Leo Cavell
May 24, 2011
James Walker
May 26, 2011
Small businesses, those that are operated by sole proprietorships or employers with fewer than 500 employees, are critical to the economic stability of Louisiana.
According to the Small Business Administration, there are nearly 400,000 small businesses in the state that account for 98 percent of all employers.
While large corporations have undergone sweeping cuts during the past five years, small businesses, even those that have had to make reductions themselves, have remained, in most instances, a source of local stability.
Some people open their own businesses because they have big dreams. Others enter the world of self-employment or entrepreneurialism out of necessity.
Most people that open a small business have no clue where to begin. In the Tri-parish region, some of the confusion and many of the challenges are being addressed through a series of entrepreneurial courses being offered by Options Workforce Partners, a subsidiary of Options for Independence.
Options for Independence began in 1982 as a volunteer-based organization designed to help people with various disabilities by encouraging businesses and governments to make accessibility and job opportunities available so those persons could be productive citizens.
Since then, Options has expanded into a network of resources for independent living, employment, child advocacy, re-entry programs and support organizations.
Options is now taking its mission as a partnering agency one step further by offering displaced workers a means to examine the possibilities of starting their own businesses.
In connection with LaWorks, through the Louisiana Workforce Commission, Options Workforce Partners in Houma is putting together an entrepreneurial course to teach participants what is involved in starting their own businesses.
“I was brought on to work with people who have been impacted by the [BP Deepwater Horizon] oil spill,” said Options workforce liaison Katie Sims. “The idea of offering these courses is to try to help these people who have not been able to get back to work.”
Sims said that job loss does not limit itself to one economic level of a specific industry. Clients from industrial engineers to deckhands fill her files as people who want and need to get back to work, but may benefit from looking at what they can do on their own rather than waiting for an employer to have an opening.
“Part of the overall workforce project is that some of these people might want to start their own business rather than continue to work for the other guy,” Sims said.
While major employers continue to feel a tight financial squeeze, Sims said that the small business persons in southern Louisiana are alive and well.
“What I am doing is a course to help get a person started [in small business],” Sims said. “Teach them the basics, how to do a business plan and how to make it sound like yours and not the books. How to understand cash flow, financial statements, and licenses you might need, business plans and how to meet and talk with the bankers, understand marketing and every concept of how to break into business.”
The Options series will involve a 10-week class with up to 12 participants. Depending on how quickly a complete group of would-be entrepreneurs are registered, the next course could begin as soon as the first week in June.
Sims said that while there might be participants who would be ready to open following the training, more will simply confirm that they know what they need to do next. “It’s not an end all,” she said. “I don’t want to see somebody open up after 10 weeks, mortgage their house and close a year later and lose that.”
Workbooks provided by the Kauffman Foundation contain in their 440 pages fast track chapters on exploring opportunities, identifying markets, setting goals, research and analysis, marketing plans, monitoring cash flow, and other nuts and bolts of business. “There is a lot of by the book and there is a lot between the lines,” Sims said.
Participants in the entrepreneurial classes are expected to represent a wide range of backgrounds and skills. Options program organizers count on them working together to offer ideas, information and encouragement.
Options’ goal is to ultimately establish an entrepreneurial center. “The reason we want to do that is so we can pull all of these resources together,” Sims said. “If I have someone, regardless of his situation, I want to help because he or she says, ‘I want to start a small business.'”
Sims said that while the class is intended to help people get back to work, there will be those who admit they are not cut out to own a small business.
“It’s tough to get started from the ground up,” Sims said. “What I tell them is as the owner you are the CEO, the customer service rep and the janitor because you are going to do it all.”
As a workforce advocate Sims confirmed that locally owned businesses in the Bayou region tend to have secured a community loyalty base not seen in other parts of the country.
“I do believe that this area is so strong entrepreneurial speaking,” Sims said. “The people here … it’s in their blood to get back up and want to get back to work again. They have the drive. They just need the guidance.”
A survey of Louisiana employers by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Friday showed that private sector jobs in Louisiana grew by 22,600 since April while there were 9,100 fewer government jobs than the same time one year earlier.
Industry sectors that showed annual job gains between April 2009 and the anniversary date one year later included an additional 7,800 jobs in leisure and hospitality, and added 7,100 jobs in health care and education, 3,200 more jobs in information, 2,000 more jobs in trade, transportation and utilities, 1,600 jobs in both manufacturing and business services, 400 in finances, and 200 new jobs in mining and logging.
The SBA contends that Louisiana’s economy is beginning to show signs of stability following last year’s oil spill, drilling moratorium and economic slump. Any credit for a turnaround is being pointed the direction of small business.
Information about the Options entrepreneurial efforts can be secured by calling (985) 868-2620.
Options for Independence human resource director Sherl Turner (left) and workforce liaison Katie Sims look over material that will be used in a new entrepreneurial program with LaWorks. MIKE NIXON
