have answers to their legal questions or advice on next steps for their businesses.
Coaching helps our entrepreneurs identify and overcome barriers to business success. Our coaches are teachers, mentors, counselors, and business consultants. Coaches work side by side with business-owners as they create marketing, sales, and financial plans but they do more than help with business plans and goal setting – they are cheerleaders. Ventures’ Business Coaches are great listeners, ask open-ended questions, motivate, and meet our entrepreneurs where they’re at.
