Santiago Vazquez comes to CCV for 10 weeks as a summer intern from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business as an MBA candidate. We are grateful for his contributions over the summer. Below he shares a few highlights.
I’ve been interning at CCV for 9 weeks now, and Friday September 11th will be my last day. During my time here I’ve had the privilege to work side by side with some of our business coaches advising clients in a broad variety of issues. Working on different projects has given me the chance to learn about the intricacies of new ventures, further rooting my passion for entrepreneurship.
My second task at CCV was to help further develop our place based initiative. This initiative expands CCV’s reach and use of business consulting expertise in low to moderate income communities. By partnering with local agencies, we are able to attract businesses in the area that can benefit from our services. While CCV's pilot program has already been underway for a year on the Cottage Grove corridor, I was tasked with branding and expanding the offering.
Now named IMPACT, CCV’s place based initiative was developed as a direct response to the articulated need of some communities that are struggling to produce viable businesses. By partnering with local development agencies, CCV holds an application process in order to single out 3 to 5 businesses in the area to go through a complete business enhancement program in six weeks. The chosen companies are introduced to IMPACT during the kickoff event, where CCV gets a chance to explain the process, lay down guidelines and expectations and business owners get acquainted with the program and with each other.
The program is divided in six modules designed to address the different aspects of business:
- Idea: The first module focuses on analyzing the client’s business model in depth.
- Marketing: This module deals with the 3Cs and 4Ps of marketing. Some aspects of the marketing mix will be covered specifically in subsequent modules.
- Positive Cash flows: In this section we go over financial statements and teach participants some basic accounting/finance tools.
- Acceptance: We call this module “how to get and retain customers” and it focuses on cost effective advertising and costumer management.
- Competition: Analyze direct and indirect competition, and develop a strategy that allows our clients to differentiate their product or service.
- Tactics: This module deals with operations, from inventory control and supplier relationships to employee management and strategic thinking.
IMPACT is well on its way with our two latest programs in Humboldt and Garfield Parks. All of us at CCV have high hopes for this program and I feel fortunate to have been involved with it from its beginning stages.
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