Whoare the best people to connect to help start a community service based business?
I'm looking to start a business running courses teaching basic life skills as well as a few in-depth subjects, mainly focusing around budgeting, how financial products work etc. I am looking for the someone to help steer me into the right direction. Thanks Allison
Hi Allison, A really good organisation in Aus is the BEC, business enterprise centres. They run all kinds of mentoring and support programs for people who are in the early startup stages of business. They are in all kinds of places... go to their website to find out more: https://www.becaustralia.org.au/ good luck with it cheers roland
Allison,
That definitely sounds like a noble pursuit. Are you planning it as a for-profit business or a not-for-profit business (charity)? There is a possibility that you may be able to get government grants if you are a non-profit business.
Also, who is your target audience? Is it a specific age group, income bracket, geographic location, something else or a combination? This will help you determine how you are positioning the marketing and lead generation for your venture.
Are you planning to setup a business learning environment where clients come into an office/classroom type setting? Are you planning on going to the location of your client (such as a mobile tutor). Are you planning on only offering in-person courses or will you use live streaming video or pre-recorded video sessions?
Will you be charging per class (a la carte) and/or charging for a topic that includes multiple classes about a related topic? Will you be giving clients that meet a specific standard certificates of completion or something similar?
Are you planning to limit class sizes so you can ensure each client gets 1-on-1 attention or are aiming for large class sizes?
Jeff! Excuse my late response, I didn't receive notification of your reply via email. Thank you so much for the reply - wow you have given me questions that I have not thought of in depth. Much food for thought! At this stage I have a dream and passion and would like to start putting my idea into reality. I am going to take your questions, ponder them and decide which is best course of action, then come back to you if that is OK. Again thank you so much, you have given me some direction! Allison
Allison, No worries, I'm glad my response has helped you see some other interesting questions to ponder. The best way to pursue a dream and a passion is start making steps forward each and every day. Sure some days will be more productive, but the way I view it is with this metaphor - An empire isn't built in a day, you lay bricks every day, eventually you'll stand back and see your empire. By all means, when you have pondered those questions come back and let me know what that has stirred up. I'm always glad to help others discover and follow their passion.
Allison Williams
Thank you Roland!! I appreciate the link, I will look into them. Thank you for your well wishes too!