Free business school pop-up coming to east side
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A pop-up business school is coming to the east side this month, offering to help budding entrepreneurs start businesses without going into debt.
Nicole Kearney has been self-employed for almost a year. She is the founder of a Sip and Share, a small winery. She operates the business out of shared space in a building on Shelby Street.
The entire winery is behind locked, garage-style doors. She has signed up for the pop-up business school.
“For me, supply chain management, and of course always making sure your financials are together, so I’m hoping to get some tips and, you know, some secret weapons I can use,” said Kearney.
Kearney is learning the road map of business ownership doesn’t have a great index. She is hoping the pop-up business school will help her navigate some of the finer points of business ownership, like networking, paying taxes and basic legal obligations.
Making wine is a craft, and in today’s business vernacular, craftsman are often called makers.
“I’m hoping to see a lot of those folks there, because that is where this is geared towards — the makers — because those are the ones that have the most trouble getting space,” said Kearney.
The John H. Boner Community Center, 2236 E 10th St, is hosting PopUp Business School, in cooperation with IUPUI and Source River West.
Source River West is part of the IUPUI Office of Community Engagement and provides guidance to entrepreneurs. Steve Thrash is the executive director.
“There are two sides: One, help them get organized, help them understand all of the different questions they should be asking that need answers. And the other part of it is we put them in a room full of other folks just like them who are interested starting and operating a business. You get the networking effect, where they can talk to others. A lot of times, starting a business is a pretty lonely proposition,” Thrash said.
Kearney’s winery is growing. She likes the shared space and is hoping to grow and move into larger space, sooner rather than later.
The pop-up business school is free but requires registration. It runs Oct. 21 to Nov. 1.