In early April, my husband, Mike, and I sold our second business, Mission Coffee & Tea Company, Inc. Our efforts will now turn full-time to our children’s product, The Original Pot-Tee Prize Grab Bag (www.pot-teeprize.com), which will launch on major retailer’s shelves later this year.

As an obvious “serial entrepreneur,” I am frequently asked for contacts, networking opportunities and advice on how to succeed as an entrepreneur. Through my informal counseling of start-up and small-business owners, I learned there is a local need for hands-on, basic business guidance.

My friend, Sharon O’Donoghue, is executive director of a tremendous but relatively unrecognized resource, the Business Ownership Initiative of Indiana (formerly Neighborhood Self-Employment Initiative) and its Central Indiana Women’s Business Center program. As a nonprofit, BOI is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Women’s Fund of Central Indiana, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Lilly Endowment, Fairbanks Foundation and other grant providers. Sharon and her staff (now including myself as a part-time business counselor) help those who want to start or grow a business. More than four out of every 10 Hoosiers rely upon some level of self-employment as a source for household income. While 70 percent of BOI’s clients are women, many men utilize the programs as well, with more than 2,000 people being served in 2007.

BOI offers workshops, business counseling, mentoring and loans. All business counseling is free, and most workshops are free or cost as little as $10 a session. BOI is dedicated to helping its clients succeed in owning their own business. BOI’s programs and services are available to all Indiana residents, but the organization’s special mission is to support entrepreneurship among people seeking access to resources that might be otherwise unavailable. BOI is geared to help people who may need access to the business, legal, accounting and financial resources necessary to start or grow a business.

A satisfied BOI client, Sonja Isenhart of Oaklandon, is an Independent Contractor practicing therapeutic massage with Genesis II Wellness Therapy Center, 11915 Pendleton Pike, Suite R, in Oaklandon. The center offers various wellness programs.

Asked about her experience with BOI, Isenhart stated, “Attending BOI Business Beginnings class has given me tools that I have utilized in my one-person business. Continuing to use these tools will allow me to expand into a very comfortable business base with additional staff. I love the support and working knowledge that BOI gives their clients. They have given me the confidence that empowers me to know “I can do this.” For me, there hasn’t been a question they couldn’t answer. The courses offered cover every aspect of learning about a business. BOI is like a one-stop shop for opening, growing and maintaining your business. So what BOI has done for me is given me the knowledge and support to be a business owner with confidence.”

Workshops for Small-Business Owners

In addition to workshops for prospective business owners, BOI offers workshops for individuals who already own their own small businesses but would like to improve their skills and their bottom lines. Topics such as sales, marketing, networking, intellectual property, negotiating business contracts and how to automate your finances and record keeping, are offered quarterly. Workshops are offered evenings and Saturday mornings at BOI’s offices, 4755 Kingsway Dr., Suite 314, in the Willowbrook Office Park.

Other Services

In addition to workshops, BOI and the CIWBC also provide support through free one-to-one business counseling, life-skill coaching, mentoring and a micro-fund that offers loans of $500 to $10,000 to Marion County residents. They also coordinate forums for business owners with similar types of businesses, as well as individual and group life-coaching sessions.

With this kind of support available in the neighborhood, why not take advantage of it?

For more information, please call: (317) 917-3266 ext. 100 or e-mail information@businessownership.org.

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