Think Big! School of Business helps aspiring entrepreneurs do it right
July 27, 2023
A Rockford woman wanted to open a soul food restaurant. She signed a lease for a 1,500-square-foot space and hired seven employees but didn’t purchase a POS system. That was her first mistake, and it’s a common one business owners who are anxious to get up and running make, said Dr. Sheila Hill, co-founder of Think Big! Located in Rockford, the nonprofit operates the School of Business that helps startup and established business owners check all the right boxes to reach the next level of success.
“That’s a perfect example of the financial challenges we help business owners overcome,” said Dr. Hill. “We’re finding a lot of individuals coming through the School of Business that don’t know how to track their finances.”
The School of Business is a four-week accelerated course where participants learn to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, how to legally structure their businesses and put financial systems in place. Weeks two and three are all about finances, understanding the difference between personal versus business credit, branding and how to factor demographics and trends into marketing strategy. By week four, if they did their homework, Dr. Hill said they should have everything they need to put together a business plan. A facilitator will guide them through. After, they are assigned a business coach to follow up and make sure they’re staying on track.
Last year, Think Big! was awarded a $100,000 Impact Grant from Northern Illinois Community Initiatives (NICI) to support increased demand for services, as well as educational and technical support. Since then, the organization has more than tripled the number of graduates to 125, and 96 of those finishing the program had their businesses up and running. The organization was able to offer the School of Business six times versus four, and added a cohort that met on Tuesdays and a half-day session on Saturdays for participants who may have missed a class or needed a refresher.
“This grant has been so helpful to us,” Dr. Hill said. “We used to not be able to assign a coach to everyone. This grant provided us the dollars to provide individuals with the coaching they need to finish their business plans and assist with marketing and accounting.”
In the past year, success stories include two food truck operators who were able to open brick-and-mortar stores. A barber now owns the shop where he once rented booth space, and a caterer who did mostly baby showers and weddings has been introduced to corporate clients with the help of Think Big! facilitators and his business coach.
NICI has renewed the Impact Grant for another year to support a cohort exclusively for women. The course is designed to help women deal with unique challenges they face running a business. The course will be eligible to previous School of Business graduates and will be offered once a year starting in November. The grant also will allow the nonprofit to pay a stipend to subject matter experts and successful entrepreneurs to share their experiences and lessons learned.
“NICI has made this process so easy compared to other funders in the past,” Dr. Hill said. About 85 percent of participants in the School of Business are women. Dr. Hill said that factored into the decision to offer a course that addresses women’s specific challenges. Those include work/life balance, self-care and coping skills, dealing with depression, fighting impostor syndrome, building confidence and how to make the most of networking. Programming for the female cohort will include business coaching, as well as helping women entrepreneurs overcome the gender gap in training and mentorship, secure financial support and business development.
“I’m so impressed with the way Think Big! identifies and tackles the micro issues that can derail a business that often get overlooked or not prioritized,” said Tovah McCord, NICI Executive Director. “I’m encouraged by each business success and look forward to watching this organization and these businesses continue to flourish.”
Count on it. Around this time next year, Dr. Hill said Think Big! is planning to move into a new, larger location. “Hopefully we’ll be able to do a whole lot more. The people are hungry, and they want to be entrepreneurs. We’re just giving information and they’re making it happen.”