Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Owning a multi-media production company isn’t all about taking excellent photos and video, and working with great collaborative teams. There’s always something new to learn.
I recently graduated from the 6th cohort of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at CCRI. It’s a no-cost 12-week program that helps small businesses grow through practical business education, increased access to capital, and a support network of advisers and peers.
Initially, I felt both excited and apprehensive about exposing my life’s work and business to other businesses. This cohort consisted of 24 business owners throughout Rhode Island. The curriculum, designed by Babson College (the nation’s top-ranked entrepreneurship school), focuses on practical skills that can immediately be applied by business owners. Business owners also receive one-on-one mentoring from a dedicated business advisor and develop a growth plan specific to their business.
My challenge after acceptance into this program was to commit to carving time out of my weekly schedule. Most weeks, we met for a full day and often had shorter clinics. Class topics included: Action for Growth, Money and Metrics, Operations and Processes, and Marketing and Selling. In every class, I learned something new.
Photography For Social Media Marketing
The primary objective of the program was to work ON my business and not work IN my business – taking time out to plan for growth, and not spending 24/7 in the daily grind. As part of this objective, we needed to create and present a Growth Plan. This plan was perfect because for over a year I had an idea to expand my company by creating photography for small businesses for their social media use.
I was able to develop and refine this idea; introduce Visual Thrive publicly. Visual Thrive combines the power of photography & communication to drive a company’s social media marketing presence.
I met a wide range of business owners outside of the media industry, as we worked together to support each others’ growth plans. Having expanded my network and my breadth of business knowledge, I now have a great group of peers with which to bounce ideas off. The value of this group, combined with an educational refresher all focused on my business was well worth my time and attention.
If you are a Rhode Island (this is also offered in other states) small business owner with at least two employees (can include owner), have been in operation at least two years, and made at least $100,000 in gross revenue in 2017, you are eligible to apply. See full details and their online application here.