Sunday, January 30, 2000
ENTREPRENEURS
Classes show how to start from scratch
BY JOHN ECKBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
One business owner wanted to open a graphic-design company. Another thought it made sense to sell gift baskets from her home. A third was an experienced heating and air-conditioning specialist who was trying to keep his company in the black.
All paid $50 and came to weekly classes in November, December and January at the Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative to learn how to manage, own and profit from a small business.
As expected, students were more blue-collar than blue-blood. Until this class, opening the day's mail in hopes of finding a check that could clear was as important as filling in a balance sheet. It was the front lines, the muddy trenches of American commerce.
“Typically, there has been a lack of support,” said Alicia Townsend, executive director of the microenterprise initiative that is based inside the Cincinnati Hamilton County Community Action Agency, 3011 Woodburn Ave.
“There is a lack of capital and training to actually get the business started and keep it up and running, a lack of record-keeping and proper analysis. Sometimes, people just need to ask: Is it a viable business? Can you make money?”
The microenterprise group focuses on companies that have annual revenues less than $250,000 and employ fewer than five. The group graduated 27 students in mid-January, and almost immediately another session was under way. The next open session is in April. Call 569-1240 for more information.
As with most human activities, unexpected synergies occur during sessions. Ms. Townsend calls it bartering, but in reality, it is survival through cooperation. For instance, David Howard of David Howard Studios designed a logo and painted a sign on the side of the truck driven by Larry Barber of Barber's Heating & Installation of Evanston, another student. Mr. Barber's truck now has two roles.
The mortality rate for enrollees is high. Of the 27 graduates, probably eight will actually launch a business. Of those eight, only half are likely to still be in business a year from now.
“Our target is people of low or moderate income,” she said. “They are running businesses to patch their income, and they are plagued with all the things that happen in life.
“They have no time. They have problems finding day care. They have problems finding decent employees. We try to be a resource to other small businesses and do a lot of hand-holding that banks can't.”
Besides tuition, funding is from the Hamilton County Community Action Agency, the United Way and a $400,000 loan pool from Bank One, Firstar, KeyBank and PNC Bank. The group hopes to expand to Northern Kentucky and Butler County this year.
Mr. Barber has never been afraid of hard work — 22 years in maintenance for a public agency proves that — but details of running a business were a challenge. The seminar taught him sales pitches, marketing and record-keeping. “I took away quite a few things actually,” he said.
Will he be around a year from now? Ever the optimist, Mr. Barber did not hesitate: “Bigger and better.”
John Eckberg covers small-business news for the Enquirer. Have a small-business question, concern or quandary? Call him at 768-8386 or e-mail him at jeckberg@enquirer.com, and he will find the expert with the answers.
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