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Question: i'M INTERESTED IN CREATING A LEARNING CENTER FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION FOCUSED ON SOCIAL SKILLS AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN A LIFE SERIES SKILLS WORKSHOP AND TRAINING SERVICE FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS, THEIR CHILDREN AND OTHER AUDIENCES FOR EDUCATIONAL AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION. I'M NOT A CERTIFIED TEACHER BUT HAVE EXTENDED EXPERIENCE, TRAINING, SKILLS AND EDUCATION WITHIN THE NON-PROFIT COMMUNITIES AS FACILITATOR, ADVOCATE, EDUCATOR, COACH AND MENTOR . ANY THOUGHTS ON WHAT KINDS OF OBSTACLES, RESISTANCE OR UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MIGHT INHIBIT MY FOCUS? THANKS MARLA 913-387-4008
Answer: A lot will depend on how you want to structure your organization, what community needs you want to address, what community resources with similar objectives already exist, and your relationships with key people in the communities (physical and consumer) you want to serve. Your effort merits the development of a full business plan, if you have not already done one. That will help identify your "market," needed financial and educational resources, potential partners and competitors. It may also help you identify and plan for unforeseen circumstances as you develop the plan. You will need decisions about whether to incorporate, and what type of incorporation. Last, and certainly not least, you will need sufficient capital to survive the early development period of your business, when you may or may not have enough money coming in to survive. Within this Toolbox, I suggest you enter "business plan" in the upper right search box. That will get you a number of resources for planning how you want to proceed. A "Social Marketing" search may also be helpful. Feel free to peruse anything that looks relevant to you in our Table of Contents. There are good introductory books on business planning, and it would be helpful to get advice from an attorney and accountant as needed.
Question Date: Thu, 08/06/2009