NVC Workshops

8th September 2010

New Venture Creation (NVC) Workshop Reflections

During the past week I have spent much time reflecting on what the NVC group may need for today’s workshop. There are so many aspects of starting their businesses and sustaining them that I feel need to be treated with urgency and it concerns me that the progress some are making is quiet slow. (Some are post graduates and some have very little education.) All are invited to this funded opportunity for business establishment coaching.

Before the class today, I had decided to begin a series of talks for the next few weeks on money. Not in the accounting sense of the word, but the emotional aspect of money. I have been considering the emotional blockages of people to earn money, make money, use money, abuse money. I have been considering how people who have never had access to money due to poverty, circumstances, and social and economic disadvantage, approach the monetary aspect of their business from an emotional point of view. If there has never been money in our life how do we get to grips with using it to run a business no matter how big or small.

I did not have time to ask the group because the workshop today had a life of its own.

For the first time most of the group are using a computer. For the past few weeks we have been working on marketing letters, brochures, business cards, email addresses and building a data base for marketing purposes. The group love having access to computers, emails and the internet. They arrive at the workshop ready and enthusiastic to do their work so that by the end of the morning they have a new business tool for their business. I realized that I need to let them lead me and dictate in an unconscious way what they need from me. Is this not “servant leadership”? My goal for each Wednesday workshop is that each one walks away with something concrete that they use for their business

Today, we did not discuss money, but I did ask them to think about it for the workshop next week. Perhaps once they have reflected on their attitude towards money we will have a more in depth discussion next week.

At the end of the workshop I asked them to send me an email with comments on today’s session. Here are some of them, I have not made any corrections:

“I would like to thank you for teaching me how to draft the broucher and also do the attachment and its very exciting. thank you again”

“1. “Khanyisile learnt that if shes sending an email to a professional person she must not say Hi!”
2. How to make a brochure”

“Today I learnt how to design a flyer and market my company.It was exciting and used my creative side.I am actually hopeful, the steps we are making are just enough and not overwhelming.You make business easy.I am sometimes not sure how to begin this is helping.Thank you”