Welcome to the quarterly MOBI newsletter for Summer and Fall 2023. 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. Para leer este boletín en español, haga clic aquí. 

Thank you from MOBI!

Dear MOBI Students, Alumni, and Readers,

If you are a long-time subscriber, you know that the My Own Business Institute is continually striving to bring you the best in accessible, understandable, and actionable curriculum through our free online business courses to inspire and empower your dreams of business ownership.

It was a busy summer for MOBI as we updated three sessions for our courses. These include:  Choosing the Right Business,  Financing the Business, and  Communication Tools, all of which are now published on our site and learning management system. In each of these sessions you will find new information to support your entrepreneurial journey!

We have also been working on something very special, and we can’t wait to share it with you! This new offering from MOBI will make our curriculum even more accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs around the world. Stay tuned for more information through our social media channels and this newsletter.

Lastly, we were very honored to have SCU’s Leavey School of Business Dean, Ed Grier, offer his congratulations to MOBI and our partner the Bluefield WV Economic Development Authority (BEDA) for an award we received together in September from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Head over to our website to watch his video and read below for more on this special recognition.

We send our best wishes for good health and business success to all our MOBI students, alumni, partners, readers, and friends!

Sincerely,

Drew Starbird, Ph.D.

Together with our inspiring partner Bluefield WV Economic Development Authority (BEDA) MOBI was selected by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) as the 2023 Bronze Award recipient for the Partnerships with Educational Institutions category for the group Populations under 25,000. The MyBluefield Entrepreneur’s Bootcamp, featuring MOBI’s curriculum, was the winning program for this award.

BEDA Executive Director Jim Spencer and MOBI’s Trish Kalbas-Schmidt (both pictured above) attended the IEDC Conference in Dallas, TX September 18-20 to receive this award. 

For more information, our blog post about the IEDC award here.

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 Drumdandie, founded by best friends in South Carolina Rhoda Drummond and Sandie Vaccaro.

Rhoda and Sandie share a passion for yarn art. Encouraged by friends and family who received their creations as gifts (and after years of talking!) Rhoda and Sandie finally decided to start selling their designs. With the help of the free online Starting a Business course from My Own Business Institute (MOBI) at  Santa Clara University, which Rhoda had found through MOBI partner South Carolina Business One Stop , Rhoda and Sandie finally said, “Why not?” and founded their business: Drumdandie.

Read the full Drumdandie Success Story to learn how it got started and how MOBI helped!

Business Insider reported that 5 million new business applications were filed in the U.S. in 2022, indicating that entrepreneurial spirit is going strong. MOBI Executive Director Drew Starbird, Ph.D., lends his perspectives on recent entrepreneurship data, trends, and what sets MOBI apart from other entrepreneurship education programs in a new Q&A MOBI blog post. 

Click here to read: "Should I Start a Business: Why MOBI and Why Now?"

Not sure what permits or licenses you might need for your business? Be sure to read MOBI’s new blog post, “What Permits or Licenses are Needed to Start a Business?” You’ll learn about tax ID numbers, business licenses, licenses and permits for a business location, a home-based business, a specific profession, as well as when a federal license or permit might be required and where you can go for more information.

Click here to read full blog post.

Do you have a hobby that you’d love to turn into a business? In September our Instagram channel, @scu_mobi, featured a “DIY Business: 30 Tips in 30 Days” campaign providing helpful ideas for networking, sales, marketing, and more! Check out the full list of tips here on our website. For more inspiration, read our Drumdandie success story mentioned above to learn how Rhoda Drummond and Sandie Vacarro turned their passion for yarn art into a new business venture.

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 National Business Association (NBA). We extend our gratitude to Ken Yancey, Board Member, National Business Association, for providing this MOBI Partner Spotlight.

The National Business Association (NBA) is a not-for-profit association, committed to assisting entrepreneurs and small business owners in all stages of their business. For over 35 years the NBA has served business owners by supplying updated benefits, resource materials, tools, and support programs that help them achieve their goals.

Why you chose MOBI? We are huge fans of Mr. Holland, his story and success as an entrepreneur. By creating MOBI, he has provided existing and future entrepreneurs with tools and training that will educate and motivate them in their own entrepreneurial journey. We are pleased to promote and endorse Mr. Holland’s legacy through MOBI.

The NBA has served existing and aspiring small business owners for more than four decades. Offering the MOBI curriculum is consistent with our efforts to help cultivate successful small businesses. The MOBI curriculum is relevant and easily accessible for anyone interested in gaining knowledge and developing their skills in the small business arena. The NBA is honored to become a MOBI partner.

How is MOBI making a difference for your students? Partnering with and promoting MOBI and its curriculum is one of many ways that the NBA fulfills its mission “to cultivate successful small businesses by connecting them to reliable resources and tools that meet their needs.” The entrepreneurs that we guide to MOBI will gain important knowledge and skills as well as improving their chances of success.

Visit our Partnerships Page for more information, to submit a Partnership Request, to view some of our inspiring partners, or to view our Partner Category Comparison Chart.

Here are some events 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 to aspiring entrepreneurs. Based on reader activity, here are some top stories from the past quarter.

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

The MOBI Team