{"id":9965,"date":"2018-10-14T15:30:11","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T21:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/?p=9965"},"modified":"2018-10-14T15:16:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-14T21:16:15","slug":"wessts-online-courses-help-women-entrepreneurs-build-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/articles\/general-business-advice\/wessts-online-courses-help-women-entrepreneurs-build-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"WESST\u2019s online courses help women entrepreneurs build dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WESST’s DreamBuilder online business course; Article by Sandy Nelson<\/p><\/div>\n

Not everyone has the resources to go to college for an MBA, but anyone with an internet connection and some self-discipline can learn business basics through the DreamBuilder program offered by the nonprofit small-business development and training organization WESST.<\/p>\n

DreamBuilder targets women who want to start their own businesses or need additional support to increase profitability. It\u2019s one of a growing number of massive open online courses (MOOCs) that offer busy people a way to explore subjects that interest them \u2014 and often to earn credit for their efforts.<\/p>\n

The intensive eight-week program combines interactive online modules and classroom workshops every two weeks so women can \u201clearn at their own pace and also connect with other entrepreneurs in the classroom sessions,\u201d said Julianna Silva, managing director of Albuquerque\u2019s WESST Enterprise Center. \u201cThis encourages attendees to maintain a reasonable pace and not drop the curriculum midstream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sticking with the program is one weakness of MOOCs in general, but DreamBuilder attempts to overcome that. Besides offering classes in Spanish and English, the program incorporates in-house classroom sessions that allow learners to interact with instructors, guest speakers and one another and to review information specific to New Mexico businesses.<\/p>\n

At the\u00a0first session, participants receive log-in credentials and orientation to the cloud platform. Between classroom sessions, they complete required modules so everyone reaches learning milestones together. \u201cThe course is built as a lock-step curriculum; each module must be completed before the next module is unlocked,\u201d Silva said. \u201cWomen love the flexibility to learn at their pace and also connect with other entrepreneurs in class sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants who don\u2019t have a computer or internet access can use a laptop provided by WESST during classroom sessions and receive technical support from the WESST trainer. This face time makes DreamBuilder a bit of a hybrid MOOC, as most of these distance-learning classes \u2014 including from elite universities like Stanford, Princeton, Columbia and Duke \u2014 rely entirely on interactive videos and web-based user forums.<\/p>\n

After completing the DreamBuilder course, which costs $39, graduates typically print a certificate that shows they\u2019ve completed the course. And they are offered two hours of free individual consulting with WESST, a perk that normally costs $30, Silva said. \u201cWe often continue working one-on-one with clients, and some may participate in other programs we offer, like the microloan program or incubation program in Albuquerque.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graduates also leave the program with a first draft of a business plan that they create using business plan generator software that prompts them to apply course concepts to their own business or business idea and stores the answers in a business plan template.<\/p>\n

To find out more about DreamBuilder,\u00a0aspiring women entrepreneurs can contact their local WESST office or visit https:\/\/www.wesst.org\/training\/.<\/p>\n

Finance New Mexico article 576 by Sandy Nelson<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not everyone has the resources to go to college for an MBA, but anyone with an internet connection and some self-discipline can learn business basics through the DreamBuilder program offered by the nonprofit small-business development and training organization WESST. DreamBuilder … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[53,364,22,363,365,128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9965"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9968,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions\/9968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/financenewmexico.org\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}