WEV’s Business Plan Intensive (BPI) course is a rigorous 6-week course providing accelerated training in the most important aspects of organizing, financing, marketing and managing a small business. Participants leave the course with a complete business plan, including a marketing plan, cash flow projections, operations plan, and a core network to help sustain the business. The BPI course is designed for the business professional who is currently in business, has owned a business, or who has work experience and/or an upper-level educational background.

WEV's peer-reviewed curriculum, small class size, and expert instructors/guest speakers help ensure success in this fast-paced program.  Participants will have the opportunity to simultaneously enter the SBLF (Small Business Loan Fund) pipeline while utilizing the course to write the business plan needed to qualify for the loan.

There are now more than 2,000 businesses throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties owned and operated by graduates of WEV’s Self-Employment Training and Business Plan Intensive program or recipients of small business loans through WEV. The Business Plan Intensive course is part of the continuum of programs WEV offers to help women start-up, launch, grow, and sustain their own business. 

The course is divided in to five sections:

Logistics

The course is offered twice per year, in February and September. Classes meet weekly for six hours (3 hours each on two weekdays). Maximum class size is 12.

Fall 2013 Class Schedule:

Cost

This program is priced at a market rate of $1,500 and is not subsidized like the Self-Employment Training course; however, WEV is able to offer low-interest educational loans from the Small Business Loan Fund to finance the tuition for potential clients.

Prerequisites

• Must have email address
• Comfortable with Internet navigation, word processing and spreadsheets
• Business professional who is currently in business, has owned a business, or who has work experience and/or an upper-level educational background

Enrollment

1. After attending an orientation or hearing about the program, contact your regional Program Coordinator for an acceptance interview. If approved, you will receive the enrollment paperwork.
2. Contact your regional WEV office to provide payment and submit the paperwork. If you will be financing the tuition with an educational loan, you must make an appointment with the Loan Manager. 
3. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the class fills. All enrollment paperwork/payment must be completed at least one week prior to the start of the class, so you can pick up the workbook and complete the pre-class assignments.