Building a Better Business for All
In 2021, Neighborworks Housing Solutions started creating the Building a Better Business program to help Brockton owned businesses, in start-up and growth phase, with small business loan opportunities. The Brockton Venture Loan Fund was established to offer small businesses up to $50,000 in loans, even in start-up phase. In order to qualify for the loan, the Building a Better Business was created to teach individuals how to build a working business plan based around 3 components :
- Legal responsibilities regarding owning a business,
- Understanding how to market and sell a product or service,
- Financial obligations of a business owner.
Today, we recognize that not only does Brockton benefit from these classes, but many other individuals within our area of Brockton, Fall River, Kingston, New Bedford, Plymouth, Quincy, Taunton and every community in-between. With a long list of financial supporters, we are looking at loan programs in all communities and how we can help make funding beneficial to small businesses, especially in start-up phase.
The program "Building a Better Business for All” consists of three classes, each 2-hour in length, based around our components. We offer monthly classes via Zoom and once a quarter we offer an in-person bootcamp, which teaches all three classes in 1 day. All classes are interactive and our bootcamps become a great place to network and share business ideas. Our goal is to be able to offer more bootcamps in the South Shore, Southcoast, Metro South communities and broaden our reach.
If you would be interested in sponsoring a bootcamp or workshop, please contact Tricia White at pwhite@nhsmass.org.
Building a Better Business 101 - Starting and Growing
In this class, we discuss being and/or becoming a business owner and asking basic questions that will help define your business.
- Micro Moments
- Being an Entrepreneur
- Personal Credit
- Business Types & Tax Responsibilities
- Funding
- Your Idea
- Your Product and Customer
Building a Better Business 102 - Marketing Tools that Work
In this class, we discuss the importance of marketing and it’s many useful tools. The least funded, yet most important, marketing can ultimately make or break your business.
- Living through 2021
- SMB Marketing Challenges
- The Marketing Wheel
- Your Website
- Integrating the Tools
- Trends
Building a Better Business 103 - Working through Your Concept
In this interactive class, we walk through the research and development of your product or services. We will search for information that will help to understand your financial projections and give you solid results on starting and/or growing your business.
- Industry Experience
- Executive Summary - Your Story
- Team Approach
- Start-Up Cost & Monthly Expenses
- Pricing & Breakeven
- Cash Flow & Projections
- Loans
- Accountants & Accounting Software
After completing the classes, we will be available to help you in your planning process. We will also guide you through the growth process, if you need assistance. We will help you identify key growth factors that will grow your business to a point where additional cash input is needed.
For Building a Better Business for All - Click here to our calendar of Upcoming Events.
For Building a Better Business Bootcamp - Click Here.
We also teach a Marketing Monday class every 4th Monday of the month at 9 AM and 7 PM via Zoom. We have a library of topics that can also be taught to small businesses. Click here for a list of upcoming classes. If you are interested in sponsoring a marketing class, click here.
This program is open to any and all individuals that would like to learn more about starting and growing a business. If you are starting, growing or moving to Brockton, you may be eligible to apply for the $1M Brockton Venture Loan Fund.