Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead
Training, Coaching, and Consulting Program Overview
Our entrepreneurship and business skills trainings and coaching services are geared toward motivated and creative individuals who want to start, strengthen, or expand a business, enterprise, or organization.
Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship
We want people to advance their economic, financial, business, and entrepreneurship literacy. We provide trainings, consulting, and coaching to help our constituents increase their understanding of household economics, asset development, regional economic and social trends, entrepreneurship, business and organizational development, marketing, financing, stewardship, and sustainability.
Our core coaching work is conducted in our home region in the North Carolina Triangle and Central Piedmont. Beyond work in our home region, we connect folks to appropriate resources, provide tailored coaching in partnership with others, organize collaborative work, and train others how to do what we do.
Our typical constituents are potential and start-up entrepreneurs, existing business owners, nonprofit organization executives, and social entrepreneurs. Through individual coaching, group trainings, and ongoing support, we help our constituents start enterprises or strengthen or expand their work in these specific sectors and arenas:
- Leadership, business, organizational, vocational, and workforce development services
- Enterprises rooted in the arts, culture, history, natural resources, and good food
- Health, wellness, caregiving, and human services
- Community development
Some folks decide not to move forward with a business and instead focus on strengthening their household finances, obtaining more education, striving for better or more meaningful work with advancement opportunities, developing a network for future entrepreneurial ventures, or discovering new ways to serve their community.
Key partners include Business Link North Carolina (www.blnc.gov), other public business service providers, like-minded enterprises, community-based organizations (CBOs), community development corporations (CDCs), community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and statewide organizations such as Self-Help, NC Rural Economic Development Center, NC Indian Economic Development Initiative, and Conservation Fund.
Please contact us for more information or to participate in our work, invite us to speak, connect with our network, or consult with us.
For your personal resource library, download the "Starting a small business in NC" guide from the NC Small Business Technology and Development Center.
Download the “Navigating Business Services in NC: Your ‘Where to Go for What’ Guide.”
Download the “Fueling Your Business in North Carolina: A Guide to Financing for Small Businesses”
For business start-up steps in NC and questions about key business decisions, contact Business Link North Carolina at (919) 807-4280 or toll-free (in NC) at (800) 228-8443.
For general management questions, explore the US Small Business Administration.
Check out our resources page.
Through our trainings, coaching, assistance, and support, we aim to help our constituents:
- Increase their knowledge and skills in economics, finances, business, and asset development and protection
- Achieve greater self-reliance
- Create meaningful work for themselves and others
- Provide quality goods, services, and jobs
- Design challenging work, family, and personal goals
- Be good stewards of their talent, time & resources
Tailored Personal Coaching & Support
Beyond our trainings, consulting, and coaching in entrepreneurship, business, and organizational development, we also offer tailored coaching for individuals and organizations. To us, coaching is about discovery, awareness & choice. Here are some of the goals we see many people having:
- Develop a better quality of life
- Strengthen your business or organization
- Be strategic
- Build a great team
- Achieve better balance
- Discover ways to be more effective
- Work smarter to achieve your goals
- Be a better steward of your talent, time and resources
- Become more fulfilled, confident, resilient, or successful
- Learn how we do what we do
The first session, with an orientation and assessment, is free. The cost for ongoing coaching and support is on a sliding scale based on income, circumstance, and interest in ongoing coaching support. Scholarships and bartering opportunities are available. If you are interested or have questions, send us an email and let us know what is on your mind.
Collaborative & Group Work
Beyond our core coaching work, we connect folks to appropriate resources, provide tailored coaching in partnership with others, organize collaborative work, and train others how to do what we do.
We nurture collaborative and group work by encouraging people to come together in a spirit of cooperation around the common interest of working together for mutual social and economic benefit. Developing good groups take time and skill. We believe groups will be more viable if their participants are reliable, communicate skillfully, support others in the group, and work together to develop, maintain, and renew the group’s work. Based on our experience we believe good groups:
- Are open, inclusive, empowering, and democratic
- Make sure that everyone feels welcome, informed, and involved
- Cooperatively identify common vision, purpose, and goals
- Create an environment that fosters trust and builds commitment to the group
- Allow differences of opinion to be discussed and handle conflict directly and civilly
- Examine biases that may be blocking progress
- Continue to clarify expectations of individuals and of the group, revisiting purpose and renewing commitment
- Celebrate individual and group accomplishments and find renewal in relationships
- Develop a schedule and rhythm that works best for the group
- Encourage and empower members to learn new skills and share roles and decision-making
- Leverage the strengths of civic, cultural, historical, political, community, and environmental contexts
- Draw leadership, knowledge, talent, strengths, and resources from relationships with government, business, faith communities, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and resourceful individuals as needed
Good Work Collaborative
Since 1991, Good Work has grown entrepreneurs and nurtured enterprises and communities to be more self-reliant and resilient. In addition, we have sought to strengthen community-based initiatives to encourage social entrepreneurship, community resilience, and collaborative leadership. Since the fall of 2007, our partners and friends have encouraged us to take a more active role in local efforts in the Triangle to help create and support viable alternatives to 'business as usual'. We know collaborative efforts to revitalize our communities can be successful if we leverage and grow our skills and strengths. As we reflect on our past and look toward the future, we know that we must work with others to:
- Provide more educational opportunities in communities
- Support local economies and community development by strengthening sustainable and creative enterprises, including those rooted in the arts, culture, history, natural resources, and good food
- Encourage and incubate cooperatives and community enterprises on any of the above
- Be ambassadors for each other in the community