Six determined women business owners showed up for three hours a week for nine weeks to improve their businesses.

ScaleUp is a multi-week cohort-based program that is designed to assist established, Chicagoland businesses that are experiencing sustainability and growth issues due to COVID-19. ScaleUp equips entrepreneurs with business knowledge, financial tools, resources, and networks necessary to maintain profitable businesses that retain and create jobs, fuel economic growth and build strong communities.

The Fall 2020 Englewood Cohort met every Wednesday morning for three hours via Zoom from September 23 – November 18. Six female entrepreneurs shared their challenges, struggles, wins, and experiences over the nine weeks of class.

Take a moment to check out the incredible businesses of the women who participated in the program in this fall’s virtual cohort:

Yamonee Barbaro of Yam Global Travel LLC

Katrina Crawford of Halo Empowerment

Kim Durden of Divine Dine Food Tours

Briyana Kelly of Feed the Hood NFP

Tiffany Shelly of Last Minute Hair

Chelsie Tamms of Lettering Works, LLC

Throughout the program, business owners receive one-on-one mentoring and assistance with business sustainability and growth planning, marketing, finances, government procurement and certification.

3 Reasons You Should Consider Applying for the WBDC’s ScaleUp Program:

1. You’re ready to grow and push yourself further in business.

2. You recognize that making more time to work ON your business is the key to reaching your next big goals.

3. You’d like to improve in areas of marketing, building out your team, and finances, as well as identify the right certification and contracting opportunities for your business.

Business Growth Spotlight: Chelsie Tamms, Lettering Works, LLC

Progress for Lettering Works: Sustainability & Growth Goals

Before ScaleUp my pain points included uncertainty around how to scale, identifying opportunities for growth, and how to approach larger opportunities. Additionally, I was feeling exhausted by social media and felt like it was time to refresh my overall approach and strategy behind my business.

During ScaleUp, I advanced my business as I identified opportunities for growth and learned about systemization and process development for my business. I learned about the importance of building your team and have since committed to working with a virtual assistant to help support my new outreach efforts and work on improving my business systems. Additionally, I developed a new strategy to approach social media with more intention and segmentation. I also met with all the WBDC advisors as recommended throughout the program. The one-on-one advising and personalized attention helped me better understand and articulate my business and provided me with actionable recommendations to improve my operations, approach, and overall strategy.

As a result of participating in ScaleUp, I am committed to continuing to dedicate substantial time to the two main areas of growth I’ve identified: building an online course and getting my products into airport gift shops. Additionally, I’ve developed plans to improve both my social media strategy and documentation of systems and processes for my business. I will continue to meet with advisors one-on-one to ensure I am continuing to work on my business and seeking support from my available resources.

In order to graduate from the ScaleUp program, participating business owners are tasked with creating a two-page sustainability and growth outline as well as pitching their business to an outside advisor for feedback and recommendations. Below is my final presentation for ScaleUp:

“I cannot say enough positive things about ScaleUp - all of the information was so helpful, the connections made were both impactful and encouraging, and the overall support system provided is truly an incredible resource for leveling up in business. It’s hard to believe that this program is free of charge to small business owners and entrepreneurs. To all the women business owners looking to ‘scale up’ - this program is definitely worth investing your time and energy into.” - Chelsie Tamms

A special thank you to Lindsay, Deborah, Tasha, Minerva, and all the other presenters and advisors who made the Fall 2020 program such a success.

If you are interested in more information about ScaleUp, contact Tasha Brown at wbdc@wbdc.org. To apply for the next cohort, visit wbdc.org/scaleup.