Welcome to Good Work

Good Work helps entrepreneurs and communities be self-reliant, resilient, and collaborative. 

Good Work is a community development collaborative with a mission to strengthen communities through culturally appropriate support and collaboration.

Good Work supports community entrepreneurs, local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community partners through consulting, coaching, training, and collaboration.

Welcome

Business Link North Carolina: North Carolina's online one-stop business assistance and resource portal for entrepreneurs:  BLNC.gov

US Small Business Administration (SBA): The Federal Government's one-stop business assistance and resource portal for entrepreneurs: SBA.gov

Self-guided business assessment:  https://www.ncsbc.net//images/selfguidedbusinessassessment.pdf

Start a new business in North Carolina:                             http://thrivenc.com/smallbusiness/start-a-new-business

Start-up checklist: http://www.blnc.gov/start-your-business/planning-checklist

Small Business Start-up Guide: http://www.sbtdc.org/pdf/startup.pdf

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) essential online guides to starting a business: http://go.usa.gov/beG

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) online training and resources: http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/counseling-training

Start-up America Partnership: http://www.startupamericapartnership.org/

Business development resources suggested by the NC Community College Small Business Center Network

Go here for: Business plan templates

Go here for: Business planning resources  

IRS (Internal Revenue Service) Tax Center: http://www.sbcn.nc.gov/resources/taxCenter.aspx

Worker Cooperatives 

(1) Steps to Starting a Worker Co-op

(2) Worker Cooperative Toolbox

(3) Southern Grassroots Economics Project CoopEcon 2012 conference materials

(4) Other Cooperative Resources

 

NC Jobs Now: Start a new career, find a job, start or grow a business, government contracting, etc: http://www.jobsnow.nc.gov/

Download Resources

Download our worksheets: Assessing Your Idea and Beginning Your Business Assessment

Download Resilience for the Small Business Owner

Download the Starting a Small Business in NC guide from the NC SBTDC

Download the “Navigating Business Services in NC: Your ‘Where to Go for What’ Guide.”

Download the “Fueling Your Business in North Carolina: A Guide to Financing for Small Businesses”

Download "Financing Your Small Business: How to Borrow Money from People You Know" by SCORE and Circle Lending (now Virgin Money)

Download "Hello My Business Name is...  A Guide to Building Entrepreneurial Networks in North Carolina"

 

For enterprise development and community development practitioners

Two policy and program reports from the NC Rural Center: Small Business 101: Why financial literacy is important & Community Entrepreneurship Projects in NC

Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal: Check out the LASER (Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal) Guide to Community Development. See here:

NC Rural Center's Rural Economic Opportunity Program's Living on the Margins reports: 

>> Rural North Carolina in the Aftermath of the Great Recession, the first report, documents the extent and challenges of rural poverty. It shows how the recession of 2007-09 exacerbated long-term economic trends and the effects of natural disasters, leaving much of rural North Carolina reeling long after the official end of the recession.

>> Projects for asset-building :: Asset-Building Strategies for Low-Income Families describes more than 30 individual projects with potential for implementation in rural communities. These success stories come from communities in North Carolina and across the national. They include contact information for project leaders and list other resources to allow interested individuals to learn more about the projects and the issues they address.  Project descriptions are organized across 19 asset-building strategies to make it easier to identify those with the greatest potential for matching the needs and available resources in any given community.

>> Guidebook for communities :: A Guidebook for Connecting Individuals to Opportunity is a workbook for use by community groups seeking to connect low-income residents to economic development opportunities. It offers a different way of thinking about and working on issues related to poverty, with the stress on community assets and partnership development.  The six steps and associated activities cover a planning process that may be tackled in an intensive weekend or in smaller pieces over a several weeks or months. The planning process is designed to lead to small, practical action steps that will achieve tangible results within six to eight months of implementation.  Although others may find it useful, the guidebook will be most effective if the process is led by a trained facilitator. To consult with the Rural Center’s senior fellow on economic opportunity, contact Yolanda Burwell by e-mail or phone (919-250-4314).

 

Entrepreneurship Development Systems ::  Background on NC Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship's work to develop entrepreneurship support systems: NC's Entrepreneurship Development System Project

>> Nationwide entrepreneurship support system initiative: The Entrepreneurship Development System for Rural North Carolina was one of six projects funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation under the Entrepreneurship Development Systems for Rural America project. Other projects were based in Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota and West Virginia. The Aspen Institute report Revitalizing Rural Economies through Entrepreneurship Development Systems summarizes the nationwide initiative.

Entrepreneur Coaching for Community Success guide by the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship <www.energizingentrepreneurs.org>: Download here: Entrepreneur Coaching for Community Success

Aspen Institute's: FIELD (Microenterprise Fund for Innovation, Effectiveness, Learning & Dissemination) <http://www.fieldus.org>. FIELD <http://www.fieldus.org> was established in 1998 to build on the work of the Self-Employment Learning Project, the leading domestic microenterprise evaluation and public education program at the time. Since its inception, FIELD has maintained a focus on the U.S. microenterprise industry - exploring innovation, evaluating new ideas, helping to build the industry's infrastructure, disseminating best practices to practitioners and serving as a resource to donors interested in microenterprise. FIELD has gathered resources in three key areas:

  • Best Practice Resources <http://fieldus.org/Projects/PractitionerResources.html>: As part of its work, FIELD has identified a number of resources (including publications, tools, and links to helpful Web sites) geared to practitioners. Resources are organized around a set of topics important to the field today, including: asset development, access to markets, enhancing performance, marketing, scaling up and sustainability. 
  • Donor Resources <http://fieldus.org/Projects/donorResources.html>: FIELD supports donors interested in domestic microenterprise in three ways: Through the FIELD Funder Guide Series, issues and challenges facing the microenterprise field are explored and strategic opportunities for investors are identified. FIELD provides staff support to an informal Microenterprise Funders Group, which began in 2005 as a way for donors interested in the domestic microenterprise industry to share ideas, funding strategies and priorities. Finally, FIELD periodically hosts Funder Webinars to explore topics of interest to donors.
  • Entrepreneur Resources <http://fieldus.org/Projects/Entrepreneurs.html> Allows entrepreneurs to locate microenterprise programs in their state and/or community via the U.S. Microenterprise Census, and to learn about MicroMentor, an innovative program offering on-line business mentoring services.