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You've survived the crucial first year of business. You've weathered start-up challenges, wrestled with cash flow and established a day-to-day routine.
Now it's time to dig deeper and discover the gem that your business can be.
Entrepreneurs will have that opportunity, starting in January, when CPCC's Institute for Entrepreneurship launches "Getting to the CORE of Business," a strategic development program for second-stage businesses.
The program - a cooperative venture among Central Piedmont Community College, the city of Charlotte and Efficio, a Charlotte-based consulting firm - signifies an expanded focus for the CPCC institute, which works primarily with start-up and early-stage businesses. The institute annually serves some 3,000 people - about 95 percent of whom are "hopeful entrepreneurs," according to director Renée Hode.
The region has many networks and resources for start-up businesses, Hode said, but little for second-stage businesses - those that have been in operation at least a year. "They need to learn how to work their business, not just work in their business," she said.
Sherese Duncan, president and CEO of Efficio Inc., had also noticed the same shortage of services for existing firms. So she took the classes she teaches through Efficio and wrote a comprehensive course designed for presentation at community colleges. "I haven't in my 12 years (at Efficio) found such an extensive program for second-stage businesses," she said.
"Getting to the CORE of Business" is designed for business owners who have completed at least one year of continuous operations. "They've survived all the intricacies of start-up, and they're ready to move on," Hode said.
The businesses can be in any sector, but she added, "What I suspect is that we will have more services take advantage of this because of the makeup of the Charlotte region."
The program will follow the Red Diamond Blueprint Model developed by Duncan. The model uses the analogy of diamond mining to guide business owners as they reshape their business.
"The most valuable diamond is the red diamond," Duncan said. "What students are going to do is excavation to unearth their red diamond of a business."
The program, which will be taught by Duncan, will begin Jan. 14 with an orientation session at CPCC's Central Campus. Participants will receive a quick individualized business assessment that will help organizers tailor the course to meet business owners' interests and needs.
Then the program will hold 16 additional evening classes on subsequent Thursdays. Duncan said participants will study six blueprint areas: technology, business systems, human capital (employees and vendors), marketing, strategic development and financial management.
Participants will have homework assignments that require a minimum of eight hours each week, Duncan said. But unlike many other classes, she said, "Your homework is to apply (the coursework) to your business."
Although mentoring and networking aren't central goals, the program will offer plenty of both. Participants receive up to eight hours of one-on-one counseling, Duncan said. They also receive training via a blended learning environment that includes a social network, telecourses and a virtual classroom.
Upon completing the course in May, Duncan said, participants will have a strategic business blueprint and the operating materials needed to implement core business systems.
"It's a systematic process," said Lori Day, executive director of CPCC's Institute for Entrepreneurship. "That's what we really liked about it.... This is designed to give you tools to come out of this course with a blueprint for what to do next."
