— Janet Carosella

Aha. So, uh, this is a question that we get every once in a while. You know, it's, uh, students that have this entrepreneurial spirit and want to do something professionally with their, their education and training. And, uh, the first thing that I recommend is to take the time to build out a business plan, uh, around whatever concept you have, um, for your workshops and a, uh, a business plan. Uh, if you, if you really wanna drill down, and, um, I'll say, do it right. Uh, it'll take some time, it'll take some good effort, and it'll provide tremendous insight as to whether your idea is, uh, you know, as you currently have it framed, is viable in your environment, in your marketplace. Um, it'll highlight weaknesses, it'll highlight gaps, and, uh, it's just a, a great tool to get to know better the thought that you have in your mind. And, you know, and I guess I'll add just a, you know, some, some things here to, to fill out the discussion here. And that is, you know, you want to take a look at, uh, what's currently going on in your marketplace, uh, you know, in terms of similar workshops or, you know, other educational classes, um, and take a look at hands-on as well as just view only, uh, as well as, um, you know, maybe hybrid sort of classes, uh, that are offered by different organizations or in different venues. So sometimes I see these at community colleges, um, sometimes I'm, I see these offered by individuals privately. Take a look at the, at the various price points, you know, offered by these different, um, you know, entities. Um, sort of, uh, take the time to, to define what sort of a, uh, a domain or a menu type that you would want to focus on. Uh, you know, whether it's, um, uh, a certain type of cuisine, whether it's savory foods only, whether it's, um, appetizers and canopies, or maybe a focus on desserts or, or something else. Uh, at least as a starting point, keeping in mind that you can always add to the business plan, you know, as time goes on, as your concept matures, um, as you recognize a strong following or, you know, a demand in your area. Um, you know, also think about whether you, you will do these live or online. Um, you know, that makes a difference in terms of your, your presentation, your equipment needs, um, the, the, the, the, your range of marketing and the types of folks that you might, um, uh, appeal to. Uh, so again, just a few things to think about. Uh, again, all of that would be covered plus a lot more in a business plan. In order to get started with a business plan, you can do a Google search, you're gonna find a lot of information. I also like to suggest, uh, to consider score.org, SCOR e.org. It's by, uh, in the organization that's staffed by volunteers, and there's a lot of information that you can access for free. You can, um, also team up with a volunteer that would be, uh, uh, coming with experience specific to the food service industry, um, to really provide some, uh, deep insight. And this is, um, all part of the, uh, small business administration and part of the, uh, the US federal government. And so please take a look at that as well as a resource to get you started.