Hi! My name is Shamitha and I have been with EGBI for a month now and it has been an enriching experience. I am an incoming senior at Westwood High School, and as my education progresses, I hope to pursue a degree in finance or management. Outside of EGBI, I am in my school’s orchestra, Academy Ambassador program, GenShe, and several other clubs and honor societies.
Shamitha shares her experience as an intern with EGBI and how you can get involved too.
To get started, would you mind telling us a fun fact about yourself?
A fun fact about me is that I grew up mainly in London, England, and California.
How have you been involved with EGBI?
I mainly do research and analysis for clients’ businesses to see where they can improve financially. I’ve also recently worked on importing and exporting goods, bookkeeping, and more.
Why do you think it is important to volunteer at EGBI?
EGBI allows you to connect with people from all kinds of different backgrounds and changes your perspective on business and the world around you.
What has your favorite experience with EGBI been so far?
My favorite experience has been attending the 90 Days business workshop. I’ve been able to connect with a lot of different people and learn about their businesses and inspirations. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet with them one-on-one to help expand their businesses.
“EGBI provides you the opportunity to learn new skills, communicate, and network.” – Shamitha Ramanan
In 2021, EGBI volunteers put in more than 130 hours to help EGBI support and serve over 400 small businesses. Volunteers like Ken make this possible and continue to help EGBI pursue their mission of training, coaching, and supporting aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.
Want to get involved too? Contact us to find out how you can volunteer or donate.
Are you wanting to start a business in the construction industry, but don’t know where to begin? Whether you specialize in flooring, remodeling, painting, or roofing, below are helpful tips to successfully launch the company.
Get experience. If you have not already worked for a construction business, there are many aspects of the business that you may not have considered. Industry rules related to areas from permits, licensing, contracts to customer service can be less straight forward than anticipated.
Register the business. Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to potential customers.
Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, pricing to explaining the concept for your business. It is a road map to the success of your business.
Fund your business. Figure out a budget and how the construction business will be financed. How will material and labor be paid for? How and when will payments on projects be received?
Decide on the niche of the company. Choose the specialty of the work whether projects are commercial, residential, or government contracts. Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
Build a marketing plan. This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential clients, customers, and territories.
Take advantage of resources available for your new business. EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business. Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.
Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, registerHERE.
Are you wanting to start a childcare business, but don’t know where to begin? Texas Association for theEducation of Young Children (TXAEYC) is a state affiliate of the National Association of Education of Young Children. This is an excellent resource in Central Texas for anyone wanting to get started in the early care and education industry. TXAEYC offers updates in the childcare rules/regulations, continuing education, training opportunities, and networking events to learn from peers.
Below are some more helpful tips to successfully launch a childcare business.
Get experience. If you have not already worked in childcare, there are many aspects of the business that you may not be aware. Industry rules related to areas from documentation, cleaning supplies, snacks, communication with parents can be less straight forward than anticipated. This is where exposure to this type of circumstances would be beneficial.
Register the business. Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to parents deciding on using your services for their children.
Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, work flow, pricing, what is included in your services, and so much more. It is a road map to the success of your business.
Fund your business. Figure out a budget and how the childcare business will be financed.
Decide on the niche of the company. Choose the specialty of the services being offered by the childcare facility. Will your center offer after school services, STEM learning, language immersion, or any other special services? Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
Build a marketing plan. This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential parents and community partners that can refer families to the business.
Take advantage of resources available for your new business. EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business. Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.
Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, registerHERE.
Are you wanting to start a cleaning business, but don’t know where to begin? Below are helpful tips to successfully launch the company.
Get experience. If you have not already worked in a cleaning business, there are many aspects of the business that may not be clear. Industry rules related to areas from chemicals to customer service can be less straight forward than anticipated.
Register the business. Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to customers.
Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, pricing to explaining the concept for your business. It is a road map to the success of your business.
Fund your business. Figure out a budget and how the cleaning business will be financed.
Decide on the niche of the company. Choose the specialty of the work whether it is to clean commercial, residential, or after construction jobs. Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
Build a marketing plan. This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential clients, customers, and territories.
Take advantage of resources available for your new business.EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business. Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.
Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, registerHERE.
Trello is a web-based project management program with an easy-to-use interface and a lot of flexibility for organizations of all sizes and sectors. It’s an excellent option for entrepreneurs and company owners searching for a low-cost solution. Trello’s base plan is free, but they do offer two paid versions: Business Class and Enterprise.
Features
The first thing people will notice that distinguishes this platform from others is that it has no restriction on the number of projects, users, or tasks. The site also provides templates that are customized to specific sorts of tasks.
Trello divides projects into boards, similar to the software in Pinterest, and divides diverse chores into easy, basic phases. Time-sensitive activities may be assigned a due date and time, and when done, just drag and drop them into the next phase of your board.
Productivity & Creativity
Whether you’re working on a design sprint that has to be structured into phases or a creative project for your newest client that needs to go through numerous review procedures before completion, the platform can help you get everything organized and done as efficiently as possible.
Product Development
Trello may help you assign tasks to different members of your team and keep track of product phases and deadlines.
Sales
If you want to organize your sales cycle with Trello, the software makes it quite straightforward. Lists may be established to track lead information, score, and status, and team members can be allocated to different cards.
In one page, you can move cards down your pipeline, designate due dates for tasks for your clients, attach necessary documents, and keep track of where your leads are in your sales or CRM pipelines.
Event Planning
Trello is also a wonderful tool for event planning, even if you are not a professional event planner. You may make a board for a specific event and lists to help you keep track of deadlines, task status, and dates.
