WORKSHOP IN BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY ("WIBO")

Remember the movie, "Back To School", with Rodney Dangerfield?.....I'm doing my best impersonation. Trecking into the city Wednesday evenings.

WIBO,a non-profit started in 1966 in Harlem, has had 40,000 graduates pass thru its doors.
The skinny: I'm taking one of their courses, entitled, "How To Start And Run A Profitable Business".  I would describe it as an accelerated business course, about 3 semesters crammed into 16 weeks. I think it's a good thing; they took out all the filler that matriculated colleges are known for (read: $$), and get right to the meat of running a business.  The highlights:

• The instructors have clinical experience. No egg-heads teaching idealogies from textbooks
• Areas: concentrations in: marketing, break-even analysis.
• Support: personal coaching available, alumni associations, networking with financiers

My favorite part: the students! Got some really gifted individuals persuing their dreams. Very nuturing, no competition or petty jealousies.  Some of the dreams being persued: a gourmet grilled cheese truck, a restaurant, a made-to-order quilt vendor, a massage parlor serving a low-income community, an aspiring landlord supplying housing to college students, a fragrance maker.

My idea: confidential, at least for now. But I will share that I abandoned my intent to become a post-operative breast implant massage therapist ( although I still have conviction there is a need for this vital service).

Tuition: very reasonable: the max is $600, with a sliding scale, depending upon income.

Offered in various locations throughout the five boroughs in New York, weeknights.

I'm about halfway through; I'll keep you posted.

Check them out at http://www.wibo.org/