Birmingham entrepreneurs will have the chance to get help with their businesses throughout 2024. Create Birmingham is a nonprofit organization that focuses on creative industries. The organization is offering a series of workshops and programs to assist local entrepreneurs elevate their productions.
Jessica Moody, the director of programs and operations of Create Birmingham, said the organization offers a variety of workshops for entrepreneurs to partake in.
“We do have a handful of one-off workshops. The Business of Creating is really focusing on with people who are great at making something but maybe need some help on the business side,” she said. “So, those one-off workshops [include] marketing and social media. We're doing a pricing workshop; helping people understand how much they actually need to price the product at so that they can make money,” Moody said.
The pricing workshop Moody mentioned is called Projecting for Growth and focuses on financial planning. The workshop will be held January 25 and is free to attend. Moody said understanding pricing for products is important for any entrepreneur.
“You can't grow your venture if you don't truly understand how much you need to price your product at,” she said. “So, I think sometimes as entrepreneurs, we feel like we are constantly spinning on a wheel like a hamster. We're trying to figure out why we can't go anywhere, and it's because I feel like we're constantly playing catch up,” she said.
The Create Consults program is another way Birmingham entrepreneurs can receive help with their businesses. The program is available for people who have had a business for at least 12 months and allows them to be paired with professionals and experts in the industry.
“It allows you to grow and scale as a business,” Moody said. “We've had people go through the program who realized that they were more successful online than as a brick and mortar. So, they actually ended up closing their brick-and-mortar spaces and really pivoting and shifting into online so that they can actually make more money and grow a lot faster and with a whole lot more less stress.”
Moody said the program was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to help business owners.
“One of the things that we noticed was that people are stuck, and I think they oftentimes don't ask for help until it's too late. We want people to be able to raise their hands and know that it's okay to ask for help,” she said.
Moody also said the illusion of social media has lead people to believe everyone is doing well and that nobody needs help.
“People think social media allows you to think everybody is thriving. Nobody's thriving, and I think this allows you to raise your hand and say I want to be sustainable, and I want to scale, and I want to grow. We can actually connect you with people,” she explained. “In the midst of the pandemic, we were recognizing that people really needed some one-on-one attention and help, and it was really, really helpful,” Moody continued.
For more information on The Business of Creating and Create Consults, visit the Create Birmingham website.
