Creating Meaningful Jobs in Inland Southern California
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Taking the Leap
As a follow up to the 2019 study, Creating Meaningful Jobs, the Inland Empire Women’s Business Center, and the Coachella Valley Business Center (WBCs) conducted a pilot program for small business owners.
The purpose of the pilot was to provide a program that supported small business owners gaining the confidence and skills needed to move from being a solo entrepreneur to becoming an employer. Hiring employees is one of the most important steps an entrepreneur can take to grow the business. What follows are the details of how the pilot operated including the program design, educational topics offered, and program evaluation.
We hope this addendum to the earlier study will advance the discussion of supporting small business growth by helping small businesses create meaningful jobs.
Review the original 2019 Job’s Report research document:
“Microenterprises in Inland Southern California: Creating Meaningful Jobs”Taking the Leap was very helpful as I finally took the “leap” and hired two employees during the course of the program. The program featured special guests that shared valuable information I was able to utilize to create a process manual, employee handbook and ultimately grow my business. Frankly, the aspect I most looked forward to having the opportunity to meet and regularly share with so many talented and inspirational women in the cohort for the weekly meetings.
Founder, B Solutions
Program Design
In the fall of 2020, the staff from the two WBCs recruited business owners to participate in a peer learning cluster program titled: Taking the Leap: Entrepreneur to Employer. The program ran for ten weeks, from October 6 to December 8. To accommodate the schedules of the business owners, the once-a-week meetings were held in the evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Seven business owners enrolled in the program and represented different types of businesses including a pre-school, janitorial service, baby and children’s retail boutique, an elevating table product, legal documents and forms preparation, and a real estate practice focused on helping low-income families find homes.
The peer learning program meetings included a workshop component, group discussions of the topics, informational videos, presentations from experts, and experiential training exercises. Each participant received technical assistance to complete a goal-oriented workplan for the program. All participants took a test at the beginning of the program to test their current knowledge of human resources and employee management issues. A post-program test then revealed the knowledge that was gained during the program and their planned next steps to becoming an employer.
Topics covered over the ten-week course included:
- Scaling and Growth through Expansion
- What’s Stopping you from Hiring?
- Learning to Let Go and Delegate
- How to Hire Your first Employee
- The Ins and Outs of Managing Employees
Participants learned about employee classifications of 1099 vs. W2, wage and hour laws, employee retention and understanding the costs associated with hiring. The business owners also analyzed their own leadership style and learned people management skills. Participants were encouraged to complete session homework and address the action steps of their individual workplans which focused on bringing each to the point of becoming an employer.
Improvements to the Program Design
Participants were asked to provide suggestions for future programs. At least two participants suggested that they needed to better understand the program objectives at the beginning, so they stayed on track. One wanted to continue the program and another thought everything was “fabulous and would love to do another one.” The Executive Director of the Women’s Business Centers, Michelle Skiljan, indicated that several participants wanted the group to stay together as an alumnae group to get ongoing support for their effort to grow their businesses. Additional comments about the program include:
“CVWBC is an extremely high asset to women and our community at any stage of their dream or business.”
“This was a great experience…..IEWBC has made me feel like family and I look forward to giving back as other entrepreneurs have given me through this program.”
“Just thankful to have programs like this. It’s a great help.”
Evaluating Participant Progress and Program Effectiveness
The pre-program quiz helped the trainers/facilitators customize the program to better address the training and technical assistance needs of the participants. Questions in this quiz included:
- What is your plan for scaling your business?
- Who is the ideal candidate to help you grow your business?
- How would you rate your leadership skills on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most favorable?
At the end of the program, participants were asked if their learning needs were met, and their questions answered. Generally, these included questions about business growth and sales that would support the addition of new staff and H.R. issues. Six of seven participants indicated all their issues were addressed. Six of seven said they were more inclined to hire an employee after completing the class. Five participants had completed a job description and had assembled an employee handbook in anticipation of hiring.
It seems the peer learning cluster program design contributed to a sense of camaraderie and encouragement. When participants were asked about the most important takeaways from the class, responses included:
- “We’re all in this together.”
- “I am not alone.”
- “Don’t be afraid of growth.”
- “Go after what you really want.”
Next Steps
Does a specialized program devoted to the topic of becoming an employer, truly help a business owner “Take the Leap?” There are a lot of factors that affect a business owner’s decision to take on the responsibility of hiring an employee. Number one is enough sales to support the new staff. Yet, often a business owner can’t grow unless they invest in extra staff that would free the business owner to do what they do best. WBC has decided to continue the Taking the Leap program as part of their regular offerings.
Michelle Skiljan, Executive Director of the Inland Empire Women’s Business Centers (WBC) said:
“The WBCs excel at assisting women business owners, however launching a cohort program specific to hiring your first employee enabled several women make large-scale strides related to job growth: creating employee handbooks, creating employee descriptions, and of course hiring employees. We observed that the participants gained a solid understanding in areas necessary for job creation and are pleased to be offering the program again.”
Business development agencies like the Women’s Business Center, may want to experiment with their own version of “Taking the Leap” and help business owners grow by becoming employers and Creating Meaningful Jobs. For more information on how to support business owners becoming employers and Creating Meaningful Jobs, review the resources provided by the Aspen Institute: Section 3: Engaging Businesses on Job Quality – The Aspen Institute
The pre-program quiz helped the trainers/facilitators customize the program to better address the training and technical assistance needs of the participants. At the beginning of the program, participants were asked to rate their knowledge on topics such as the following:
- How to recruit a new employee
- How to check references and make an offer to a prospective employee
- The IRS definitions of what constitutes an independent contractor vs. employee
At the end of the program, participants were asked if their learning needs were met, and their questions answered. Generally, these included questions about business growth and sales that would support the addition of new staff and H.R. issues. Six of seven participants indicated all their issues were addressed. Six of seven said they were more inclined to hire an employee after completing the class. Five participants had completed a job description and had assembled an employee handbook in anticipation of hiring.
It seems the peer learning cluster program design contributed to a sense of camaraderie and encouragement. When participants were asked about the most important takeaways from the class, responses included:
- “We’re all in this together.”
- “I am not alone.”
- “Don’t be afraid of growth.”
- “Go after what you really want.”
This project was brought together by the Microenterprise Collaborative of Inland Southern California and the Inland Empire Women’s Business Center.
Download the addendum to the 2019 Jobs Report study to learn more about how micro-businesses in Inland Southern California create meaningful jobs.
DOWNLOAD TAKING THE LEAPReview the original 2019 Job’s Report research document:
“Microenterprises in Inland Southern California: Creating Meaningful Jobs”This report is supported by a grant from
