Community Business Academy (CBA)
A 12-week course offering hands-on training in business planning and business management
What:
The course covers topics like budgeting, marketing, bookkeeping, cash flow, pricing strategies, and credit building in a dynamic learning environment.
A highlight of the CBA includes three small business simulations classes that present a unique environment where participants gain hands-on experience in running a business under real-world conditions. Each session simulates a month of business activity in the marketplace, where teams compete for business while striving to earn a profit. Teams track sales, expenses and monitor cash flow, all while sharpening essential marketing and finance skills.
Where: Note: Since2020, we have developed all of our cohort programming to be hybrid in nature with some weeks in person and others virtual.
Our geographic hubs are located on the South, West and North Sides (typically in Woodlawn, Lawndale and West Evanston respectively).
When:
Classes are held once a week (weeknights 6 to 9pm or Saturday 9am to 12pm) at various locations throughout Chicagoland
Consecutive 3-hour sessions that meet once per week
Offered twice per year, with 8 concurrent classes that start in February and September respectively
Four Industry Specific Hubs
Construction Contractors
For entrepreneurs in the construction contracting industry ready to reach new markets, increase margins or grow in any way, we offer a curriculum tailored to the needs of their industry, a competitive and ever changing market. We invite any self-performing tradespeople, general contractors, project managers and all construction industry entrepreneurs ready to launch or grow their business to apply.
Taught in Partnership
Our Construction Trades classes are taught by seasoned entrepreneurs in the Construction industry, and is currently offered in partnership with Sustainable Options for Urban Living (S.O.U.L.) Inc)
Artists & Makers
This hub is for rising entrepreneurs in the "Art" industry which we define as including but not limited to the following—artisans, fine artists, singers, performers, fitness experts, fashionistas foodies, and creatives. This curriculum has much overlap with the geographic based hubs, but offers a curriculum tailored to the specific needs of the art industry and self promotion in the creative business world. We invite any self-performing artists, artisans, creatives etc. to apply (if you're not sure this is for you, it might be just ask!).
Real Estate & Property Managers
Property ownership remains among the top pathways to generational wealth in our country and while often not recognized officially as a business, property managers are among the most common "small businesses owners" in our region. This hub is for property managers and real estate entrepreneurs alike looking to take an idea for passive income, property based revenue streams or already existing property rental business to the next level. In addition to covering the core of the curriculum covered in other classes, this hub is tailored to the nuances of maintaining a business as a property manger—understanding legislation in our region, creating systems for risk mitigation, implications of location, price valuation, and navigating the ecosystem in relation to real estate and property management in Chicagoland.
Tech & Digital
This hub is for our tech-centric entrepreneurs looking to grow their tech deliverables into passive and supplemental income. In addition to the core curriculum covered in other classes, this hub is tailored to the nuances of maintaining a business in the IT Industry, including understanding service base price points, seed funding, the purpose of an MVP (Minimal Viable Product), and more.