Biz boot camp expands

Sandra Smart: A virtual business boot camp is planned for later this year.

Dennis Wiggins: Small businesses are the heartbeat of communities.

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Following what officials call a successful 2023 launch in Springfield, the Missouri Small Business Development Center at Missouri State University and the Efactory have taken an early-stage business boot camp on the road.

The first Springfield cohort for the program, which targets aspiring or current small-business owners, was completed in April 2023 at the Efactory. A second cohort in Springfield followed in the fall, said Sandra Smart, technology and commercialization specialist with Missouri SBDC. Four other cohorts, three of which are outside Springfield, are now in progress, she said.

Covering eight sessions over roughly two months, attendees learn best practices, such as creating an LLC and setting up a business bank account, and discover local resources designed to help small businesses grow.

“We had an overwhelming response for applicants on the initial one that we ran with over 100 people applying to be a part of that,” Smart said, noting a similar applicant response last fall for the cohorts. Each was capped at 10 participants.

A $30,000 donation from the U.S. Bank Foundation allowed the entrepreneurs to participate in the program’s first cohort at no cost, according to Efactory officials. Smart said an undisclosed amount of funding from Innovate SOMO, aka the Southern Missouri Innovation Network, a collaborative initiative of the Efactory and Cape Girardeau-based technology incubator Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation, is covering costs for the additional cohorts.

“The Innovate SOMO program is providing funding for participants to attend at no charge throughout the region as we deploy these programs,” she said, adding current and future cohorts are aiming for a 30-person cap.

Innovate SOMO’s programming includes training and education programs, business-building assistance and help in creating jobs for entrepreneurs in 47 counties in southern Missouri. Innovate SOMO was the beneficiary of two grants from the Missouri Department of Economic Development last year, totaling roughly $3.5 million funded via the American Rescue Plan Act, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The money was designated, in part, for small-business support.

Spreading out
Cohorts started in March in Springfield, Bolivar, Mountain Grove and Poplar Bluff. In the program, participants receive ongoing coaching and mentoring through Missouri SBDC and Efactory to develop a growth plan and financial budget by the program’s conclusion, according to SBDC officials. Topics include learning market research and analysis, finding and accessing capital resources, developing a marketing strategy, and hiring and managing employees.

“In other communities, sometimes it’s someone from our staff that goes and executes the training,” Smart said, noting that includes herself and SBDC Director Chrystal Irons. “Other times it might be a business leader or someone that has that business education experience sharing the material. We’re also focused on bringing in external resources and guest speakers, experts in different fields so that the cohort participants really feel and understand all of the resources that are available to them.”

While the program is designed as an eight-week course, Smart said communities have flexibility to determine what will work best for classroom availability.

“They may do eight sessions in four weeks or six weeks to meet the needs of their community,” she said. “We took material that we had for the first cohort, modified that a little bit based on feedback and getting through that first full session. We are trying to keep consistency across the areas where we are delivering the cohorts, as far as topics. The order of sessions might switch up weeks depending upon guest speakers or other facilitators.”

Building support
Taney County Partnership, a public-private initiative designed to attract and retain businesses to the Branson area, was a program partner for Taney County’s first boot camp, which wrapped in mid-March. The eight-week camp was held at the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau office.

Dennis Wiggins, director of business retention and expansion for Taney County Partnership, said the Branson cohort had 30 registrants and 20 that regularly attended.

“We were pleased with the initial registration and the actual attendance,” he said. “It was pretty solid because when you’re offering a course with no charge to the participants, (attendance) just kind of depends.

Supporting small businesses through programs such as the boot camp is vital, Wiggins said, noting they are the heartbeat of communities. Small businesses in 2023 employed 61.7 million Americans, totaling 46.4% of private sector employees, according to U.S. Small Business Administration data.

“We serve the whole county, but our number one focus as Taney County Partnership is to continue to try to find ways to get our region to a 12-month economy,” Wiggins said. “Tourism is the engine that drives everything in Branson, obviously. But we continue to try to narrow that window down so we can support other businesses besides the entertainment industry to continue to have year-round jobs.”

Wiggins said small-business owners, particularly starting out, can often get busy keeping up with the day-to-day operations. The boot camp could prove to be an asset, he said. 

“We want to do everything we can do to help set them up for success because certainly there will be surprises, things they never anticipated,” he said, adding the program can also connect them to local and state resources. 

The first two cohorts in Springfield last year offered a $3,000 stipend to participants, which Smart said could be used to help with transportation needs, child care or business expenses. However, she said the stipend is not part of current cohorts, and its inclusion in future courses is undetermined.

Future offerings
With a desire to overcome travel or scheduling barriers, officials are planning a future virtual cohort option.

“We have not selected dates for that yet, but the participants will be able to attend via Zoom,” Smart said, adding a goal is to launch it before year’s end.

Additional cohorts are planned this year, some of which will likely hit different parts of southern Missouri.

“I anticipate that we will probably deploy in other counties two to four more cohorts late summer into fall and as we get into 2025,” Smart said.