|
 Missouri
Women’s Business Center
The Missouri Women’s Business
Center is a program of GO Connection. We provide business
education, advising, access to capital, and mentoring
for women and men entrepreneurs. Our mission is to
help build financially sound businesses during each
stage of business development---start-up, management,
expansion & exit.
BUSINESS
EDUCATION & TRAINING
We offer a series of professional seminars focused
on helping start and build financially sound
businesses. These hands-on seminars are designed to
give entrepreneurs the tools and insight they need
to make decisions throughout the lifecycle of their
business. Seminars are organized into four series:
Basic, Management, Expansion & Growth, and Exit.
ADVISING
One-on-One Advising - We provide
one-on-one advising to help entrepreneurs with individual
issues specific to their business. Assistance is provided
in the areas of business planning, access to capital,
finance, cash flow, inventory management, marketing,
and certification as a women/minority business.
Peer Roundtables - Clients
may join a peer roundtable group made up of 8-10 women
entrepreneurs in non-competitive industries. The roundtables
provide a "safe" group of peer advisors
for you to discuss and address common business issues.
Each session is lead by a WBC facilitator, and topics
are determined in advance by the group. Roundtable
participants must commit to participating for one
year.
ACCESS
TO CAPITAL
Identify potential funding sources
- We work with clients to identify potential funding
sources for the start-up, management, and expansion
of their businesses. These sources include microloans,
SBA loans, economic development funds, traditional
bank loans, venture capital, and others.
Prepare Documentation - We
also provide assistance in preparing business plans,
cash flow projections, and required documentation
for obtaining loans.
Direct Lending - Through our
own internal microloan
program we can offer clients loans up to
$50,000 for equipment, inventory, or working capital.
MENTORING
Women business owners can apply for mentoring through
two different programs:
Athena Powerlink matches women
business owners with an Advisory Board, free of charge
for one year.
Financial Mentoring links
women business owners with a Financial Mentor, free
of charge for one year.
|
