“You must believe in yourself and work very hard at achieving your goals. Never give up on your dreams. They can come true again.”
Not so long ago, Patricia owned her dream business. She ran a wholesale company and loved working with her family. But the situation changed and the store closed. It became harder to hold on. So, she took her future into her own hands.
Hitting Reset
With a family to take care of, Patricia needed assistance with essential resources and had enrolled in FoodShare Wisconsin to make ends meet while she reassessed her situation. She was confident in her business management skills but wanted some additional education to keep up with changing technology.
That’s when she walked through the doors of Forward Service Corporation.
Help from an Angel
Patricia was greeted by Angel, who became her case manager through her transition to success. Because Patricia was already on FoodShare, the first thing they did was enroll her in the FoodShare Employment and Training (FSET) program. FSET gave Patricia opportunities to expand her business education while organizing and submitting unemployment materials.
“Angel was a breath of fresh air,” Patricia says. “She was so encouraging. I just loved her energy. She makes you feel like anything is possible.”
Getting Set with FSET
The FoodShare Employment and Training program provides people with training opportunities and the resources to pursue them. Since Forward Service Corporation has partnerships with technical colleges throughout the state, Patricia was able to enroll in business classes at Moraine Park Technical College. She even received gas vouchers to help her get to and from class.
“Patricia has never given up, despite what stood in her way,” Angel says. “She is hard-working, dedicated, and has continued to pursue her dream of opening her a new business.”
Did it pay off? Patricia, again: “Without the classes, I would not have known how to [move forward]. Staying competitive in business is very important.”
A Bright Future
In a few weeks, Patricia completed her courses and is off unemployment. In fact, she has just registered an all-new business with the state selling craft goods and gift boxes. Such companies are likely to succeed in a relatively short time because they can reach a large customer base quickly. For such gifting businesses, it seems critical to provide top-notch customer service by offering sustainable packaging (by a firm like Impacked Packaging), quick delivery service, and superior quality products. By considering such aspects, Patricia may be able to grow her business quite easily.
Hopefully, she has opened a different bank account to maintain the monetary transactions of her business. In case she has not, she can still get a business checking account so that keeping track of the finances would become a cakewalk for her, and she doesn’t end up confusing personal and professional expenses.
Certainly, she’s never been this happier. If she decides to move her new business online when it starts to get going, she’ll be able to find targeted services for what she’ll need by conducting her own business research. Whether that be a payment processing system such as https://merchantalternatives.com/merchant-services/merchant-accounts/ecommerce-credit-card-processing/, consulting with a web designer, or incorporating software to manage the operations and handle the cloud space, she could do it all, perhaps with a few quick web searches.
This would also widen her horizon and she would learn which technology to incorporate at which stage, as her business advances. For instance, in the initial days, she might just need some basic software to store the sales and customer data. However, as this database would grow, she might face the need to integrate an advanced software similar to splunk it operations, that would manage the cloud space as well. There is so much she can do with her new business and we can’t wait to see what will unfold.
“I will not let anything hold me back. Life is too short. Follow your dreams because dreams do come true.”
Congratulations, Patricia. Sometimes dreams do come wrapped in bows.
