Are you a Wisconsin woman challenged in sourcing capital for your small business? You’re not alone.
The Office of Business & Entrepreneurship (OBE) historically finds fewer women entrepreneurs get capital and overall receive smaller amounts compared to men. In 2022, 47.5% of OBE women clients received capital vs 49.6% of men, with women receiving $63.8M in total compared to men’s $142M.
Learning Cohorts Forming Now!
With the assistance of a new Minority Business Development Agency grant, OBE aims to help women entrepreneurs get more capital. We have completed research surveys with women entrepreneurs and focus groups with investors, lenders, and other stakeholders to help us identify particular information needs for these businesses.
OBE is creating a new curriculum based on these findings in four customized tracks:
- Early Stage Business (Fall 2024)
- Food/Ag Businesses (Fall 2024)
- Growth Stage Business (Spring 2025)
- Tech/Innovation Businesses (Spring 2025)
This curriculum is tailored to women entrepreneurs and includes modules on personal financial literacy—including an opportunity to work with a coach; an in-depth study of business finances (including personalized assessments); special interest topics for women (communication skills, gender bias issues); business mentorship based on participant need; and concludes with a company pitch event to lenders and investors specially chosen to best meet the circumstances of each cohort.
All participants will receive an orientation packet including recommended reading, personal assessments, personal finance resources compliments of Summit Credit Union, and other pre-course preparation materials.
If the timing is not right for this year’s training, know that OBE will be running these cohorts again—contact Lora to include your name on a waiting list.
We look forward to helping you and your business meet success!
Entrepreneurs: Join a cohort!
We are currently recruiting for:
- 2024 cohort: Early Stage, Food. Farm Ag
- Spring 2025 cohort: Growth Stage, Innovation/Tech
Partners: Join our list!
Are you a partner hoping to assist women across Wisconsin to access capital to start and develop their small businesses? Reach out to learn more how you can help!
Outreach Learning Manager
Lora Bray
In general, she likes to help others reach their project or career goals. Their objectives or needs may vary, but she strives to provide solid data and helpful resources for good decision making. She finds it rewarding to save others time and contribute to their success by providing timely information.
Are you interested in learning more about the program? Reach out to Lora by filling out the Form below.
Check out the curriculum outlines:
Growth Pathway Curriculum (Spring 2025)
Tech Pathway Curriculum (Spring 2025)
- Identify why women need to be focused on financial gender challenges in personal and business finance
- Understand your financial wellness and create action steps for improvement in the areas of saving, spending and debt reduction—including how a credit report impacts your personal and business growth opportunities
- Utilizing personal and business capital to fund growth, including understanding the personal and business banking products that can help finance a business
- Explain the importance of financial statements in supporting business strategies
- Demonstrate and understand balance sheet basics
- Demonstrate an understanding of income statement financials
- Demonstrate the creation of financial projections
- Determine the ability of a business to generate positive cash flows and meet its financial obligations
- The importance of a business plan in the loan request process and what banks look for in the plan
- Types of financing offered by banks
- How to properly structure loans to fit your balance sheet
- How banks evaluate your loan application (the 5 C’s of Credit)
- When complimentary loan programs make sense (SBA, McDevco, etc.)
- What is a Business Model Canvas and how does it help?
- Customer segments and avatars
- Value propositions
- Market availability and marketing channels
- Customer relationships: acquisition, retention, relationships
- Instilling confidence through uncertainty
- Using executive presence for presentations and pitching the business
- Working through bias as we encounter it
- Express an overall understanding of financial statements
- Understand and apply financial analysis tools and resources to maintain financial health in your business and inform strategy
- Cost-based pricing: Setting the price by adding a markup to the cost of producing or acquiring the product
- Competitor-based pricing: Determining the price based on what competitors are charging
- Value-based pricing: Pricing based on the perceived value to the customer
- Other components of pricing
- Choosing the right pricing model
- Learn how to tell your story to investors and/or core stakeholders (like your board) to garner support for funding
- Practice your pitch to your peer cohort and receive feedback
- Pitch to invited guests, such as program stakeholders and lenders
- Identify why women need to be focused on financial gender challenges in personal and business finance
- Understand your financial wellness and create action steps for improvement in the areas of saving, spending and debt reduction—including how a credit report impacts your personal and business growth opportunities
- Utilizing personal and business capital to fund growth, including understanding the personal and business banking products that can help finance a business
- Explain the importance of financial statements in supporting business strategies
- Demonstrate and understand balance sheet basics
- Demonstrate an understanding of income statement financials
- Demonstrate the creation of financial projections
- Determine the ability of a business to generate positive cash flows and meet its financial obligations
- Understand sources of funding (debt and equity)
- Order each will be paid (positions)
- Entry vs. exit
- Examples of Lenders (CDFI, Investors, Traditional, SBA)
- Preparing to Submit
- Cost-based pricing: Setting the price by adding a markup to the cost of producing or acquiring the product
- Competitor-based pricing: Determining the price based on what competitors are charging
- Value-based pricing: Pricing based on the perceived value to the customer
- Instilling confidence through uncertainty
- Using executive presence for presentations and pitching the business
- Working through bias as we encounter it
- Express an overall understanding of financial statements
- Understand and apply financial analysis tools and resources to maintain financial health in your business and inform strategy
- What is your industry code? (NAICS)
- IBIS reports and other market research
- Market availability
- Traction modeling
- Understanding your customer
- Pitch components
- Crafting your pitch
- The hook and the ask
- Opening and closing
- Know your audience
- Practice your pitch to your peer cohort, receive feedback
- Pitch and onsite networking event, Madison. Location TBD.
Find out more about the Capital Readiness Program and its need by reviewing the below reports provided by WIPPS (Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service) Research Partners:
Check out our webinar from March 25, 2024 to learn more and get YOUR common questions answered:
Contact Lora if you would like to receive an intake form to schedule a discussion and learn more about participating in the program.