CommunityWorks Women’s Business Center aims to educate, support female entrepreneurs

Greenville, SC – The CommunityWorks Women’s Business Center offers a variety of business training courses for minority and female entrepreneurs.

The road to success for a new entrepreneur can be hard to navigate alone. When trying to turn an idea into a sustainable business, some entrepreneurs might explore utilizing outside resources to help with the process. One local resource available to minority and female entrepreneurs is the CommunityWorks Women’s Business Center.

In 2020, the Women’s Business Center opened in Greenville to provide resources and training to economically disadvantaged entrepreneurs located across 15 counties in South Carolina. Operating under the U.S. Small Business Administration, the local center is one of the three Women’s Business Center locations in the state.

“Our main mission at CommunityWorks is to try to provide that assistance that these communities need because there is a big gap in access to resources,” said Jov’An Benjamin, the Women’s Business Center’s director.

Creating a roadmap for Women’s Business Center

When entrepreneurs show interest in receiving assistance from the center, they will first be instructed to complete a free discovery session. Benjamin said the meeting helps staff determine where the client is in their business journey and what resources they might need.

The center helps entrepreneurs starting new business ventures in various industries including food, cosmetology, entertainment, transportation, and more. It offers one-on-one business consulting and coaching, network events, workshops, and training for women entrepreneurs.

A variety of business-training courses are available through the Women’s Business Center. The courses are taught by instructors who bring real-life entrepreneurial experience and wisdom to help guide new entrepreneurs. The trainings are split into three phases, each representing the stages of entrepreneurship:

• READY: Courses for businesses in the idea phase
• SET: Courses for businesses in the startup phase
• GO: Courses for businesses in the growth phase

“We really wanted to create a roadmap for our entrepreneurs,” Benjamin said. “Not everyone is going to have the same experience as a business owner so splitting it up in that READY, SET, GO phase really helps us cater to all business owners.”

One of the center’s most popular courses is a 10-week micro-entrepreneur training series taught by Paul Smith, CEO of BEST Carolina LLC. By the end of the course, the participants will have built a business plan that they will present through an elevator pitch.

“We develop the mindset, the confidence to take risk, albeit calculated risk, and also to communicate their ideas through the elevator pitch,” Smith said.

Breaking barriers

A barrier many women entrepreneurs face when starting their businesses is accessing capital. According to the National Women’s Business Council, women business owners raise less capital to finance their firms compared to men and are more reliant on personal sources of financing.

To help break down this barrier, the Women’s Business Center strives to help women gain lending, investing, and financial education. For example, the center offers three financial workshops to help entrepreneurs learn about money management, budgeting, cash flow, and how to apply for loans or grants.

April Evans, the owner of an event flow maestro and master of ceremonies business, said the business center helped her gain a better understanding of business financing.

“Funding was one thing that I thought was out of reach for me,” Evans said. “They began to make me aware of the resources and tools that CommunityWorks has available for businesses just like mine.”

Entrepreneurs like Evans who come to the Women’s Business Center for assistance can also gain access to the financial loans offered by CommunityWorks. The organization provides different loan products to help entrepreneurs start and grow their small businesses.

Offering support

After four years in operation, CommunityWorks Women’s Business Center has helped 405 entrepreneurs across the Upstate start and grow their businesses. Benjamin said the center continues to explore new opportunities and resources to offer entrepreneurs to help set them up for success.

“We are planning to start a podcast to really reach more people and offer kind of that mentorship type of program,” Benjamin said. “Maybe offering some membership opportunities. I do see a lot of other women’s business centers doing some great things, so we just want to make those strides right along with them.”

Any minority or women business owner interested in learning more about the Women’s Business Center is encouraged to sign up for a free consultation online. More information can be found at communityworkscarolina.org/wbc/.