Welcome to the quarterly MOBI newsletter for Summer 2021. Each quarter we reach out to our alumni and readers to share important highlights from Santa Clara University’s MOBI program. We hope you will enjoy these updates and continue your relationship with MOBI on your path toward entrepreneurship!

Feel free to opt-out of this newsletter by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom.  To read this newsletter in Spanish, please click here.

Thank you from MOBI!

In June MOBI updated our Marketing content in the Starting a Business and Quick Start Entrepreneur courses. The new content provides more information on both traditional and digital marketing tactics and strategies, discussing the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), as well as “sell” vs “serve” marketing copy, and the benefits of hashtags and tagging when using social media. Readers will also learn the basics of email and text marketing, and rules to follow. Check out MOBI’s new Marketing curriculum.

On July 19 MOBI upgraded the interface of our learning management system on the Moodle platform to incorporate a fresh new look for our courses. Our content remains the same but you will notice changes to fonts, images, and organization. This upgrade has been in the works behind the scenes, and we are so excited to share it with you! We would like to extend a huge thank you to our amazing partners at Lambda Solutions and Moodle for their assistance implementing this upgrade. We hope you enjoy the new user experience as much as we do! If we can provide any assistance as you get acquainted with our new look, please don’t hesitate to send an email to scu-mobi@scu.edu.

Independent contracting can be an excellent gateway to entrepreneurship. Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of independent contracting, the key differences between independent contractors and employees, and the recommended steps independent contractors should take to establish their businesses. Laura Norris, J.D., and Mary Fuller, J.D., of the Entrepreneurs’ Law Clinic at Santa Clara Law lend their expertise and share their insights in this new MOBI guest blog post. (Laura Norris is also a member of the MOBI Advisory Board!)

We are so proud of the accomplishments of our MOBI students around the world. Each quarter we will share the story of one MOBI entrepreneur. This quarter we feature MOBI partner MyBluefield and Charles Drake of Drake’s Place restaurant.

MOBI partners are an important part of the MOBI program! By forming partnerships with diverse communities of students around the world, MOBI can inspire entrepreneurship in ways that best meet the specific opportunities of each group, and always for free. This quarter we feature the Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley (LBFSV).

The Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley (LBFSV) helps very small businesses and organizations survive and thrive and helps San Jose retain its unique cultural flavors even as the city attracts development from multinational corporations and large retail outlets. Through its Virtual Business Incubator, LBFSV offers the MOBI curriculum to provide direct access to high quality and accessible training courses to small business owners, empowering them to improve and grow their business operations. LBFSV Programs Director Stephanie Flores kindly shared her thoughts on the partnership with MOBI below.

Why you chose MOBI? LBFSV chose MOBI because it provided 100% online access, and our students have the freedom to go at their own pace. In addition, the courses and resources are available in Spanish, and the curriculum is easy to understand. We also appreciated the opportunity to customize our own program to ensure it supports our mission and our students.

How is MOBI making a difference for your students? With the MOBI curriculum, LBFSV can give our students access to learn important skills as well as the opportunity to understand how to start a business and improve their business management knowledge.

Anything else? We are very thankful to MOBI for bringing this quality program to our small business owners. We have just reached 100 enrolled students and we are excited to see continued growth in the program and in entrepreneurship within our community! (LBFSV launch event pictured below!)

Do you know an organization or school that might be interested in partnering with MOBI?

Here are some highlights from the past few months.

MOBI highlights one theme every week on our social media platforms. We post blogs, videos, lists, and articles on a variety of topics relevant for aspiring entrepreneurs. Based upon reader activity, here are some top stories from the past quarter. Be sure to also check out #MOBIPartnerFriday posts each week.

We wish you good health and all the best in business success!

The MOBI Team