BusinessAdvising.org is a nonprofit small business accelerator harnessing the model made famous by venture capital-backed tech startups (access to working capital, expert business advice, and extensive networks) to benefit businesses on “Main Street”. Since 1998, businesses working with us, on average, have seen their revenues increase by 25% on average, and added jobs at 10 times the national level. We’ve empowered hundreds of small businesses to create tens of thousands of jobs. The core of this program is you – the small business owner and volunteer advisor. Your commitment to be successful and to this community is what delivers real value for all. This toolkit is intended to support your hard work by providing some structure, templates, tips, best practices, resources, and lessons learned to set your advising match on the right path from Day One. [gview file=”http://businessadvising.pcv.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/08/BusinessAdvising-Partnership-Toolkit-v1.1.pdf” save=”1″]
Free Webinar On April 17: How Healthy Is Your Small Business?
Join us on Friday, April 17 for a free webinar on how to measure the financial health of your company. BusinessAdvising.org will host George de Bruin, an executive with 30 years of experience in the consumer goods industry. This webinar is intended for small businesses. We’ll cover topics like: Does your company have a business plan, a long-term growth strategy, and a sustainable path to get there? How can you measure the health of your business? As in personal nutrition, understanding and measuring the health of your business is about sticking with a goal and being persistent. And: this applies to all businesses. In this free webinar, you’ll start planting the seeds and get a firmer direction on how to ensure you’re building your small business for sustainable growth in the long term. You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/1HTAnZl Friday, April 17, 2015 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM (PDT) The … Read More
Small Business Webinar: How to Build and Sell With a Multi-Channel Brand
In this webinar, BusinessAdvising.org hosted Mark Chmiel, a Senior Marketing Executive whose experience includes Baja Fresh, Burger King, Dr Pepper/7Up, got milk? and KFC. The webinar focused on branding and brand strategy for small businesses — especially those in the food and beverage industry — looking to build and grow their marketing capacity. We covered topics like: Today’s consumer— How are they shopping, using technology, and making decisions? Branding — Why is it so important, and how do I connect my brand with the consumer to increase sales? Social Media— Likes, tweets and reviews are nice, but how do they build my brand and increase my sales? If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording below: Mark Chmiel is a Senior Marketing Executive with extensive experience in driving strategic growth (branding, re-positioning, and new product introductions) for retail, restaurant and CPG companies. This includes Baja Fresh, Burger King, Denny’s, Dr Pepper/7UP Company, … Read More
Free Webinar On March 27: How To Build And Sell With A Multi-Channel Brand
Join us on Friday, March 27 for a free webinar on how to build and sell with a multi-channel brand. BusinessAdvising.org will host Mark Chmiel, a Senior Marketing Executive whose experience includes Baja Fresh, Burger King, Dr Pepper/7Up, got milk? and KFC. This webinar is intended for small businesses — especially those in the food and beverage industry —looking to build and grow their marketing capacity. We’ll cover topics like: Today’s consumer— How are they shopping, using technology, and making decisions? Branding — Why is it so important, and how do I connect my brand with the consumer to increase sales? Social Media— Likes, tweets and reviews are nice, but how do they build my brand and increase my sales? You can sign up here: http://bit.ly/1GjlJX9 Friday, March 27, 2015 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM (PDT) The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, where you can ask your questions and get … Read More
Our Award-Winning Blog!
Our Business Advising blog was selected as a winner of Broadview Network’s Business Blog to Watch in 2015 Award. Thanks to Broadview Networks for the recognition! And thank you to all of our small business readers who are growing local economies and creating jobs across America.
Catching Up With Bread SRSLY
Bread SRSLY makes delicious (trust us, we’ve tried it!) gluten free sourdough bread in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. Founded by Sadie Scheffer, the company began late in 2011 after a furious bout of gluten-free sourdough experiments in Sadie’s home kitchen. She started selling bread from her own home, and as orders grew, began to deliver loaves on her bicycle. A few months later she was biking late into the night delivering orders, and Bread SRSLY was catapulted into a full-time business. Sadie needed help with marketing, so she came to BusinessAdvising.org where we matched her with an advisor with experience in food, design, marketing, and business development. Let’s catch up with Sadie, and see how Bread SRSLY is doing! Before she started working with advisor — Rebecca Brian Pan (CEO and founder of Covo), Sadie told us, “I didn’t even know what marketing meant.” Since then, “Rebecca’s taught me about … Read More
Happy Holidays From BusinessAdvising.org!
Thank you to all of the small business owners, foundations, corporate supporters, volunteers, and partners who have helped strengthen local economies, create new quality jobs, and expand markets working for social good this past year. We’re wishing all of you a safe and happy holiday season, and we’re looking forward to working with all of you in 2015! As a reminder, our offices are closed on 12/24/15 (Christmas Eve), 12/25/14 (Christmas Day), 1/1/15 (New Year’s Day), and 1/2/15. photo by _missladybug_ (CC license)
Expert Mentoring Advice
Our partner Everwise — who worked with us on building the BusinessAdvising.org platform — have produced a helpful infographic for anyone thinking about becoming a volunteer business advisor. It sounds cliché, but small business owners are the engines of the economy — and they need support and expertise in areas such as marketing, sales, finance, manufacturing, operations and general management. A consultant can cost a small business owner on average $150 an hour – money that these entrepreneurs don’t always have to spend. You can help create economic opportunity. Small businesses that receive specialized knowledge from seasoned professionals are more likely to succeed. When small businesses thrive so does the economy. And last year alone, BusinessAdvising.org-advised businesses created almost 400 jobs and paid more than $68 million in wages to residents of low- income communities as a result of over 4,500 hours volunteered by advisors. Getting started is easy! … Read More
Our 2014 Holiday Gift Guide
Every holiday season, many of our advised companies offer exclusive discounts to the BusinessAdvising.org network as part of the Holiday Gift Guide. Head over to our parent nonprofit, Pacific Community Ventures, to check out these deals and support small businesses this holiday season. Shop small!
OFN Recap: The Heart And Soul Of CDFIs
At the 2014 OFN conference, there was robust discussion about an ideological struggle: are CDFIs a movement or an industry? The CDFI business model as a whole is flawed, and there’s enormous work to do when it comes to inclusion, sustainability, and economic justice. And what does this mean for BusinessAdvising.org, and our parent nonprofit PCV? Read our Managing Director’s take.